Episodes
Oct. 28, 2021
Value and ROI of a Liberal Arts College; Early Round Results
Wondering why you might want to consider a liberal arts college? Tune in this week for our thoughts on the benefits and the potential return on investment you can see from a liberal arts degree. Office Hours this week feature...
Oct. 21, 2021
Penn State Honors College Essays; Yale Supplemental Essays
The application for Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College features 10 additional essays. We will walk you through each one. We’re also exploring two calculators essential to understanding how much you will pay for college, the...
Oct. 14, 2021
Why We Hate the Costco Essay; Early Deadlines; Merit Scholarships
A few years ago, an essay with Costco at its center made the media circuit as an example of a powerful and successful college essay. We don’t like it, and we’re going to share why. The Merit Scholarship program gets a lot of ...
Oct. 7, 2021
State School Essays; Listener Q&A
Ever wonder how important essays are in the process at large state universities? It probably won’t surprise you to learn that it depends! In this week’s first segment, we share our thoughts on when these essays really matter ...
Sept. 30, 2021
CSS Profile; Reporting Test Scores; University of Chicago Essays
For most colleges, applying for financial aid is as simple as filling out the FAFSA. But a smaller group of schools also requires the CSS Profile. We’ll share what to expect if you need to complete that form as well. In the e...
Sept. 23, 2021
Filing the FAFSA; Visual & Fine Arts Programs; Wake Forest Essays
Should you file the FAFSA even if you don’t qualify for financial aid or have no plans to apply for financial aid? These are questions we frequently field, especially during the fall, and we’re going to answer them on today’s...
Sept. 16, 2021
AP Capstone Program; College Bills; Balanced College Lists
AP Capstone Program; College Bills; Balanced College Lists For seniors finalizing their college lists, one of the most important things to consider is whether it’s a balanced one. All reaches? Not good. All safeties? Might be...
Sept. 9, 2021
What Does It Mean When Colleges Send You Mail?; Listener Q&A
What does it mean when colleges send you mail? We discuss examples from a few different schools where we worked, and share thoughts on what to do with the mail you receive. We’re also answering your college finance and admiss...
Sept. 2, 2021
UC Essays; Repaying Federal Student Loans; Stories From Our Team
Starting the University of California application and wondering how to tackle those essays? We’ll discuss how to approach them in this week’s podcast. In another in our series on our team’s own college stories, Lisa Albro sha...
Aug. 26, 2021
Fall Admissions Timelines for High School Seniors; Using Naviance
School is officially back for most seniors, and it’s time to focus on the application process in earnest. We have timelines for both the admissions and the college finance process, including what needs to get done and when. F...
Aug. 19, 2021
Community Service; Mental Health and Financial Aid; the PSAT
A few years ago, we wrote a blog titled, “Colleges Don’t Care About Community Service.” In this week’s show, we’ll share whether or not our opinions on this topic have changed. In other segments, we’ll look at the link betwee...
Aug. 12, 2021
Researching Colleges; Applying Early; Finance Tips for Graduates
A great college list starts with academics, namely majors. If a college doesn’t have any in your areas of interest, it’s off the list! We have tips for how to go about researching majors. We also have finance advice for recen...
Aug. 5, 2021
Stories From Our Team; Listener Q&A
In another in our series on our team’s own college stories, Kyra Tyler joins the show to talk about pursuing a bachelor of arts in flute performance at Northwestern despite having no interest in a musical career. Tune in to l...
July 29, 2021
Demonstrated Need; 3+2 Engineering Programs; Supplemental Essays
What does it mean when a college states that they cover 100 percent of demonstrated financial need? Is that too good to be true? We have thoughts—and facts—and we’ll share them! For those students interested in engineering, w...
July 22, 2021
Financial Fit; Supporting Your Recruited Athlete; UC Myths
We frequently—and strongly—suggest that families discuss what they can afford when it comes to college. But talking money can be challenging. We have advice to make “the talk” a bit easier. Athletic recruitment has many movin...
July 15, 2021
Tips for Transitioning to College; The Importance of Saving Money
Congrats to all graduating seniors who successfully applied to college and are preparing to start this fall. Laura Amigone, a college success coach from Rudder Coaching, joins the podcast this week to offer advice to these st...
July 8, 2021
Preparing for College Interviews; Listener Q&A
College interviews aren’t part of the process at many colleges in the US. But interviews are an opportunity for candidates to add a more personal component to their applications at those institutions that offer them. Find out...
July 1, 2021
Early Education Degrees; Common App Essay; Personal Finance 101
Interested in earning teaching young children as your career? Learn more about the Horizons Teacher Degree Program, a no-cost degree program for all full-time employees in Bright Horizon’s early education centers and preschoo...
June 24, 2021
Tips for Transfers; Paying for Advanced Degrees; Physical Therapy
Are you heading off to college pretty sure you want to transfer after year one? We have some thoughts about this approach that we’ll share with our listeners this week. If you’re wondering how students fund graduate and profe...
June 17, 2021
A Parent’s Perspective; Summer App Work; Tuition Payment Plans
This year our own Elizabeth Heaton is in our listeners’ shoes as she helps her son navigate the college process. She’s sharing her thoughts with co-host Ian Fisher. We’ll also lay out a suggested schedule of summer work for r...
June 10, 2021
Med School Residency Matching; Listener Q&A
Many students think the final hurdle to becoming a doctor is graduating from medical school. But in fact there is another one looming: residency matching. If you don’t get a residency, you can not become a doctor. We have som...
June 3, 2021
ROTC, Tuition Reciprocity Programs, Recommendation Letters
Have you heard that you can pay in-state prices for an out-of-state school? One way to make this happen is through tuition reciprocity programs. We’ll discuss how those work in today’s podcast. We also have information about ...
May 27, 2021
Staying Healthy in College; Healthy Finances and Mental Health
This week’s show is all about health, from remaining healthy while you’re in college to maintaining healthy finances as a way of supporting mental health. Jill and Dave Henry, authors of the newly published College Health Gui...
May 20, 2021
Scholarship Searches; Film Majors; Common App Activities List
As frequent listeners to our program know, the best sources of scholarship money are the colleges themselves. But there is more money out there for students willing to put the time in to look. We’ll offer tips on doing those ...