Podcast Episodes

Introduction : Julia and Mark discuss two admission trends they have noticed this year Mark interviews Dean Christoph Guttentag, Understanding How Duke Makes Admissions Decisions. Part 1 of 3: Christoph discusses how the admission file reading process works at Duke Christoph answers the question, if Duke allows one admission officer to auto deny a student [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (2:30): Vince joins Mark to discuss an article by Stephanie Saul that appeared in the NY Times in mid-December entitled, Lawsuit Accuses Georgetown of Admitting Students Based Solely on Wealth-2 of 2 (Length 17 minutes) This week’s question (19:32): Hillary joins Mark to discuss a [...]

Introduction : Julia and Mark discuss a real concern that we are seeing in the student essays that we read and we want to keep students from missing out on an opportunity to bring themselves to life through the proper use of student essays Mark interviews Dean Christoph Guttentag, Understanding Duke University: Part 2 of [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (25:58): Vince joins Mark to discuss an article by Stephanie Saul that appeared in the NY Times in mid-December entitled, Lawsuit Accuses Georgetown of Admitting Students Based Solely on Wealth (Length 15 minutes) This week’s question (40:04): Hillary joins Mark to discuss a question from [...]

Introduction : For episode 500, 21 listeners sent in verbal messages about lessons they have learned in the first 500 episodes that they feel can help other students and parents. Julia and Mark discuss the danger of having a top heavy college list. Interview : Mark interviews Dean Christoph Guttentag, Understanding Duke University, Part 1 [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (4:04): Julia and Mark answer a question from Amanda, how can I figure out if my student is in profile for a college if they are recalculating a GPA and I don’t know how they are recalculating it. (Length 23 minutes) This week’s question (27:02): [...]

Introduction : Mark takes a look at the different role college major plays at a half a dozen schools he recently visited including: The University of Georgia, Pomona College, Cal Poly SLO, Virginia Teach, Santa Clara University and the University of Virginia Lisa Interviews Erin Lewellen, the CEO of Tilting Futures, “Debunking Myths about Generation [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (4:10): Julia and Mark discuss an article “How to Solve Campus Parking Problems Without Adding More Parking? The article appeared on March 26th, 2024 in the Chronicle for Higher Ed and it was written by Daniel Kenney (Length 12 minutes) This week’s question (16:52): Hillary [...]

Introduction: Mark shares four reasons why so many states are launching Direct admit, top 10 percent plans. Mark also shares more than 15 states that have launched these plans in recent years, usually in 2023 or 2024. Lisa Interviews Erin Lewellen, the CEO of Tilting Futures, “Debunking Myths about Generation Z” : Preview of Part [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (3:22): Susan and Lisa discuss an article “Is Loneliness as Bad for Students as Smoking? The article appeared on Nov 12th, 2024 in the Chronicle for Higher Ed and it was co-written by Jack Stripling. Part 2 of 2 Is Loneliness as Bad for Students [...]

Introduction : Mark answers two Speakpike questions from listeners about high school rigor, especially when it comes to foreign language courses. Mark also shares a conversation he had with an admission officer when he was at the College of William & Mary Lisa Interviews Erin Lewellen, the CEO of Tilting Futures, “Debunking Myths about Generation [...]

In this week's episode you will hear In the News (2:18): Julia and Mark discuss an article that was co-written Matt Barnum and Douglas Belkin that appeared in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Is Loneliness as Bad for Students as Smoking? The article appeared on Nov 12th, 2024 in the Chronicle for Higher Ed and [...]