Episodes

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

How much does the audition matter? Do grades even count? What role does the portfolio play? If you are wondering exactly how admissions works at performing and visual arts programs, College Coach expert Kyra Tyler is here to ...

Ever wondered what colleges mean when they say they are need blind or need aware? Or, more importantly, how those terms affect admissions chances? We'll discuss what the true definition of these terms and investigate the link...

It's peak admissions season here at Getting In! If financial aid is in your future, you need to know the difference between the FAFSA and the CSS Profile. This week's show will take us through why there are two forms, how the...

You may have heard about how important it is to have a balanced list of colleges that includes some reaches, some matches, and some safeties. We're welcoming a student to the show today who ended up with different choices tha...

Ever wonder what colleges mean by the phrase: holistic admissions process? Curious about what really happens around the selection committee table in a college admissions office? In this week's episode, Ian Fisher, Becky Leich...

While most of our content focuses on the almost 3,000 four year colleges and universities in the United States, there are lots of options for advanced study in Canada as well. In this week’s show we’re going to talk about the...

Did you know that the College Board will give students a preview of the new SAT this October when they sit for the PSAT? Designed as a practice for the real thing, the PSAT will roll out a shorter version of the test that wil...

Much of what we see, read, and hear about college admissions seems to imply that even the very best students will struggle finding an institution to accept them. Once you step back from the craziness that surrounds admissions...

Did you know that the University of California system will start accepting applications on November 1 and stop accepting them on November 30? If so, congratulations--you have at least one of the basics covered. But if you hav...

As many of you may be aware, there are some great alternatives to highly selective private colleges and universities for very bright students, Those are the honors programs and colleges at some public universities. We’re goin...

Have you or your student ever had a disciplinary issue that led to a suspension, an expulsion, or even a visit to court? Former Swarthmore senior admissions officer Kennon Dick will join us to share his thoughts about how to ...

The Common App for the 2015-2016 application season made it's official debut this past weekend on August 1. Before you rush to start filling it out, tune in to Getting In as Elyse Krantz and I walk through it and offer inform...

The Common Application is the application of choice for more than 500 colleges and universities in the US and abroad, which makes it fairly common for many students applying to college to use it. Each year the application goe...

It's hard to read any account of the college admissions process these days without hearing about how important extracurricular activities are. What is less widely discussed is that the ways in which you present those activiti...