Episodes

Feb. 16, 2017

Everything You Need to Know About the National Merit Scholarship Process and Awards: Applying to College: How Can Parents Help?

It’s that time of year again: National Merit Scholarship finalists have been announced, and students are scrambling to update schools with their new status. How did those students qualify? Does it even matter in the admission...
Feb. 9, 2017

Financial Aid Appeals: What If College is Not the Right Next Step? Office Hours

As financial aid awards start to come in, families can be thrilled and disappointed at the results. If your award isn’t what you expected or, more importantly, isn’t enough to allow you or your child to attend their chosen sc...
Feb. 2, 2017

The Ivy League Admissions Interview, Comparing Financial Aid Offers: Women's Leadership and Mentoring Programs

Preparing for your interview at an Ivy or similarly selective institution and wondering what it’s all about? We’ll share information on why these are offered, what to expect, and the role your interview will likely play in th...
Jan. 26, 2017

Scholarships with February and March Deadlines: Community College to Four Year Institution: Office Hours

You may have heard that if you want to apply for scholarships to help pay for college, the key is to start early. But if you procrastinated, you’re in luck, because in this week’s show we’re going to share information about s...
Jan. 19, 2017

Office Hours: Answering Listeners' Admissions and College Finance Questions: High School Plan: Pre-Vet Students

Have an aspiring veterinarian in your household? In another segment in our High School Plan series, we’ll review the best courses and extracurricular activities for potential pre-vet students. We’re also answering your listen...
Jan. 12, 2017

Steps to Take Now if You Want to Get Your MBA: Applying to Medical School, Financial Aid for Mid-Year Transfers

Lots of students head to college with a goal of earning a million dollars—or finding a cure for cancer—before age 30. If you anticipate applying to business or medical school, you’ll want to tune in this week, when we’ll talk...
Jan. 5, 2017

Can an Average Student Get Into a Top-Tier School? Options if You Can't Pay the Spring College Bill- Office Hours: Avoiding the Rumor Mill: Our 100th Show!

We answer a lot of listener questions on the show, and one that we get asked fairly frequently is “Can an average student get into a top-tier school?” Tune in to find out. We’re also looking at options for families who find t...
Dec. 29, 2016

School's In Application Workshop: My Applications are Submitted-Now What? Listener Questions

It can be tempting to take an extended break once you finally submit your last application. Guess what? Not a great idea! We’ll offer some advice about what not to do now that apps are in, and how to best approach the remaind...
Dec. 22, 2016

School's In Application Workshop - What to Do About Those Early Decision and Early Action Decisions; Trends in College Pricing

Most colleges have released their decisions for the early round, whether that is Early Decision or Early Action. We’ll be discussing how to handle all possible outcomes in terms of what to do if you were admitted, deferred, o...
Dec. 15, 2016

School's In! Application Workshop: Countdown to January 1 and Listener Questions on College Finance and Admissions

The last big deadline is approaching and we’ll be offering tips and suggestions for making sure applications are ready to go. We’ll also take another shot at answering your college finance and admissions questions.
Dec. 8, 2016

School's In! Application Workshop: Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth Supplements: To Transfer or Not to Transfer

To transfer or not to transfer—that is the question! Meet Brooke, who came home from college after a few months determined to transfer. She’s going to share why, what her research uncovered, and whether or not she ultimately ...
Dec. 1, 2016

School's In Application Workshop: Supplements for Penn, Brown, Columbia, Harvard, and Cornell: Keeping Track of Your Student Loans

If you’ve taken out a new student loan every year or even every semester, keeping track of them can be a herculean task. Tune in for tips on how to best do this. In this week’s School’s In Application Workshop session, we’re ...
Nov. 17, 2016

School's In! Application Workshop: Countdown to January 1 and Listener Questions on College Finance and Admissions

With Thanksgiving only a week away, New Year’s Day is fast approaching. The holidays may mean gifts and family gatherings, but here at College Coach ‘tis the season for regular decision application deadlines. We’ll spend a li...
Nov. 10, 2016

The Pros and Cons of Not Applying for Financial Aid When Applying to College, School's In! Application Workshop: New University of California Essay Prompts

One of our most frequent questions revolves around whether or not to apply for financial aid when applying for acceptance. There are many factors to consider here, and we’ll try to cover as many as possible during today’s sho...
Nov. 3, 2016

School's In Application Workshop: What to Do After the Nov. 1 ED and EA Deadlines; Religion in Essays and Essays for Religious Colleges, The Benefits of a Part-Time Job

It’s November 3, and that can only mean one thing: all of the ED and EA applications with November 1 deadlines have been submitted. In this week’s show, we’re going to discuss what to think about and do next. We’re also going...
Oct. 27, 2016

'School's In' Application Workshop: Listener Questions

As we get closer to the fall and winter deadlines, we know you have lots of questions. We have lots of answers, and we’ll devote this week’s show to sharing them with you!
Oct. 20, 2016

The Danger of Missing a Deadline, School's In! Application Workshop: Submitting Test Scores, University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin, Madison Supplemental Essay Prompts

What are the consequences of missing a financial aid deadline? Does that mean you definitely won’t receive any money? Or is it not really a big deal? In this week’s show, we’ll answer these questions and more in our segment o...
Oct. 13, 2016

Filling out the CSS Profile, School's In! Application Workshop: Should You Disclose a Learning Difference?

Two weeks ago we focused an entire show around completing the FAFSA. In this week’s show, we’ll go through the CSS Profile, another financial aid document required by about 200 colleges and universities. In our weekly School’...
Oct. 6, 2016

School's In Application Workshop: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Completing the Common App

The Common App is accepted at close to 700 public and private colleges in the US, making it one of the most popular choices for one-stop-shopping in the admissions process. Every year, College Coach puts out a multi-part seri...
Sept. 29, 2016

School's In! Completing the FAFSA : Public Health Majors and Pre-Med Students

Ever wonder what public health majors are all about? Catherine Ettman, director of strategic initiatives at Boston University’s School of Public Health will join us to share more, including what the major entails, which schoo...
Sept. 22, 2016

School's In Application Workshop : Listener Admissions and College Finance Questions

A few weeks ago, we ran a Facebook contest asking for your most pressing college admissions and finance questions. Today, we’re going to answer as many of them as we can during our hour-long session.
Sept. 15, 2016

Paying Off Student Loans: One Student's Story: Schools In! Application Workshop: Drafting the Why This College Essay, including Penn, Brown, Pitt and Others

You may have read a recent article in Business Insider chronicling one graduate’s story about finishing school 113,000 dollars in debt back in 2009, and paying it off by November of 2016. We’re thrilled to welcome that gradua...
Sept. 8, 2016

School's In Application Workshop: Putting Together a College List at the Last Minute: Cambridge Program

Back to school and still don’t have a college list? You’re in luck! In this week’s School's In! Application Workshop segment, Ian, Julia Jones, and Laurie Peltier will discuss how to craft a college list if you’re getting a l...
Sept. 1, 2016

School's In! International Baccalaureate- Divorce and Paying for College

It’s September, and school is officially back in session. With that in mind, we’re shifting our summer application workshop series to the fall and relaunching it under the School’s In Application Workshop banner. But despite ...