A recent report published by leading colleges and universities is calling for concrete changes to the college admissions process. Here, two of our expert educational consultants discuss their opinions and ideas about the report.

Ian Fisher: Last month, I wrote an opinion piece for our blog on Turning the Tide, a report compiled by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and endorsed by college admissions professionals nationwide. In the month or so since that report has been released, I’ve seen a mix of skepticism, usually from admissions professionals and school counselors, and optimism, usually from those on the outside of the field looking in. At the heart of this tension is a big question: is this something new? And will it change how colleges approach admissions? I’m interested in getting your (Elyse Krantz’s) take on those two questions, but I’m also interested in continuing the conversation for our readers.

On last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, Sally Ganga stepped in as guest host to discuss pre-dentistry studies, college co-op programs, and how to compare college finance awards.

Understanding Pre-Dentistry

Admissions expert, Christine Kenyon, helped listeners understand what “pre-dentistry” really means in the context of both high school and college preparation.  She pointed out the similarity to pre-med courses students would pursue but underscored some main differences between the two paths: pre-dentistry students typically want to be in a helping, health field but not necessarily in a life or death situation; pre-dentistry students also tend to have an interest in business as many dentists start their own practice. 

If you have a student in eleventh or twelfth grade, chances are you’ve heard of the National Merit Scholarship.  All test takers in their third year of high school are automatically considered for the National Merit Scholarship when they take the Preliminary SAT (PSAT), as the National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a co-sponsor of the exam. This non-profit organization recognizes students with the highestscores on the PSAT each year with a scholarship.  In fact, the alternate name for the PSAT is the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT).

On last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, guest host Ian Fisher shared some insight on the college process from the perspective of a large, public university, helped listeners better understand the process of financial aid verification, and shed some light on how colleges evaluate the high school that your child attends.

College Admissions, Georgia Style

Wondering about how large, public universities make their admissions decisions? Kelly Bird, Senior Assistant Director of Admission at the University of Georgia, joined the show to explain how UGA evaluated the 23,000 applications they received this year.

Last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation was a special and exceptionally useful opportunity to get advice straight from those who know the college search process best: two first-year college students!

The Student Perspective

In each of the first two segments, Beth’s guests shared their unique college search stories. Lexi began her very thoughtful search by tagging along on college visits with her older brother, then researching and applying to a variety of schools through Regular Decision, finally making her college decision right before May 1. C.J. also researched a variety of schools, just as Lexi did, but he applied and was accepted to his first choice through Early Decision. Both had marvelous (and unscripted!) insights to share – you won’t want to miss it.

On last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, Elizabeth shared cautionary tales of parents who made more of an impression than their children, the myths behind financial aid for transfer applicants, and tips for what seniors should (and shouldn’t) be doing while they wait for their decisions to return.

On last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, Sally Ganga stepped in as guest host and discussed with her guests how to get the most out of a college visit, middle school strategies for future success, and what seniors can do to optimize their financial aid after submitting the FAFSA.

Getting the Most Out of the College Visit

Visiting colleges is costly both in terms of time and money.  Kyra Tyler offered tips on how to maximize the time spent on campus so that a student will walk away with a real sense of the specific community and culture.

Editor’s Note: This is an opinion piece from one of our educators. We will be following up this piece with a more detailed and nuanced breakdown of the report discussed here, Turning the Tide.

On January 20, the Harvard Graduate School of Education released a new report on the state of college admissions that was endorsed by senior admissions staff and deans from schools all over the country, including those from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Brown. Titled Turning the Tide, the report outlines specific challenges to college admissions offices, encouraging them to find ways to relieve the pressure of the college admissions arms race and support better, more conscientious students nationwide. While the core values of the report are clear, well-articulated, and of critical importance, as a former admissions professional and College Coach educator, it’s hard for me to see the ways that this report will create meaningful change for college-bound high school students nationwide.

One of the best things about hosting a weekly radio show is that we have the opportunity to connect with a much broader and more diverse audience than we would otherwise. In last week’s show, we used that opportunity to bring listener questions to the air, providing our advice for how to manage some challenging situations. From finance questions regarding scholarship deadlines and student loans to admissions questions about foreign language requirements and first-generation student status, our experts peppered the airwaves with some really terrific content for families of high school-aged students.

Some of the best news for high school families last fall was the news that we would be renewing our radio show, Getting In: A College Coach Conversation for 2016. Last Thursday was our 48^th show and our first of 2016. And we started the year with the same great admissions and financial aid conversations that made our show popular in 2015. As always, the show is free for download on VoiceAmerica, or you can subscribe through iTunes. Give us a rating when you make the download! You can join us live at 4pm EST every Thursday, or listen at your leisure.

On last week’s show, Beth Heaton and her guests delved into the new Coalition Application, common questions and mistakes on the FAFSA, and extracurricular activities for the burgeoning writer or journalist.