Podcast Episodes

Introduction : Mark and Julia discuss what they learned from admissions decisions from the class of 2024 Lisa interviews Elizabeth Hamlet, a Disability Services Expert. They discuss how students with Disabilities can successfully transition to college-Part 1 of 3 Preview : Liz shares her backstory from special ed teacher to author and success advocate for [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (2:02): Mark and Vince discuss the nine colleges that make up the University of California-Part 1 of 2 (Length 34 minutes) This week’s question (36:50): An anonymous mom from New York wants to know how highly rejective colleges evaluate extracurricular activities (Length 18 minutes) This [...]

Introduction : Mark gives a preview of his 63 minute interview with Jed Applerouth, founder of Applerouth.com Preview : Jed gives his background, and he tells us a little bit about Applerouth Jed talks about the work Applerouth does for students with executive functioning. Jed and I talk about public flagship colleges and their insane [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (3:30): Mark and Vince discuss an article on how students are being coached to brand themselves in their applications. This is an article that appeared in the NY Times by a Guest Essayist, entitled, “Elite college admissions have turned students into brands” (Length 3 minutes) [...]

Introduction : Mark gives a preview of some up and coming episodes Lisa gives advice about selecting a college from a psychological and practical standpoint. Lynda interviews Marjorie Betley, the Senior Associate Director of Admission at the University of Chicago, and the Executive Director of Admissions at the STARS College Network, and they discuss the [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (1:50): Mark and Vince will eventually discuss an article on how students are being coached to brand themselves in their applications. This is an article that appeared in the NY Times by a Guest Essayist, entitled, “Elite college admissions have turned students into brands” but [...]

Introduction : Mark gives a recap of some of his key takeaways from the SACAC conference Mark shares some key takeaways from college visits and from conversation with reps Mark looks at what may look like perplexing admissions decisions for about a dozen students School Match 4U counselors worked with and he discusses the reasons [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (6:30): Julia and Mark discuss an article by “Dean of Admissions Claudia Marroquin on the decline of male applicants to Bowdoin” but Julia and Mark know this is a national crisis, so they discuss the article in the context of the national challenge. Part 3 [...]

Introduction: Mark gives a recap of the first ever YCBK Meet & Greet that occurred in Durham, NC on 3/23 Julia has returned to admission file reading after 8 years and she shares how things have changed and what she has learned Lynda interviews Marjorie Betley, the Senior Associate Director of Admission at the University [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (2:15): Julia and Mark planned to talk about an article that ran in Bowdoin Orient, their student newspaper entitled: “Dean of Admissions Claudia Marroquin on the decline of male applicants to Bowdoin” but they don’t get to the article until next week but they do [...]

In this week's episode you will hear Introduction: Mark discusses three upcoming events: The YCBK gathering in Raleigh, Andy Strickler’s Q & A with our listeners and the final info session for ScholarMatch Mark shares a powerful quote from Nvidia founder Jenson Huang that he can’t stop thinking about Mark interviews Andy Stickler on the [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (2:10): Julia and Mark planned to talk about an article that ran in Bowdoin Orient, their student newspaper entitled: “Dean of Admissions Claudia Marroquin on the decline of male applicants to Bowdoin” but they don’t get to the article until next week but they do [...]