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

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

Admission Tips, Admission Trends & Admission InterviewsAdmission Interviews Our mission is to "make college knowledge available to all." Each Thursday, the "Your College-Bound Kid" podcast will discuss a hot college topic in the news; we will answer a question or two that listeners send in, we will interview a "thought leader" in the world of college admissions, and do a "deep-dive," we call Spotlights on a College. Every Monday, we have a second episode to discuss a "hot topic" and interview a "thought leader" in the admissions or college life world. YCBK combines "in-depth knowledge" with a light, easy-to-listen conversational style. We have eight co-hosts, six college counselors, and two current admissions officers, including an Admissions Dean

Episodes

June 2, 2025 86 mins
In this episode you will hear:   Mark shares a letter from a listener with extensive medical school admissions experience. Mark shares a lesson from the counseling room about knowing what your career is going to be when you are still a teenager. Mark shares what rising seniors should be doing now. Mark shares some Personal Statement tips.     Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the Univer...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (02:50) Question from a listener:  Number 1 Julia joins me to answer a question from Cortnie from Connecticut and she wants to know if it is true that sometimes a college blacklists a high school they are not happy with.   (19:04) Question 2 Carter, a student from VA asks a question and we also have a question from an anonymous listener, both questions have to do with preparation for med s...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   Mark shares a story from a meeting he had with a mom in Orange County, CA. Mark talks about the dispute Harvard University is currently facing.   Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona, Understanding Franke Honors College, Part 1 of 2 Preview ² Friends, you are going to see why Honors colleges and public John explains how Franke is d...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (02:24) Question from a listener:  Julia joins me to answer a question from a dad from North Carolina who wants to know if there is a way of figuring out class rank or a proxy for it when it is not explicitly listed.   (16:20) Second Question from a listener: Mark and Hillary answer a question from a listener who has heard that students should not mention their race in their Personal Stateme...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   Mark shares four things from his Texas trip he thinks will be of interest to our listeners. .  Mark shares why he does not think high schools should rank students.   Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the University of  Arizona. John gives an overview of Honors Colleges in the United States. Preview o   John gives an overview of the national landscape ...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (01:45) Question from a listener:  Mark and Hillary answer a question from a listener who wants to know how AI is being used in admissions (17:33) Second Question from a listener: Barry from New Jersey wants to know more about dual enrollment, and especially how dual enrollment classes are interpreted by colleges for a physical applicant (42:20) Interview: Mark Stucker and Nate Haveman,  V...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   Mark shares two things from his Texas trip he thinks will be of interest to our listeners. .  Mark shares how he answers the question, “What Can I Do To Support My Student With The College Admissions Process” Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona, Topic, Understanding the University of Arizona Preview of Part 2 of 2 ·         John...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (01:36) Question from a listener:  Mark and Hillary continue giving tips for college fairs but then they discuss how it lands when a student doesn’t have any service hours. (17:33) Interview: Mark Stucker and Nate Haveman,  VP of enrollment of Hope College Preview of Part 2 of 4 v  Nate and I talk about why college costs so much these days v  Nate goes back to Hope Forward and goes into mor...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   Mark gives out awards in 25 different categories to the 11 colleges he visited in Texas in his 3 weeks he spent in Texas in April.   Mark interviews John Pollard, Dean of Admissions of Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona, Topic, Understanding the University of Arizona Preview of Part 1 of 2 ·         John gives his backstory ·         John shares what changes he has seen at the U...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (02:30) In The News Vince Garcia and Mark Stucker discuss observations from admission decisions from this year’s class. Part 3 of 3 (16:55) Question from a listener:  Mark and Susan answer a question from a listener who wants advice for student who is content getting B’s (50:00) Interview: Mark Stucker and Nate Haveman,  VP of enrollment of Hope College Preview of Part 1 of 4 v  Nate g...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   Mark shares many ways colleges make their admit rates look lower than they are. He shows families a few ways to know if a college is doing this. .   Lisa interviews Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, authors of the Disengaged Teen Preview of Part 4 ²  Rebecca gives us three different insights when it comes to how to appropriately handle technology in your teens life ²  Jenny adds the importa...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (01:55) In The News Vince Garcia and Mark Stucker discuss observations from admission decisions from this year’s class. Part 2 of 3 (18:27) Question from a listener:  Mark and Hillary answer a question from a listener about how her student can demonstrate interest effectively (39:37) Interview: Mark Stucker and David Blobaum, The Co-Founder of Summit Test Prep Debate whether selective co...
Mark as Played
    Mark shares a new survey he will be doing with YCBK listeners; he shares two recommended resources for studendts Mark then shares a project a parents can do to really help their student out a lot with the college process that he isn’t hearing anyone else talking about .   Lisa interviews Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, authors of the Disengaged Teen Preview of Part 3 ²  Jennifer starts by talking about what you can d...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (02:12) In The News Vince Garcia and Mark Stucker discuss observations from admission decisions from this year’s class. (23:34) Question from a listener:  Mark and Susan answer a question from an anonymous listener who has a number of questions about selecting an engineering program (56:18) Interview: Mark Stucker and David Blobaum, The Co-Founder of Summit Test Prep Debate whether sele...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   Mark shares insights from two conversations he had with two admission officers at the SACAC conference Mark then shares how a student can get access to the custom prompts that many colleges require in June or early July, instead of in August when the colleges release their Common Apps.   .   Lisa interviews Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, authors of the Disengaged Teen Preview of Part 2 ²...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (02:32) In The News Andy Strickler shares some of the changes admissions offices are making due to financial pressures. Part 3 of 3 (16:28) Question from a listener:  Mark and Hillary answers questions from listeners about if a student applies for aid and doesn’t submit the CSS PROFILE, should that student not be admitted? (42:05) Interview: Mark Stucker and David Blobaum, The Co-Founde...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   Mark shares how the SAT offering the new September SAT offers up some opportunities in their test prep calendar. This does not mean to imply everyone should take the SAT, but most of our listeners will take the SAT, so here is some advice. Mark shares the importance of having a balanced list, and he shares two sad stories that happened this year to students who did not have a balanced list. Stuck...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (02:05) In The News Andy Strickler shares some of the changes admissions offices are making due to financial pressures.   (16:34) Question from a listener:  Mark and Hillary talk about the things you should not do when attending a college fair.   (41:12) Interview: What employers look for when making hiring decisions, Dawn Williamson, Chief Revenue officer of Media Solutions for Comcas...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   Mark Stucker shares when a student and parent should complete the portions of the college application process that are the most time consuming.   Mark interviews Rob Franek, Editor and Chief of the Princeton Review on the Latest “College Hopes and Worries” Survey Preview of Part 2 v  Rob talks about the responses from the student survey to the question, how far from home do you want to go for col...
Mark as Played
In this episode you will hear:   (05:44) In The News Andy Strickler breaks a lot of news in this 3-part discussion, part 1 looks at how college’s are handling the backlash against DEI initiatives   (28:30) Question from a listener:  Mark and Hillary talk about the things you should do when attending a college fair.    (48:50) Interview: What employers look for when making hiring decisions, Dawn Williamson, Chief Reve...
Mark as Played

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