Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

The traditional college selection process usually includes plenty of live campus visits. But what happens when logistics, expenses, or unexpected pandemics get in the way? Amy and Mike invited Campus…

Taking high quality practice tests at deliberate intervals is an indispensable part of any true test preparation regimen. But what makes mocks or diagnostics so important? Amy and Mike invited test p…

While many Americans have either personally attended or know alumni of all-boys or all-girls high schools, very few have met graduates of women’s colleges. Is a single-gendered college experience an …

Admissions essays, more than any other piece of the college application process, allow applicants to communicate distinctive and personal aspects of their lives. But can essays be too personal? Absol…

Everyone knows that you have to graduate medical school to become a medical doctor. Less obvious are the actual steps required to get into medical school. Amy and Mike invited author and med school s…

The gap between a test taker’s potential best and actual best depends entirely on delivering an error-free performance when it counts. But how easy is that in the face of tricky test questions, chall…

Every college applicant seems to dream of attending an elite academic or athletic institution. But does the difficulty in getting into a school predict the value of its education? Amy and Mike invite…

When it comes to paying for college, we could all use a bit of help. Why, then, do so many families ignore easily accessible sources of college funding right in their own backyards?  Amy and Mike inv…

Most of us intuitively understand why testing is necessary to assess learning outcomes. What is the problem, then, with attempting to accurately assess these outcomes beyond a school or district leve…

The typical path for a student seeking higher education is to enter college right after high school. For what possible reason, then, would--or should--a teen consider deviating from that path to purs…

There are so many decisions to be made on the path to college, including deciding which college entrance exam to take. ACT has announced new options coming for the ACT® test, starting with the Septem…

Every high school athlete dreams of playing for an elite college team, ideally with tuition, room, board, and all associated expenses covered. But how closely does that fantasy match reality? Amy and…

American colleges and universities represent many of the highest ideals of an educated, democratic society, and few institutions of higher education are as quintessentially American as our historical…

When you work in the business of education, you are bound to receive an education in business law. Don’t learn your legal lessons the hard way!  Amy and Mike invited attorney Matthew K. Seeley to the…

When you work in the business of education, you are bound to receive an education in business law. Don’t learn your legal lessons the hard way!  Amy and Mike invited attorney Matthew Seeley to the T…

In the course of common school day activities, students share extensive personal data, completely oblivious to the many ways this information can be--and often is--exploited. Even the important colle…

Colleges and universities in the United States draw international acclaim and interest. Why, then, might American students be wise to consider schooling abroad? Amy and Mike invited international edu…

Major revisions of the major standardized college entrance exams come few, far between, and with great fanfare. Don’t take this to mean, however, that the SAT and ACT don’t change all the time bit by…

While qualifying for admission to a competitive college or university requires endless hours of study and commitment, applying to such a school should not. Is the application process as difficult as …

While getting into college seems like a Herculean task requiring the collaboration and contributions of a team of experts, paying for college can--believe it or not--be even tougher. For example, nea…