The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Practical, up-to-date interviews with experts in college admissions, financial aid, personal statements, test prep and more. Ethan Sawyer (aka College Essay Guy), interviews deans of admission, financial aid experts, and veterans of the admissions field to extract, then distill their advice into practical steps for students and those guiding them through the process. From creating an awesome college list to appealing a financial aid letter, Ethan skips the general advice and gets right to the action items, all in an effort to bring more ease, joy and purpose into the college admissions process.
- Update frequency
- every 10 days
- Average duration
- 51 minutes
- Episodes
- 93
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
209: Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream
My guest for this first episode is Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, Professor of Higher Education Policy & Sociology at Temple University, author of Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betr…
208: Resources for First-Generation Students (and Their Counselors)
On this episode, which is part 3 of 3 in my series on access and equity in the college admissions process, I sit down with their Chief Strategy Officer of Strive for College, Matt Rubinoff, who for y…
207: 17 Things to Do Before Going to College
Hi friends! This is the first time on the podcast that I discuss the “what comes next” of the college admissions process--and who better to do it than Harlan Cohen, author of the NY Times bestseller,…
206: 30 Ways to Center Equity And Justice Today w/ Marie Bigham
For this episode, which is Part 2 of 3 on my series on access and equity, I interview Marie Bigham of ACCEPT. Marie and I jam on 30 practical ways that you can increase your participation in equity…
205: That One Time a University Revoked More Than 60 Full Scholarships (And What You Can Do About It)
This episode is part one of three on access and equity in the college counseling community. Today we meet Joan Liu, a counselor at a high school in Southeast Asia, who has been working on the front l…
204: What You Need to Know About Standardized Tests and Mistakes to Avoid
In this episode you’ll hear Adam’s take on:
- What’s a “good” score?
- How much do SAT scores matter?
- Do students even need standardized tests?
- When should students take the test?
- What’s the difference …
203: 10 Ways Parents Can Support Their Students Through The College Application Process
On this podcast we discuss:
- Why parents should stop telling their students that there are tons of school and to not worry about where they will go
-
Why (and how) to limit the amount of time you spen…
202: 25 Practical Ways to Reduce Testing Anxiety
On this episode we discuss, among other things:
- How common testing anxiety is (you may be surprised)
- How anxiety functions in the body
- Strategies for changing how you think about anxiety #reframing
- …
201: Test Optional Admissions 101: What, Why, Where, Who?
On this episode we discuss:
- Are standardized tests evil?
- What are some other standardized test myths that people tend to believe?
- To what extent does the SAT or ACT measure what students need to kno…
124: College Interview Tips and Strategies
This episode is an interview… on interviews! Monica James--whom you may’ve heard previously on the podcast in the episode on Demonstrated Interest--absolutely crushes it in this interview, offering m…
123: Should You Apply Early Decision or Regular Decision? (And the Chart That Can Help You Decide)
Should you apply Early Decision or not? Is there a statistical advantage to applying early or not? When making this decision, it might help to know what the regular decision acceptance rate is for a …
122: Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (International Version)
On this episode I talk with Jennie about:
- Why she created the chart in the first place
- She explains why your student doesn’t have to be incredible in order to get merit aid
- How much students’ abil…
121: Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (US Version)
On this episode Jeff and I discuss this rad resource on which schools are most generous with financial aid and after he shares with us his story, we discuss:
- Three huge myths that students and paren…
120: College List Hacking: Better Fit, Less Time, More Fun
On this episode I interview Anne Wager, who used to work for many years in data and technology but made the transition to counseling and, as she puts it, “out of desperation”, developed a set of card…
119: How to Improve Your Personal Statement in 20 Minutes
This episode represents part four of four in my epic mini-series with Tutor Ted and in this one I share what steps to take to turn your essay from “just okay” to “great.” Specifically, though, I shar…
118: Who is the College Essay Guy?
This is part three of my four-part series with Amie Dorsey (aka Tutor Ted). On the last two episodes I interviewed Amie, while on this episode (and on the next one), Amie turns the tables on and inte…
117: How to Improve Your ACT Score By 2 Points in 20 Minutes
Typically my job is to take some of the most awesome and rad people in the college admissions world (I’m not sure if there is a difference, but I’m sure there is), analyze their genius, and break it …
116: Who is Tutor Ted? (and Resources for Brainstorming a Personal Statement)
This is the first of two podcasts with Amie Dorsey, also known as Tutor Ted, who scored perfectly on the ACT, SAT, PSAT and runs a cool test prep company called (what else?) Tutor Ted.
Now, in the se…
115: Quick & Dirty College List Builder & The Myth of Fit
This is part 2 of 2 of podcast episodes recorded last month in Eastern China. I met with Mark Moody, a friend of mine and a fantastic counselor with a ton of experience and some cool opinions you may…
114: Free College Application Tools That Students (and Counselors!) Should Know About
If you know me, or if you’ve listened to the podcast before you know what a resource junkie I am… the same can be said, I think, for my guest on this episode, Shaun McElroy. Shaun is the publisher of…