College Matters. Alma Matters.

Subscribe to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter Dr. Stacey Sinclair loved the idea of working with bright motivated students. So when an opportunity came up to work with the Honors Program in 2005, Dr Sinclair jumped in with both feet. In 2014, the Honors Program transitioned to Honors College and Dr. Sinclair became the Director of the Weber Honors College. On this Podcast, Director Sinclair intr...

Sign Up to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter Kate took a Gap Year after High School and took part in an International Study Program. When she joined college after her gap year, she felt she was very clear about her goals in college, compared to her peers who had come straight after high school. The one year gap had energized her! In this Podcast, Kate first tells us what a Gap Year is, Why Studen...

Subscribe to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter Prof. Emert is a first generation college graduate. His undergraduate degree was in music performance. His Doctoral work was in Mathematics. He has had a successful career as a Mathematician & Academic. Since 2017, Prof. Emert has been the Dean of BSU Honors College. In this podcast, Dean Emert introduces the BSU Honors College, The Programs, UG...

Making sense of the College News of the week, curated by Alma Matters . Coronavirus continues to drive the news. Shveta Bagade, College Counselor gives us her take on the news. Topics discussed in this episode: UPenn Quietly Redefining Legacy Admissions [] U of Wisconsin Raises Tuition [] Are AP Classes That Helpful [] Our Guest: Shveta Bagade , College Counselor based in Silicon Valley California...

Sign Up to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter Kate fell into College Counseling due to what she calls “a happy accident”. Kate just followed her first year roommate into an interview to be a campus tour guide. She wasn’t interested in doing the interview. But an aggressive future Dean persuaded her to do the interview. Many happy accidents later, Kate is the Director of Counseling at The Overlake...

Subscribe to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter In High School, Grace was, by her own admission, a nerd and an activist. She took lots of AP classes. She played the viola, cello, and violin. She also played varsity tennis. As an activist she fought for Educational Equity and Indigenous causes. When time came to think about college, she felt scared and unprepared. That’s when a good friend introduc...

Subscribe to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter When Emmi Harward attended her public high school, she did not know anyone in her school, whose job was just college counseling. After college, Emmi went into College Admissions. She started by supervising college tour guides and loved interacting with students. That led Emmi to College Counseling roles in High Schools. Today, Emmi is the Executive D...

Making sense of the College News of the week, curated by Alma Matters . Coronavirus continues to drive the news. Shveta Bagade, College Counselor gives us her take on the news. Topics discussed in this episode: Columbia Goes Test Optional Permanently  [] Bard College Drops Out of College Rankings [] College Enrollment Drops Further [] Our Guest: Shveta Bagade , College Counselor based in Sili...

Subscribe to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter One alum would take more classes, difficult ones, another would attend all the daily talks (followed by dinner) on campus by renowned experts, and yet another would befriend professors as future collaborators. There’s more. This episode organizes alumni thoughts on this topic from past episodes, into 6 different buckets , while providing a flavor of...

When Jenny was in college, she did not apply for any of the nationally competitive awards. In fact she didn’t even know of their existence. It so happened that Jenny discovered Fellowship Advising, after she graduated with her PhD. She really liked working with college students, helping them with their writing, and helping develop their goals. In this podcast, Jenny Hyest shares her background, he...

Subscribe to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter The Sciences were Maya’s favorite courses in High School - Chemistry, Biology and Ecology. Especially Chemistry. It seemed aligned with the way her mind worked. Outside of class, she ran cross country, track. Maya joins us on our podcast to share her UG Experience at CU Boulder, UG Research, Hiking Expeditions, and Advice for high schoolers. In parti...

Subscribe to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter Tom admired his coaches in high school. In fact after graduating from High School, he went back to his high school to be a coach under his varsity soccer coach. During that time, he noticed that a number of coaches were also guidance counselors. He liked that enough to get a Master’s degree in School Counseling. But it would be another 20 years befor...

Prof. Haseeb Kazi is a fourth generation academic. For the past 2 decades - He has been living his dream - teaching and doing research. Prof. Kazi has been at the forefront of undergraduate research in Mathematics inspiring, promoting, guiding and facilitating student projects. Prof. Kazi joins us on our podcast to talk about UG Research at Trine University, CUR’s Role, Impact of Research, Success...

Making sense of the College News of the week, curated by Alma Matters . Coronavirus continues to drive the news. Shveta Bagade, College Counselor gives us her take on the news. Topics discussed in this episode: Stanford Tuition and Financial Aid Up  [] Bill in Senate to Clarify College Costs [] Tips for Juniors Before Starting The College Process [] Our Guest: Shveta Bagade , College Counselo...

Lynn was a busy high schooler. She liked a lot of subjects, took a lot of AP classes, and was a good student. She was also into soccer & crochet. In her senior year she took an engineering class, enjoyed it, and decided to pursue it in college. Lynn joins us on our podcast to share her Undergraduate experience at U of Cincinnati, Research in Fuzzy Logic, Fulbright Research Scholarship, Co-op p...

Sean Kennedy’s counseling journey had its origins in High School. Inspired by the impact his High School College Counselor had on him, he jumped at a counseling role early in his career. Sean Kennedy is the Co-Director of College Counseling at Ravenscroft School, as well as an active member of ACCIS, SACAC and other professional organizations. On our podcast, Sean talks about his background, Raven...

Kayla loved the Sciences in High School, especially Physics, Mathematics & Astronomy. In her junior year, Kayla actually wanted to join the military, but she failed the physical due to bad eyesight. Kayla joins our podcast to share her undergraduate college journey at Central State University, winning the Goldwater Scholarship, UG Space Research experiences as CalTech WAVE Fellow, and Advice f...

When Shanita Nichols was a senior in High School, Bottom Line guided her to an affordable college for her undergraduate study. Founded in 1997, Bottom Line addressed the low college graduation rates of first generation students. What started supporting 25 students back then, Bottom Line today, has robust programs for College Access and Success that supports over 7000 students. Today, Shanita Nicho...

Making sense of the College News of the week, curated by Alma Matters . Coronavirus continues to drive the news. Shveta Bagade, College Counselor gives us her take on the news. Topics discussed in this episode: College Rankings Likely to Stay  [] Paying for Study Abroad [] $3.75B in Unclaimed Pell Grants! [] Our Guest: Shveta Bagade , College Counselor based in Silicon Valley California. Reso...

Dr. Menon and his colleagues came up with an undergraduate program at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine for undergrads to go through a mini-medical program, and decide if medicine is for them. Dr. Anil Menon is the Associate Dean of the UG Program in Medical Sciences. In this Podcast, Dr. Menon shares what the medical sciences undergraduate program is, Program Highlights, How to App...

Heather was very focused on academics in High School. She took a lot of advanced courses. Lots of English classes because she initially thought she wanted to be a writer. But Art was where her passion lay, something she had been engaged in, since she was 11. Heather joins our podcast to share her undergraduate honors college journey at Oakland University, about being an artist, her UG Thesis exper...

Luc grew up and went to a big high school in rural Virginia. With the help of engaged teachers, Luc developed a passion for science and art & photography. As a high achieving student, they chose to attend Radford University Honors College as a First Gen student. Luc joins our podcast to share their undergraduate honors college journey at Radford University, UG Research experiences, Study Abroa...

Making sense of the College News of the week, curated by Alma Matters . Coronavirus continues to drive the news. Shveta Bagade, College Counselor gives us her take on the news. Topics discussed in this episode: Early Admissions Still Garners Lot of Interest  [] The ChatGPT Challenge [] Awaiting the Affirmative Action Decision [] Our Guest: Shveta Bagade , College Counselor based in Silicon Va...

As a first generation college student, Prof. Steve Engel was lucky to have been mentored by some great professors. That shaped his undergraduate experience and motivated him to go into academia. In 2005, he became the Director of, what was then, the Honors Program at Georgia Southern, and the Dean in 2020, when the Honors Program transitioned to Honors College. In this podcast, Dean Engel introduc...

By her own admission, Kimber was a book nerd in high school. She also watched True Crime TV Shows. Those shows Inspired her to study some form of forensics by the time she was a senior. So when time came for college, she only looked at colleges with a strong Forensic Anthropology program. Kimber joins our podcast to share her undergraduate honors college journey at Radford University, UG Research...