Your College Bound Kid | Admission Tips, Admission Trends & Admission Interviews

In this episode you will hear: (03:06) Mark answers a question from a listener about, how to know if your test scores are good enough? (21:48) Hilary and Mark take a second question from a listener about whether a poor grade can be dropped from a transcript Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" (35:08) Mark interviews Owen Blight, Dean of Admissi...

In this episode you will hear: Updates on our YouTube Channel Christina Lopez discuss "double deposits", what are they, whey they occur and are they wrong? Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" Mark and Christina discuss what is keeping chief enrollment officers up at night. They discuss how the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision has imp...

In this episode you will hear: (07:42) Mark and and Chris answer a question from Dave about whether to submit your test scores to a selective test-optional college Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" (33:24) Mark and Christina discuss a question about the changes to the Parent PLUS loan Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and cu...

In this episode you will hear: Mark shares an important video he will be adding to the Your College-bound Kid YouTube channel in the next few months. Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" (05:25) Mark interviews Micki Meyer, the Assistant VP for Student Affairs-3 of 3 § Micki gives us her six C framework for helping your kid to transition to coll...

In this episode you will hear: Mark gives an update on Your College-Bound Kid, YouTube Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" (18:38) Carter Delloro joins Mark to answer a question from a listener about what an 8th grader can do now (39:37) Mark interviews Micki Meyer, the Assistant VP for Student Affairs-2 of 3 § Micki, gives advice her advice fo...

In this episode you will hear: We play several comments that listeners sent in about what is grinding their gears and Mark shares his thoughts on their messages Mark shares a major announcement about a change that is coming to Your College-Bound Kid Mark reads Part 5 of 11 articles the Chronicle for Higher Ed released o the dire financial crisis colleges face Mark interviews Micki Meyer, the Assis...

In this episode you will hear: We play several comments that listeners sent in (14:35) Hilary joins Mark to discuss how, being interested in a major that a college does not offer can impact your admission decision. Mark and Hilary does 3/2 programs. Mark reads Part 4 of 11 articles the Chronicle for Higher Ed released o the dire financial crisis colleges face (44:50) Lisa interviews Dr. Tricia Sei...

In this episode you will hear: Susan joins mark to answer a follow-up question about whether a student without impressive extracurricular activities that they will be bringing to their college can get in a selective college Mark reads Part 3 of 11 articles the Chronicle for Higher Ed released o the dire financial crisis colleges face Christina Lopez and Mark discuss a question from a listener from...

In this episode you will hear: Mark reads Part 2 of 11 articles the Chronicle for Higher Ed released o the dire financial crisis colleges face (10:25) Christina Lopez and Mark discuss a question from a listener about the Parent Plus loan changes Mark explains new creative and aggressive recruiting colleges are us (59:07) Mark interviews Dan Chambliss on how to get the most out of college. They als...

In this episode you will hear: Mark explains some major changes we will be making at Your College-Bound Kid is making. Mark reads Part 1 of 11 articles the Chronicle for Higher Ed released o the dire financial crisis colleges face Mark explains new creative and aggressive recruiting colleges are using (24:10) Mark and guest host, Chris Teare, answer a question from a student from Texas who is look...

In this episode you will hear: (22:22) Kate and Mark answer a question from a listener from the Northeast who wants to know (57:58) Mark interviews Daniel Chambliss, author of the book, "How College Works" on the topic of, what is the value of a Liberal Arts education Preview-Part 1 § Dan gives his backstory § Dan tells us what college does uniquely well § I share what college did for Karis and Jo...

In this episode you will hear: Why the University of Florida adding Early Decision is so significant Mark talks about some new and creative ways AO's are using AI -Part 2 Mark interviews Andy Strickler about the challenges college admission leaders faced in 2026. We focus on predictive modeling in this segment o Andy and I have a very honest conversation about predictive modeling. Andy tells us wh...

In this episode you will hear: (04:15) Hilary and Mark answer a question from a listener from Minneapolis who wants to know why there is so little conversation about colleges with under 500 students (25:32) Mark takes a question from a listener from Pennsylvania who has several questions about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (51:08) Mark interviews a current Wake Forest student; they...

In this episode you will hear: Mark talks about some new and creative ways AO's are using AI Mark interviews Andy Strickler about the challenges college admission leaders faced in 2026. Part 2-Preview o We continue our conversation about the reasons why Connecticut College is adding Early Action o We talk about some of the creative ways colleges are trying to yield students o We talks about some c...

In this episode you will hear: (05:01) Hilary and Mark answer a question from a listener from Cincinnati who wants to know why the high school will not share the School Profile with him (24:44) Lisa interviews Suzanne Hanna and they discuss tips to help girls successfully transition to college-3 of 3 Preview of Part 3 o Suzanne and Lisa spend most of part 3 continuing their discussion about the pr...

In this episode you will hear: Mark shares two special events coming up no 6/1 and 10/6 for YCBK listeners and then Hilary takes a question from a listener about the activity section of the application Mark interviews Andy Strickler about the challenges college admission leaders faced in 2026. Part 1-Preview o Mark and Andy have a discussion about what made 2026 so challenging for so many colleges...

In this episode you will hear: (03:05) Carter and Mark answer a question from a listener who wants to know why colleges are sending recruitment mail to her current college students. (26:04) Lisa interviews Suzanne Hanna and they discuss tips to help girls successfully transition to college-2 of 3 Preview of Part 2 o Suzanne talks about teenage rebellion o Suzanne talks about the kid she calls, "th...

In this episode you will hear: Jed continues with what he started in part 1 giving us a broad overview of self-prep, group prep and one on one and various hybrid models Jed discusses ways to support kids struggling with negative self-talk, and explores how tutors can assist students dealing with test anxiety Jed talks about the biggest value that the one-on-one tutor brings Jed answers the questio...

In this episode you will hear: (05:20) Carter and Mark discuss some of the things their seniors and juniors are doing right now (23:19) Lisa interviews Suzanne Hanna and they discuss tips to help girls successfully transition to college-1 of 3 Preview of Part 1 o Suzanne is a life coach for college girls-she gives her backstory o Suzanne tells us what a life coach for college girls consists of o S...

In this episode you will hear: o Mark plays an important message a listener sent in via Speakpipe Jed Applerouth-Is Self-Prep, Group-Prep or One-On-One Test Prep best for your student-1 of 3 o Jed gives his background, how he went from consulting with Mckinsie to starting a national test prep company that has over 200 tutors o Jed spent 7 years working on his PHD where he looked at 2500 kids who d...

In this episode you will hear: (04:51) Kate joins Mark to answer a question from a listener who wonders what her student can do in her application when all her time has been spent on gymnastics in HS, and she won't be doing gymnastics in college (25:29) Susan and Mark respond to a mom asking how her student, who struggled with depression and anxiety in high school, can obtain a strong teacher reco...

In this episode you will hear: o Mark shares two important announcements o Heath tells us whether he thinks Texas schools emphasize resumes more than other colleges o Heath makes a statement about a trend he is seeing when it comes to class rank and student applications o Heath tells us how we can read between the lines to know if a college admission office likes you to submit a resume o Heath ham...

In this episode you will hear: (14:07) Kate joins Mark to answer a question from a listener who wonders how her student can pick a college when they are undecided about which college major is right for them (28:51) Susan and Hilary join Mark to answer a question about how much rigor is enough rigor for a student hoping to be an athletic recruit (45:55) College Spotlight-Lisa joins Mark to discuss...

In this episode you will hear: o Mark shares on additional important point about who gets in the most competitive colleges Heath Einstein, the chief enrollment officer at TCU-Tips for Submitting a Quality Resume for College o Heath tells us how a college resume is different from a work-based resume o Heath tells us what makes an effective resume o I share with Heath the things I tell students to e...

In this episode you will hear: (04:14) In our Question from a Listener-Susan and Hilary join Mark to respond to a comment from a listener about something that is grinding his gears (20:47) In the final segment on how to stand out in the most competitive applicant pools, Mark shares observations and similarities he sees from the kids who have been admitted to the most selective universities in all...