Podcast Episodes

Introduction : Mark shares a letter from a listener with extensive medical school admissions experience. Mark shares a lesson from the counseling room about knowing what your career is going to be when you are still a teenager. Mark shares what rising seniors should be doing now. Mark shares some Personal Statement tips. Mark interviews [...]

In this week's episode you will hear Question #1 from a listener (2:50): Julia joins me to answer a question from Cortnie from Connecticut and she wants to know if it is true that sometimes a college blacklists a high school they are not happy with. (Length 17 minutes) Question #2 from a listener (19:04): [...]

Introduction : Mark shares a story from a meeting he had with a mom in Orange County, CA. Mark talks about the dispute Harvard University is currently facing. Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona, Understanding Franke Honors College, Part 1 of 2 - Preview: Friends, [...]

In this week's episode you will hear Question #1 from a Listener (2:24): Julia joins me to answer a question from a dad from North Carolina who wants to know if there is a way of figuring out class rank or a proxy for it when it is not explicitly listed. (Length 14 minutes) Question [...]

Introduction : Mark shares four things from his Texas trip he thinks will be of interest to our listeners. Mark shares why he does not think high schools should rank students. Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona. John gives an overview of Honors Colleges in [...]

In this week's episode you will hear Question #1 from a Listener (1:45): Mark and Hillary answer a question from a listener who wants to know how AI is being used in admissions (Length 16 minutes) Question #2 from a Listener (17:33): Barry from New Jersey wants to know more about dual enrollment, and especially [...]

Introduction : Mark shares two things from his Texas trip he thinks will be of interest to our listeners. Mark shares how he answers the question, “What Can I Do To Support My Student With The College Admissions Process” Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona, [...]

In this week's episode you will hear This week’s question (1:36): Mark and Hillary continue giving tips for college fairs but then they discuss how it lands when a student doesn’t have any service hours. (Length 16 minutes) This week’s interview (17:33): Mark Stucker and Nate Haveman, VP of enrollment of Hope College - Preview [...]

Introduction : Mark gives out awards in 25 different categories to the 11 colleges he visited in Texas in his 3 weeks he spent in Texas in April. Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona, Topic, Understanding the University of Arizona - Preview of Part 1 [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (2:30): Vince Garcia and Mark Stucker discuss observations from admission decisions from this year’s class. Part 3 of 3 (Length 14 minutes) This week’s question (16:55): Mark and Susan answer a question from a listener who wants advice for student who is content getting B’s [...]

Introduction : Mark shares many ways colleges make their admit rates look lower than they are. He shows families a few ways to know if a college is doing this Lisa interviews Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, authors of the Disengaged Teen - Preview of Part 4 : Rebecca gives us three different insights when [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (1:55): Vince Garcia and Mark Stucker discuss observations from admission decisions from this year’s class. Part 2 of 3 (Length 17 minutes) This week’s question (18:27): Mark and Hillary answer a question from a listener about how her student can demonstrate interest effectively (Length 21 [...]