• Elena gives her backstory of how she started at TCU as a student and leader of the tour guide program to doing K-12 admissions, to working in admissions at Mid-Atlantic University before coming back to Texas
• Elena gives us an overview of SMU
• Elena answers the question, “How would you explain SMU to a stranger”?
• Elena answers the question, “What would you say to a student who says, I am not southern, and I am not Methodist, so why should I go to SMU”
• Elena answers the question, “What is it in the SMU mission statement that really reflects who SMU is”?
• Friends, for the rest of the interview Mark uses a new approach to interviewing senior admissions personnel; He shares 17 different impressions he has about SMU, either from my own visits and observations, or from talking to SMU Admissions officers over the years, but mostly from listening to students he counseled who are at SMU now or have graduated from SMU over the years. Elena states whether she agrees or disagrees and elaborates on Mark’s perceptions of SMU.
• Elena tells us how SMU is different from their rival school, her alma mater, a place she worked at for 11 years, TCU
• Elena opens up and shares two of SMU’s institutional priorities
• Elena shares some of the important things in the admissions rubric that SMU uses in their student evaluation when reading an admissions file
• Next, Elena goes on the hot seat in our lightning round
• Finally, Mark closes with a big announcement about Elena that I am excited about

You can also listen on Episode 612, Episode 614, and Episode 616