In this week’s episode you will hear

In the News (4:20): In this week’s news, a Hechinger Report article “Non-degree badges are booming, are they useful?”, by Matt Krupnick.

While there is a general consensus on what a college degree represents, there is confusion over new online credentials and if they are useful to employers and job seekers. Thousands of credential classes have been born to improve specific skill sets, and colleges have responded by adding non-degree programs of their own. We discuss the differences between badges and certifications. Mark and Anika discuss microcredentials and macrocredentials; what is the difference and are they worth pursuing? Matt Krupnik is the author of this excellent article. You can follow Matt on Twitter at @MattKrupnick (Length 12:15)

Chapter 69 of 171 Answers (Length 16:35): We are in Chapter 69 of 171 Answers and it’s what you need to know about college admissions interviews.

What are the different type of interviews? How can you know which type of interview is being conducted? Where are these interviews conducted? How should you dress for these interviews Who will be doing these interviews? Are you responsible for setting them up or will you be contacted? Why do some schools not have interviews and others do? All of these things will be discussed in this segment of our podcast. (Length 15 minutes)

This week’s question (31:35) is from a mom who wants to know if she can be refunded for SAT or ACT, if her child no longer needs to take the test.

We discuss the policies for the SAT and the ACT in these instances and we also discuss some of the many other fees that people do not know about. Mark does not hold back his thoughts about how the College Board and the ACT handle such instances. (Length 9:38)

This week’s interview (41:38) Mark interviews Mr. Yancie Davis, Admissions Officer at Macalester College in Part II of Using Non-Cognitive variables to help with admission decisions.  Yancie continues explaining to us what these 8 non-cognitive variables are. In part 2 describes two more of these non-cognitive variables
 What makes this interviewing compelling, is not just Yancie telling us what these Non-cognitive variables are, but he tells us what cues and clues he and his colleagues use to ascertain whether or not a student possesses these non-cognitive variables.

 Yancie talks about the training admission officers receive to know how to implement the use of these NCV’s in their application file reading and file rating.
 He talks about who it that does this is training for the admission officers.
 Next we talk about how the non-cognitive variable questionnaire is used or not used.
 Then it gets really interesting because we talk about the controversy surrounding non-cognitive variables. Yancie shares why those who oppose the use of NCV’s feel that it is better to use traditional methods of evaluations and to exclude NCV’s
 Yancie talks specifically about why using NCV’s is important in many instances when reading an admissions file for women?
(17 minutes)

Mark’s recommended resource of the week (47:51) is the website campusreel.org. Campus reel prides itself on being the youtube for college admissions. Students give their perspective of what they like and what they don’t like about their college experience. They also discuss any unique aspects of their college. I commend any attempt to get a more natural understanding of what campus life is like, to cut through the marketing. Campus reel still needs to add more colleges and they could use some upgrades on their website. They could also use some more quality control on the volume of some of their settings for their videos but I like where this website is going and In the next two years they can be at a whole different place from where they are now. They are adding more colleges and more videos every month. I still recommend you check them out now but YouTube will still be a primary source as they have more videos, but it is nice to have something that is exclusively for college that takes you beyond college marketing and statistical info

Don’t forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com

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Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button “See exactly what 171 Answers covers”.