Episodes
April 14, 2016
You Don't Like Any of Your College Choices: Now What?
What happens if you got into most of the colleges on your list, but now you’re realizing you don’t really like any of them? We’ll be looking at what you can do if you find yourself in this situation. We’ll also talk to a stud...
April 7, 2016
The College Visit: What Questions Should I Be Asking?
College visits can be an incredibly valuable part of the college process—or they can be a big waste of time and money. Students and families can make these worth their while by thinking ahead about the kinds of questions they...
March 31, 2016
Turning the Tide Part Two: What Does this Mean for You?
In our first segment on Turning the Tide, Ian Fisher, Elyse Krantz, and Beth Heaton discussed the relative merits of the report and plan but only had time to cover the basics. In this week’s show, they’ll return to dig a bit ...
March 24, 2016
Asking for More Money, Part 2: Scholarship Negotiations
You might think a scholarship offer is firm and final—either you get it, or you don’t, and the amount is fixed. In reality, colleges often have leeway in not only who they offer money to, but how much money they offer. In thi...
March 17, 2016
Asking for More Money, Part 1: How to Appeal a Financial Aid Award
The initial financial aid award you receive from a college doesn’t necessarily have to be the best and final offer—it’s actually okay to ask for more if you think you need it. Our college finance experts, who also happen to b...
March 10, 2016
Why I Chose the University of Southern California: One Student's Story
We’re excited to welcome another student to the show to tell her college selection story. In this case, she had to make a difficult decision between USC and Carnegie Mellon, and she’s going to tell us how she did this. A rece...
March 3, 2016
Comparing Financial Aid Offers
It should be an easy thing to compare financial aid offers from different schools. But between loans, grants, merit scholarships, work study, and other different components, it can often feel like comparing apples to oranges....
Feb. 25, 2016
Can I Pay In-State Tuition in Another State?: Tuition Reciprocity Agreements Part 1
It seems that every other day we get asked about the possibility of paying in-state tuition at an out-of-state college. There are so many myths surrounding this concept that it can start to feel like the whole thing is made u...
Feb. 18, 2016
How Do They Decide?: Admissions at Large State Schools
Ever wonder how the admissions process works at large state universities? We’ll give you a hint—it’s not exactly the same as at the Ivies. Kelly Bird, senior assistant director of admission at the University of Georgia will j...
Feb. 11, 2016
The Student Perspective and Responses to Listener Questions
As decisions start to come in next month, many students will be embarking on one of the biggest challenges of the college admissions process: where to actually go! In the first two segments on our new series offering student ...
Feb. 4, 2016
Parents: Please Don't Be More Memorable than your Students!
Standing out in the college admissions process is a great thing. Unless you're the parent, and not the student. Listen is as we share horror stories of parents who are more memorable than their students and get a better under...
Jan. 28, 2016
Finding Money for College After You've Filed the FAFSA
Once you file the FAFSA, it may feel like all you can do is sit and wait to find out how much money the colleges on your list will offer in their packages. But there are actually things that students and parents can be doing ...
Jan. 21, 2016
Researching Colleges and Listener Questions
Over the past few months, we’ve been asking you to send us your thoughts on the things you’d like to hear more about, along with your specific questions. In today’s show, we’re going to answer as many of those admissions and ...
Jan. 14, 2016
Not a Joiner?: Extracurricular Activity Ideas for the Kid Who Hates Clubs
Extracurricular activities are important. After course selection, grades, and test scores, applicants' activities outside of the classroom can be a significant factor in admissions process at many colleges. So what do you do ...
Jan. 7, 2016
The Coalition App: What You Need to Know Now
In the fall of 2015, a coalition of US colleges and universities, including all of the Ivies and a number of other highly selective public and private institutions announced the creation of a new application. Their stated goa...
Dec. 31, 2015
High School Plan for Undergraduate Business Majors
New Year's Resolution: make a plan for your admissions process and another one for how you’re going to pay for college. Today's episode is all about planning ahead, from preparing to complete the FAFSA to making sure you have...
Dec. 24, 2015
Deferred in ED or EA? Here's What to Do
Most of those students who applied via early action or early decision programs have received their answer by now. Unfortunately, some got a definitive no and are on the regular decision. Others got a yes--very exciting!--and ...
Dec. 17, 2015
High School Plan for Future Doctors: Preparing to be Pre-Med
Many of the students we meet with are already set on pursuing a pre-med track when they get to college, with the ultimate goal of attending med school. In this week's show, we'll be doing another high school plan session focu...
Dec. 10, 2015
You Didn't Get In Early: Now What?
So you sent in a few early applications and figured you were done. Now you've gotten the results and they're not good: no acceptances and mostly denials. Don't panic--Kara Courtois is here to help! Join us for advice about fi...
Dec. 3, 2015
College You Can Afford: Finding a Financial Safety
Much of the college process seems to focus on either getting into college or paying for it, as if these two things are mutually exclusive. In this episode, we'll be addressing how to think about how to craft a list with an ey...
Nov. 19, 2015
Should Wealthy People Apply for Financial Aid?
You've run the numbers on the net price calculators and it's pretty clear--you're not going to qualify for any financial aid. Should you apply anyway? We'll tackle that question in this week's show. We're also going to ponder...
Nov. 12, 2015
I've Applied EA and/or ED: Now What?
With the November 1 Early Action and Early Decision application deadlines behind them, many students and parents are wondering what they should do now that the applications are in. Sit back and relax? Get really stressed out ...
Nov. 5, 2015
Submitting Test Scores: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know, And More!
You may have thought that the most challenging thing about standardized testing was taking the actual tests. Many families are discovering that submitting the scores can be even tougher. On this week's episode, we'll take lis...
Oct. 29, 2015
Will My Child Even Get Into College?: Admissions for B Students
If you follow admissions in the news, you might be under the assumption that all students earn As and get rejected from every college to which they apply. Hopefully you have realized that this can't possibly be the case--why ...