Admissions Beat

Ever wondered how the elements of a college application came to be the elements of the college application? Today, essays, testing, recommendations, and interviews are fundamental ingredients of most selective admissions processes, but they were not always part of a college application as it evolved over the last 125 years. Dartmouth’s admissions dean Lee Coffin and Maria Morales-Kent, a former ad...

“I’ve never of it is…” is a frequent reaction from students and parents as college options are introduced, but there is real opportunity when a student is open to options that aren't fully “known.” AB host Lee Coffin welcomes Clark University’s Emily Roper-Doten, Ben Baum from Saint John’s College in Annapolis and Sante Fe, and college counselor Kate Boyle Ramsdell from Noble and Greenough School...

For students around the world, going to college in America has been a goal of many for decades. AB host LeeCoffin and his guest Robin Appleby—who led schools in London, The Hague and Dubai—ponder the opportunities of American higher education for an international audience of prospective applicants. Appleby encourages students to explore the “why?” of applying to schools abroad and to ask questions...

AB host Lee Coffin probes the lessons learned by students and a parent from last year’s admissions process. He is joined by four first-year college students who reflect on their own admissions processes—and the lessons learned. Ashley Kim of Chandler, Arizona, Isabel Carleton of Columbus, Ohio, Romello McRae of Los Angeles, California, and Witold Ambroziak of Warsaw, Poland ponder misconceptions a...

In Part 2 of AB’s “advising all-stars” roundtable discussion from the annual meeting of the National Association for College Admission Counseling in Los Angeles,  host Lee Coffin and recurring co-host Jacques Steinberg ponder the role (if any) of a student’s social media presence in the college admissions process. They also lead a lively discussion about “being in the essay space” as applications...

What happens when 20 admissions folks gather in a meeting room at their annual conference in Los Angeles? They have lots to say! AB host Lee Coffin and his recurring co-host Jacques Steinberg convene an all-star cast of previous AB guests (and a few new voices) for a wide-ranging, two-part conversation about all things admissions. This week, they ponder the steadiness of admissions fundamentals am...

As high school seniors take a deep breath, open a blank document, and begin to craft their college essays, Admission Beat host Lee Coffin empowers them to ask this question: “Who do I want the admission officer to meet?” Coffin and his guests offer words of advice on contemplating audience, the art of brevity, and framing “lived experiences” as addressed in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision o...

With October on the near horizon, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin encourages seniors to get in gear and begin thinking about the nuts and bolts of their applications. His guests, Jennifer Simons, Director of Bright Horizons College Coach, and Darryl Tiggle, Director of College Counseling at the Friends School of Baltimore, offer guidance on tackling “the deliverables” of the admissions process—ess...

Kicking off Season Six of the Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth welcomes listeners back to school as another admissions cycle commences. Raising the curtain on the admissions process for high school juniors and seniors, as well as their parents and counselors, Coffin and his guests offer a sampler of “news you can use,” with tips on everything from managing the stress of the search and...

As the school year ends, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin holds his final “office hours” with listeners for this podcast season. For graduating seniors, he advises them to “finish strong” and check their inboxes as pre-matriculation communications arrive from their chosen college. For parents preparing to say goodbye as seniors head to college in the fall, he offers practical and philosophical advi...

What if math was a fundamental skill you could develop, rather than something you were simply good or bad at? Engineering programs are designed to blend theory with practice—analysis with practical problem solving. But engineering also spans organically across disciplines into the humanities and social sciences. This week on AB, host Lee Coffin dives into the undergraduate realm of engineering pro...

What advice do this year’s high school seniors and their parents have for those who will follow in future college application cycles? AB host Lee Coffin and Jacques Steinberg, co-author of “The College Conversation,” recently put that question to an audience gathered on the Dartmouth campus for admitted students’ programming. We also asked them what they learned, what they wished they had done dif...

The conversations, debates and diverse voices that animate a college campus are essential elements of an undergraduate experience. As seniors visit campuses for accepted student open houses and as juniors follow tour guides for introductory visits, AB host Lee Coffin shares an essay he wrote on the importance of assessing campus dialogue as part of those visits.

“’How will this look for colleges…?’ is the most common question I get from juniors as they select senior year courses,” reports longtime college counselor Eric Monheim. For sure, the quality of an applicant’s senior year program—and the grades achieved in that course of study—is a foundational element of the academic assessment of every application to a selective college. This week, AB host Lee C...

For centuries, the liberal arts have been foundational to the mission of higher education. But trying to explain the concept of this course of study — and the multifaceted roadmap a liberal arts degree provides for one’s life and work in the 2020s and beyond—can be challenging. And so AB host Lee Coffin called in a specialist: Cecilia Gaposchkin, a Dartmouth history professor whose courses range f...

Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin considers April the “13th month” of the college admissions calendar. For many high school seniors, April brings a sense of closure, as they move from receiving their admissions decisions to weighing (and deciding) where to enroll. For many high school juniors, April represents a beginning – the official start of their college search. This week, Dean Coffin presents...

What constitutes a strong SAT or ACT score? What do admissions officers mean when they say they consider scores in context? If a college is test-optional, should you submit your scores, or if it requires testing, are your scores strong enough to apply? The answers may surprise you. To talk through these and other questions, AB host and Dartmouth Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin is joined by Dartmouth...

What’s it like to read applications at a highly selective college or university for the first time? Not so long after their own college graduations, Dartmouth admissions officers Clarissa Hyde, Will Kieger, Laura Rivera-Martinez, and Jackie Pageau have spent the last few months reading and evaluating hundreds of applications. This week on AB, they join their boss, Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin, to...

Ever wonder how admissions officers decide which applicants to invite to join the incoming class? Jacques Steinberg, who wrote a New York Times best-seller, "The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College," based on a year of reporting at Wesleyan two decades ago, spent a day behind the closed doors of Dartmouth's undergraduate admissions selection committee. In this encore ep...

Public opinion polls reveal a surprising shift in American views on higher education: roughly half of the parents surveyed imagine a four-year college degree as the educational goal for their child, down from near-universal support for that same goal when that question was posed a decade ago. While “college” has been a central component of the storied “American Dream” for decades, that ideal seems...

What would it be like to be a former admissions officer guiding your own child through a college search? While they know a lot more than most parents, the emotions they experience as parents—paired with the lessons they learned from inside an admissions committee—are likely relatable (and instructive) for any parent. Listen in as Lee Coffin of Dartmouth interviews three former colleagues who are n...

This week, Admissions Beat wades into the topic of college affordability. For high school seniors, we provide up-to-the-minute insight and tips on navigating the rollout of the new FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is causing delays in award calculations. For high school juniors, we introduce the topic of affordability as a “non-negotiable” factor as you and your families...

How might a high school junior begin the journey of self-discovery that is the bedrock of the college search? In an encore episode of Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth recommends that prospective applicants point a virtual camera at themselves and snap an "existential selfie." It's an exercise that can reveal values, priorities, and guiding questions. His guests, all undergraduates at...

 Throughout this winter, 11th graders will find themselves seated across from a college counselor in their high school, perhaps for the first time. The topic: kicking off a process of search and discovery intended to yield a college list by the start of senior year. But where and how to begin? To answer that question, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth is joined by two former university...

For our Season 5 premiere, Admissions Beat turns its attention to high school juniors. Host Lee Coffin, dean of admissions at Dartmouth, previews what prospective applicants can expect in the months ahead. He encourages them to start with an “existential selfie” to understand what they’re seeking in a college experience. He and his guests also provide tips on building a college list and assessing...