Let's Talk College

As a recent college graduate now pursuing his Master's degree, Kadeem makes me wonder what I've done with my life. Growing up in Jamaica, Kadeem was a featured cellist who often performed for visiting heads of state. At Seton Hall, he was the principal cellist in the university orchestra. He also has a real estate business. Oh, and he just published his first book, The Full Student. In this episod...

It doesn't take thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to prepare for the SAT or ACT. In this episode I outline 4 key things you need to do to be ready for the tests. 1. Decide on Fall or Spring testing 2. Determine which test to focus on 3. Select the dates that work for you 4. Plan for focused prep Link to a free ACT practice test: https://cloud.e.act.org/free-practice-act-test Link to more...

Al's son is headed to the Colorado School of Mines next year. As a parent, he has just guided his student through this process and shares the insights he gained along the way. He shares how his son ended up choosing this particular school from the list of 21 schools he applied to as well as the things he found most important as a part of the process. 

A parent recently asked me for help. Her 8th grader was having to fill out her high school plan and had a limited idea of what careers were out there. She knew what mom and dad did and what she'd seen on TV. Where should she start? I didn't know, so I invited Lisa Marker Robbins, founder of Flourish Coaching, to sit down and share her insights into how parents can help their students with those de...

Chris is one of the first students I ever helped with the college admissions process. He had many tough decisions to make when applying to college, not the least of which was the best way to share how he overcame a significant obstacle. When he was done, he had offers from Georgia Tech and Duke. Instead he chose the University of Texas at Dallas. For some great reasons. He now works at Microsoft w...

If you've ever heard that some test dates are easier than others, the person saying it doesn't know what they're talking about. On the other hand, you can get more out of some test dates than others because of a special service both College Board and the ACT offer. Find out how to incorporate those opportunities into your college admissions plan.

Ronell Smith is about to start the college admissions process with his older daughter. We talked about what they've focused to this point in the process and what his and his daughter's conversations have been about their goals.

Jordan was determined to graduate from UT-Austin, so when the offer via the CAP program came, he took it. He graduated from UT-Austin in 2019 with a degree in Economics. The road had its bumps, and he shares insights into how he got to the job he's working at now.

Parents and students find the ACT and SAT frustrating. Unlike many things in the student's college prep process, parents can actually get an understanding of what a student is up against when it comes to these tests: take a free one for themselves. You'll get a better idea of how your student is being asked about rectangles and commas. Click here for a free ACT Click here for a free SAT

It was great talking to Natalie about what she's doing at Raising Cane's. She's even had the chance to be in one of their commercials. It's fair to say that working as an "internal support specialist" wasn't what she thought she'd be doing when she started college, but she's found a career she loves. Find out how she got there.

We see the headlines about students who "got into all the Ivies". We read stories about how college acceptance rates are going down. Are those stories the template or the outlier? In this College Insight episode, I focus on 5 things that create a compelling college application.

Maddy has always been passionate. While studying at Northeastern, she has focused that passion towards social equality, particularly with a couple of causes in her home town of Southlake, TX. The two of us represent very different perspectives on the world we're living in, and we had a great conversation about how disparate perspectives can coexist.

Find out about our new program called Parent University. Stef Mauler, founder of The Mauler Institute, and I discuss the community we're building that we call Parent University. We talk about the successful launch of our live event and the Facebook group we've built as a result of it. Click here to find out more about an upcoming Parent University live event Click here to join the Parent Universit...

Ariel is a Computer Science Ph. D. candidate at MIT. He dreamed of going to MIT while he was in high school. He shares how the path he took to get there and the decisions he made along the way that helped him realize that dream.

This time of year parents of high school seniors are experiencing sticker shock. Their students worked hard to earn an admission to their dream college, and then the financial award letters start coming in. Researching the cost of attending a particular school needs to be a critical part of that process. It can be a difficult conversation to have with your student, but if cost will be a factor, th...

What are your options for to prepare for the SAT and ACT? What are the different approaches companies take to creating their programs? What should you look for in finding a test prep partner? I sat down with two of the best test prep professionals in the country to get their perspective on the SAT, ACT, and college admissions as they are today. Brian Eufinger owns Edison Prep, based in Atlanta, GA...

Selective colleges are now expecting students to have completed courses in high school that require planning to take that course several years in advance. In this bonus episode, I share what those expectations are and when that planning needs to take place.

When Eric started in the theater program at USC, one of only 12 students selected for that program, he was confident his path was clear. Then life happened. He shares the amazing story of how he went from 2005 Best One-Act actor in the state of Texas to working behind the scenes as he builds his own dream in a different way. This episode is a fabulous look at working through the plans when the pla...

Last Spring the majority of colleges and universities created an admissions process where students did not have to submit test scores. The shorthand for this process is "Test Optional". A year later, we're seeing 2 very interesting developments from that process.

For many of us helping students apply to college today, the process is vastly different from what it was when we applied to college. It's even worse if you weren't educated in the U.S. Richard Smith has 2 daughters who went to the University of Oklahoma. One graduated last year (Ciara Smith in episode 7) and the other graduates this year. In addition to talking about how to manage the differences...

In these bonus episodes, I'm going to focus on items that are typically difficult for students. The tough part about creating a college list is knowing where to start. In this short segment, I share the resources we use to help students create a list of 7-10 schools that are right for them.

A great conversation about an experience so many students have. In high school, Chelsea knew she wanted to get away from home, so she decided to go to UNLV. After a semester, she realized it wasn't for her. She shares how she came to that realization and how she STILL managed to graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington in just 3 years after a transfer and some bad advice from her college...

Gabriella Smith, professionally known as Gabriella Mykal, graduated from SMU with a BFA in Visual Art and a B.S. in Economics in May of 2020 and is pursuing an MFA in Film/Video Production at the California Institute of the Arts. We track how she discovered her passion for film and the work she is doing today as well as what the future plan are. We also take a look at how her unique grad school is...

Tom is currently a flight instructor working with corporate pilots. He went from being a flight mechanic to a corporate pilot to his current role. We talk about the state of the industry for both commercial and corporate pilots and the many different ways people can have careers in either of those areas. 

In high school, Kelley was an exceptional athlete. When he headed off to Sam Houston State, he planned to study Criminal Justice and Forensic Science. Three years into that plan he discovered a passion for music that has led him to become one of the best rock and roll guitarists in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His band Mothership has produced 4 albums and he is now working on a collaboration with o...