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-Founder of Summit Test Prep Debate whether selective colleges should make the SAT or the ACT mandatory Preview of Part 1 of 3 ² David Blobaum gives his backstory ² David says what his test score policy would be if he were working at a highly selective school and here is a hint, I don’t agree with him ² I ask David what he thinks about using AP scores instead of SAT or ACT scores ² David gives some proof that colleges are using test scores ² David shares why he feels selective colleges need to use test scores in their admissions decisions. ² I share some other factors that can be used besides test scores that in my opinion, are better to use than test scores ² I share the primary reason why I am not in favor of test-mandatory admissions ² I share a creative idea that he would like to see colleges use that allows some use of scores without them having inappropriately too much weight in the admissions decisions. (01:12:08) College Spotlight-Jim Bok Interview, Understanding Swarthmore College Preview of Part 1 ² Jim Bock tells his story from leaving Austin, Texas and heading to Swarthmore, first as a student ² Jim shares how he answers the question, I’ve never heard of Swarthmore, what can you tell me about Swarthmore ² Jim explains how Swarthmore’s founding is different from Haverford, another Quaker school that they are often compared to ² Jim shares the intellectual qualities that when he is reading a file, makes him think, this could be a good match for Swarthmore ² Jim shares the Personal Qualities that Swat values ² Jim explains how Committee Based Evaluation, also known as CBE works at Swarthmore College and how they use CBE to evaluate an admission applicant ² Jim explains the difference between reading a file with CBE vs the traditional way they read files before they implemented CBE ² Jim shares why he finds reading by school group helps the admission file reading process (57:46) Recommended Resource-The Admissions section of each website: Here is a section that says what Swarthmore looks for in a student: Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live. You can ask questions on Twitter that he will answer on the pod