The Truth about College Admission

Rick and Brennan are joined by one of Intialview's co-founders, Gloria Crawford, to discuss how the platform has been instrumental in the admissions space, how to approach their interviews, what to focus on, and advice for parents navigating the admissions space. Links: Initialview Home Page Chinese Students and U.S. Universities Connect Through a Third Party (2016) - New York Times College A...

Eric Hoover, senior writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education, joins Brennan and Rick to talk about his first impressions of college counseling during his high school days, stories of how he's seen counseling impact people at the ground level, the varying levels of transparency in college aid, and some big admissions items to lookout for in 2024. Links: Articles by Eric The Verification Tr...

To open the spring 2024 episode slate, we welcome Lisa Heffernan, New York Times best selling author of  Grown and Flown: How to Support Your Teen, Stay Close as a Family, and Raise Independent Adults,  as well as the co-founder of Grown and Flown. Rick, Brennan, and Lisa cover how teenagers can navigate potentially toxic questions about their college future, what Grown & Flown can provide in...

To wrap up the 2023 slate, Jennifer Wallace, award-winning journalist and author of the New York Times bestselling book Never Enough: When Achievement Pressure Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It, joins Rick and Brennan to talk about achievement pressure, creating a haven within the home during important times in a child's life, and why mattering matters. Links: Jennifer Wallace'...

Ashley Pallie, Executive Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Chief Admissions Officer at Caltech, joins Rick and Brennan this week to talk about her introduction to higher ed admissions, what she's done to help bring equitable admissions intiatives to the forefront, why they do holistic review at Caltech, and the early returns on doing test-free application reviews. Links: Why Calculus R...

Rick and Brennan are joined by Elizabeth Hamblet learning disabilities Consultant and author of “Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities.” The trio discuss her college journey, what they would prioritize and seek out during a college search, and their recommendations for engaging with disabilities services at your campus. Links: Elizabeth's Website (Consulting...

Rick and Brennan are joined by Jeff Neill, Director of College Counseling at Graded, the American School of São Paolo, to discuss how he has begun to interweave AI into his work life, what it's meant for how he manages his time, and how others can approach AI as a thought partner. Links: Tech-Neill-ogy Newsletter How to use an AI chatbot to help you get into college - Khan Academy How to use...

Rick and Brennan this week welcome Ron Lieber,  the bestselling author of “The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make,” and New York Times “Your Money” columnist. The trio discuss how Ron got into the world of college financial aid, the secret of merit aid, and how he would approach defining success parameters for those maki...

Rick and Brennan are joined by Eric Maguire, the Vice President for Enrollment at Wake Forest University to discuss the initiatives Eric has undertaken to expand early decision options for first generation students, how he approaches college rankings, and gives his advice about diving into the college selection process. Links: Wake Forest's new First Gen Early Action Option GT Blog on Admissi...

This week, President and CEO of the Common Application, Jenny Rickard, joins Rick and Brennan to talk about how her career path lead her into admissions, what the Common Application is doing to identify trends in their data sets, expanding direct admissions standards to more colleges, and how they plan to address AI. Links: https://www.diverseeducation.com/reports-data/article/15543809/new-study-e...

To open season 2 of The Truth about College Admission, Brennan Barnard and Rick Clark are joined by Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, to discuss the current state of how AI is impacting the college admissions process, how currently it is being implemented in admissions reading rooms, how it can be effectively used to improve essays, and what the future might hold with better trained AI. Links...

Season 2 of The Truth about College Admission podcast is here! This season, our hosts Brennan Barnard and Rick Clark bring on another great roster of guests to discuss many of the current topics dominating the college admissions space, from AI to testing to the recent Supreme Court case. Along with those topics, this season will once again bring insight from working face to face with high school s...

Join hosts Rick and Brennan in an engaging episode of "The Truth About College Admission" as they're joined by David Joyner to delve into the fascinating and ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) and its use in academics and college admission. David Joyner is Executive Director of Online Education & OMSCS in Georgia Tech's College of Computing. | https://w...

This week, Jeff Selingo joins Brennan and Rick to discuss return on investment and value across types of colleges, degrees, and skill-building opportunities in college. Burning Glass Report, Making the Bachelor's Degree More Valuable. College Scorecard See more from Jeff here

John Leach, Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment and University Financial Aid at Emory University, joins Rick today to break down college financial aid. He discusses financial aid terminology and the basic calculations that go into determining a package, as well as how and when students and families can discuss and anticipate cost of attendance. Additionally, John shares what students can anticip...

This week, Rick and Brennan are joined by Jon Boeckenstedt, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at Oregon State University. Jon shares thoughts and data on test optional policies as well as behind the scenes insights on admission decision making, that put into perspective why it's so important to focus on the things you can control in your college application and decision. https://jonboeck...

This week Angel Pérez, CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), joins Rick and Brennan for a conversation about his personal journey of experiencing burnout and a discussion of his article where he shared how he found personal and professional joy again. Angel shares insights for college applicants, parents, and professionals who may also be experiencing burnout, a...

This week, Allison Slater Tate joins Rick and Brennan to gives tips on supportive messaging and expectation setting between families and their students, as well as reminders about reprioritizing student contentment in college selection. Allison Slater Tate is a college counselor and a freelance writer and editor in Florida specializing in parenting and college admissions. Check out these pieces on...

In this episode, Rick and Brennan are joined by Angela Duckworth, co-founder, chief scientist, and a board member of Character Lab and Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor at University of Pennsylvania.  Angela shares insights on character development for high school students and finding inner confidence in times of self-doubt, as well as important reassurances for students in the midst of receivin...

This week, Rick and Brennan discuss their goals and priorities for the year, as well recent pieces on priorities juniors might have as they prepare for their admission experience ahead. College Admission Year In Preview: A Playlist Juniors, College Admission Is A Stereogram email your questions: holisticadmission@gmail.com

Happy Festivus 2022! In our final episode of 2022, we walk through a few of the issue as we see them in college admission, including: College Search Grade Inflation Self- Reported Grades More on our two different perspectives on a variety of issues: Forbes 2022 HuffPost 2017

Co-authors Tim Fields (Senior Associate Dean, Emory University ) and Shereem Herndon-Brown (CEO and Founder, Strategic Admissions Advice ) join the podcast to discuss their new book: The Black Family's Guide to College Admission: A Conversation about Education, Parenting, and Race.  Shereem and Tim have extensive experience working with families on the high school side, and making admission d...

This week University of Pennsylvania's Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions, Whitney Soule shares insights on the intentions behind schools' carefully crafted essay prompts, and how students can approach those essays as a way to introduce their character. She discusses Penn's new short answer prompt that invites students to express gratitude to someone that they haven't thanked,...

This week, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Director of Admissions, Andy Borst shares insights on how academic major plays into the review of an application,  the shaping of an incoming class, and a Kung Fu Panda spoiler. He points students to the importance of asking their questions of the schools they are considering- and encourages colleges to display more detailed and differentia...

This week, Agnes Scott College's Director of Admissions, Miya Walker shares insights on how students can think about not only where they will succeed, but more importantly where they will thrive . She helps students and families focus on getting a sense of belonging by pausing to ask what is most important to them-- and looking for a true community, i.e. a place where they will find clubs, or...