Episodes

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 preschools. In our Personal Finance 101 series, we’ll talk about how to help your student prepare for financial responsibility in college. Finally, we’re discussing each of the Common App’s seven essay prompts and offering tips on how to approach each of them in Office Hours.

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 professional degrees, we’ll offer some insight. And finally, we have information for students interested in a career in physical therapy, from the education required to the skills necessary for the job.

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 rising seniors who want to make the most of this time (hint—it includes writing and finalizing the essay!). Finally, we lay out the details of tuition payment plans, which can help some families avoid borrowing altogether.

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 some information on what to look for related to residencies as you evaluate medical schools. In our Listener Q&A, we’re answering your college admissions and finance questions.

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 ROTC and will go over the who, what, when, and why of recommendation letters.

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 Guide will join the show to share what they’ve learned as coaches for young people over the years. And in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we will also look at the correlation of healthy finances and mental health.

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 outside scholarship searches. We’ll also explore what’s involved in film studies majors and what colleges who offer them look for in good candidates. Finally, in Office Hours we’ve got advice for students getting started on the Common App activity list.

Those students who do plan to take standardized tests this year have a choice: ACT or SAT. But how do you make that choice if you don’t know what the differences are? ArborBridge CEO and former tutor and curriculum director Megan Stubbendeck shares her insight in our first segment. In Office Hours, we’re answering your college finance and admissions questions.

Congrats to all those seniors who have made their decision and deposited at the college they will attend next fall. Now what? We have what you need to know about what comes next. In our ongoing medical school series, we’re covering all the pre-med application options for high school students, from BS/MD, BS.DO, early assurance, and straight up pre-med. Finally, we’re discussing all the work options for traditional college students, from work study to student employment to internships.

Wanting a break before starting college or looking for something interesting to do before applying? Rebecca Barr of Education First will join this week’s podcast to discuss gap year options through Education First. We also have advice on what to be doing now if you hope to be recruited athlete and project management tips for parents helping their students apply to college.

Excited to welcome New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Selingo to the show to discuss his latest, Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions. We discuss everything from the impact of marketing and rankings on college admissions over the past 30+ years to the concept of “buyers” and “sellers” and how those distinctions can and should impact students’ college application decisions. He also shared what he’s hearing from enrollment managers this year and his thoughts on the COVID-di...

Interested in majoring in business as an undergraduate? We’ll share information on coursework and activities that might help your application stand out. We’re also answering your college admissions and finance questions in our listener Q&A.

If you’re a senior, you are likely in the middle of deciding where you’ll attend college next year. We have thoughts on how to evaluate your choices en route to making a final choice. We also have insight on Catholic colleges, from ascertaining their fit for you to understanding what they look for to learning more about their approach to financial aid.

It’s almost summer (please!)—have you made plans to do something interesting? Tune in to learn more about finding and deciding on summer opportunities, whether in-person or virtual. If you aren’t sure what your career path is yet, we have some counseling advice for you. We’ll also dig into what you need to know about the latest higher education finance legislation.

Join us this week for an in-depth discussion with Wall Street Journal reporter, Melissa Korn, co-author of Unacceptable. We’ll delve into the who, what, where, and why of the Varsity Blues scandal. More importantly, we’ll talk through the behavior that allowed this to happen on a grand scale and discuss how to avoid similar thinking and actions that can lead to similar ethical transgressions. Finally, we’ll offer tips on what to look for in an ethical college counselor.

For colleges that require it, the college essay can be a key component of a successful application. In no surprise to anyone, writing is hard! We have ideas on how to work on your writing skills in preparation for writing your strongest essay. We’re also answering your college finance and admissions questions.

COVID, COVID, COVID. Are you as tired of it as we are? As you know, COVID has impacted a number of things about the admissions process, especially visiting colleges. Traditionally the gold standard of demonstrating interest to colleges, what do you do when campuses are closed to visitors? We have thoughts, including why the changes wrought by COVID might actually be a good thing in leveling the playing field around demonstrating interest. We’ll also cover parent financing options for paying for ...

If you are part of a military family or a veteran, you’ll want to tune in to today’s show. We’re looking at veterans going through the college admissions process and financial benefits for veteran and military students and their families. We’ll also welcome Falone Serna from Whittier College to share more details about Whittier’s new racial justice and equity action plan and why it matters.

Eager to start the college process but not sure how to begin? We have a framework you can use to build your preliminary list, and we’re sharing details. For those interested in pursuing admission to a military academy, we have a timeline for that application process. And in part two of our two-part series on financial aid award letters, we cover comparing offers, addressing changes in the financial situation since applying, and asking for more.

When COVID hit in March 2020, it disrupted life for everyone across the globe, including college admissions. Standardized test dates were cancelled, rescheduled, and cancelled again, and ultimately more than 1200 colleges and universities made them an optional part of their admissions process. We’ll update you on test optional policies for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle and share our thoughts on whether or not juniors should still plan to take them. In Office Hours, we’re answering your college ...

There have been a few recent court cases related to the use of affirmative action in college admissions. But what is affirmative action in this case, and how is it really used in admissions? Jamiere Abney, Coordinator of Outreach for Opportunity & Inclusion at Colgate University joins us to share more. If you’re worried that it’s too late to apply to college this year, you’re in luck—it’s definitely not! We have advice and information on your options. Finally, in part one of a two-part series, w...

We often mention the difference between being competitive in a highly selective applicant pool versus being compelling, which is the difference between who gets in and who does not. We’re sharing actual examples of compelling students we’ve worked with recently who have had success at this level. For those finding college too expensive even with scholarships and financial aid or those who want a different college experience, we have information about options to have your degree funded by your em...

Have you read Jeff Selingo’s book, Who Gets In and Why: A Year in College Admissions? Well our team has, and we’ll be reviewing the book in this week’s episode. Find out what we think he got right and if we think he missed some nuances—or maybe even got it completely wrong—based on our insights into college admissions as former decision makers.

As admissions decisions start to come in, you may receive scholarship offers from some of your schools. Did you know you can negotiate for more? Learn more about the dos and don’ts of this process. We also have details on why students planning for medical school might want to build in some time for a gap year or two (or three!). Tune in for another story from our team. Hear about how one of our finance educators started with an associate’s degree before getting his bachelor’s.