After spending hours on your applications, filling out financial aid forms, and waiting for what might feel like an eternity to get an answer, it can be tempting to accept the first offer that comes along. They like you, they really, really like you! And you like them—what’s the problem? We’ll tell you on the show. We’re also talking to a former Wharton admissions officer about MBA’s—what it is and whether or not it might be right for you. In Office Hours, we’ll be exploring test optional policies to help listeners better understand how they might work to a student’s advantage.

I worked at the University of Chicago admission office back in the dark ages, around the turn of the century, when we still read our applications on paper. Around the time you, if you’re a senior in high school, were born. Back then, under a previous Dean of Admission, we were already careful not to weigh test scores too heavily. Sure, they mattered, but the student with the perfect 1600 whose activities were middling and essays were uninteresting did not have an advantage over the student with the 1450 who wrote an excellent essay and whose love of learning and intellectual spirit shined through the app. So while UChicago has momentarily rocked the admission world by being the first major research university in the top tier of selectivity to go test optional, in some ways I expect that the admission process will not change too much. The importance of a student’s love of learning and their intellectual spirit will continue to be a priority in the application over their test scores.

Test optional colleges– a good thing and getting better.

My sister-in-law is a great example. She’s a Vice President at a well-known university, handles very serious situations that affect the health of the university on a daily basis, and is exactly the person you’d want in charge of those situations. She was a top student in her high school class and, in her words, “my SATs were awful.” In the 80’s, low test scores was much more of an issue and that limited her college options.

In this week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, Elizabeth Heaton and her guests debunk myths about attending college in the UK, advise high school seniors and their parents about tuition payment plans, and answer common questions surrounding standardized testing.

In last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Beth Heaton spent the whole hour celebrating open “office hours,” focusing on listener questions and the next School’s Out! segment.

Perhaps you’ve heard the news that the SAT will give students a new “adversity score” that will share more about their social and economic background with colleges? If not, you must not work in college admissions, college counseling, or a high school setting, be a teenager, have a teenager, know a teenager, or know someone with a teenager. The news exploded with so much force on Thursday as to almost—almost—eclipse the big bang of #OperationVarsityBlues.

Last month we reviewed how to complete the first three pages of your Common Application. Today we’re taking a deep dive into the four remaining sections of the Common App: the testing, activities, writing, and (relatively new) courses & grades pages. Unlike the first part of the Common App, these pages require a significant amount of writing and allow you to share more of your personal story with admissions officers. Keep reading to discover how to make a positive impression on your Common App!

Are you looking at test-optional schools? Planning to apply to the University of California system? Have questions about loans or the FAFSA? Then this episode of the Getting In: A College Coach Conversation is just for you! As we move into the days and weeks where students are returning to school, we’re shifting gears to discuss the ever-more timely ins and outs of specific college application processes. This week, college admissions advisor Sally Ganga filled in as host.

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: Providence College
Providence, RI

In our last blog post, Using Naviance: How to Get Organized, we discussed how to get started with Naviance. This installment focuses on how to best utilize the program.