The College Prep Podcast

Don’t fall prey to myths about how colleges evaluate their applicants! If you have a full understanding of all the criteria, you can better plan for a more successful college search. Here’s the breakdown: * Know the 6 factors that are part of the admissions decisions * Understand 5 characteristics that colleges are actually looking for (including ability to keep up with academics on campus, curiosity, interest in learning etc)* What it means to be “admitted” and what colleges are actually trying to do, including a super cool football metaphor* The different emphasis between big universities and smaller private schools. * How to use this breakdown to influence your choices

Not sure where to start with visiting colleges? Have you visited a school or two only to get overwhelmed with information? In today’s episode, Megan talks with Danielle Marshall, author of “The College Visit Journal: Campus Visits Demystified.” Danielle knows not every family enjoys the guidance of a college admissions expert, so she has created a journal to help guide you through the process. Listen as we discuss: * The best times to visit campus* Additional stops you should schedule into your campus time* The type of information you should record from your visit (and it isn’t just the things you like!)* How to find the right words when making requests from coaches, admissions officers, or professors* How to make virtual tours work for you* What to expect if you are able to make an in-person visit during this pandemic * And more . . . You can follow Danielle Marshall’s blog or purchase her book at www.TheCollegeVisitJournal.com

What does one black student wish white academic coaches would know about how to better support him about race? Recently Gretchen sat down with a former client to have a straightforward conversation about race. In this excerpt from the longer conversation, listen in as they discuss: * Their coaching relationship* A time when Gabriel had a really hard race-related situation with a teacher, * How Gretchen supported him through that situation, and Gabriel’s thoughts about that If you’d like to access the full hour-long recording (where we hear more details about a few racist situations he encountered in all-white neighborhoods, Gretchen’s confession of a time she thinks she committed a microaggression in a session with him, and more), please join the Educators’ Club for one month! If you use the code code COLLEGEPREPPODCAST, it will get you into the club for a one time fee of $35, and you’ll actually have access to 3-months worth of content in the club. You can cancel your subscription at any time!

The PSAT is practice for 95% of test takers. But for the other 5% it is an important test that qualifies students for the National Merit Scholarship competition. Learn more during this episode about how to tackle the PSAT, whether you’re in the 95% or the 5%. Specifically, we will cover: * What is the PSAT and how does it compare to the SAT?* What type of recognition is available for students who score well on the PSAT?* Who is eligible to take the PSAT, and to be in the running for National Merit Scholarships?* What scores to students need to be considered for the Scholarships* What do students win if they get a National Merit Scholarship? This episode is from our archives. It originally aired as episode 178 on September 18, 2017.

What are academic coaches noticing as they start working with students this school year? Listen in as six Anti-Boring Approach coaches share reflections based on their coaching sessions thus far this year. Each one also shares a specific tips for students and parents. If you are a family looking for an academic or executive function coach to support you during this odd school year, most of these coaches have a few openings left in their roster! They are also trained by Gretchen in her Anti-Boring Approach toolkit. Read more about each one here.

There’s going to be lots of virtual learning this school year! Check out these ten tips for how to learn best when your teacher, textbook, and tools are all (or mostly) via a screen. * How to set up your space prior to learning* Whether to have your video on or off* The importance of moving your body* Ways to focus your attention so that you have more stamina* The importance of note taking and using paper* And more! Megan and Gretchen share what they’ve learned online learning and teaching in the past 5 months, and break it down into 10 clear tips.

Although many colleges have relaxed their requirements for standardized testing this year, many students still want to take the SAT, ACT or PSAT. Megan walks you through how to decide whether you should go ahead with testing as planned, or wait. Specifically she discusses: * How to understand the fact that most colleges have relaxed their requirements for SAT/ACT * Why exams are being cancelled last minute and the impact of uncertainty on students* Why she recommends that seniors take the test, but that juniors wait. For more information, check out Megan’s recent article: https://www.collegeprepresults.com/advice-for-fall-2020-act-sat-testing/

Welcome to the weirdest school year ever! We thought it would be a good idea to check in with each other, share about our strange summers, and look ahead to plans for a very different kind of school year. Tune in to hear updates like: * How is Megan organizing online learning for her 8th grade son,* Why Gretchen bought a mini camper van this summer, * Why Megan feels safe about her daughter attending Rice University and living on campus this year,* How the ongoing pandemic is affecting both of them in their work,* And more!

College is expensive! Megan provides some tips for how to start thinking about costs, and talking about it with our student and family members. She covers topics such as: * How to talk to your student about the reality of college costs* How to think about loans* How to prioritize the cost of schools in your college search

Some students are super resistant to using calendars. What can parents do to nurture the habit of calendaring? Tune in to hear more details about the following 4 tips from Gretchen: * Make sure they HAVE a digital calendar and that calendar is the main one on their phone and computer. * Make sure that there is a habit amongst all family members of sharing calendar events with each other. * When a schedule change happens (like starting up a new sport), sit down TOGETHER and make sure that all pertinent dates, once you have them, are put in everyone’s calendar. * Consider having a family meeting every week for 15 minutes during which everyone takes out their calendars and discusses the plan for the week.

Finally! There’s a new planner in the works that combines all the important college admissions tasks while also tracking a high school students’ assignments and due dates. Tune in to hear more about Megan’s newly designed planner, just in time for the 2020-2021 school year.

Summer is an ideal time to clean house, digitally speaking. Here are 3+ simple tasks everyone can do to clean up their computers and phone apps so they are ready for an uncluttered new school year: * Install an adblock * Clean your desktop* Turn off notifications on busy apps* BONUS: Clean out email.

Yes! You CAN use calculators on the ACT or SAT. But it matters which one you bring on test day, so pay attention as Megan schools you on clever calculator criteria. Specifically she discusses the importance of: * Avoid last minute choice making about which calculator to use* Stay away from expensive calculators* Make sure you choose a calculator you have experience using* Make sure to use a calculator that you also use at school. In addition, you might check out these two online resources about calculators for standardized testing: * https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/taking-the-test/calculator-policy* http://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/ACT-calculator-policy.pdf

Got a little extra time this summer and looking for something interesting to do? Gretchen recommends these two online assessments students can take to learn more about their brains and their career prospects. * First, Mindprint Learning is an interesting assessment tool that gives students information their executive functions and how they each learn. This is NOT learning styles, but more evidence-based cognitive profiles.* Second, You Science is an assessment tool that gives you more feedback about what kinds of careers students might be good at, including a lot of interesting information about what it’s like to do that kind of work. If you’re looking for ways to engage students over the summer, you might try one or both of these! They certainly work well in tandem to boost many students’ motivation.

Teachers often threaten that students need to stay academically engaged through senior year because colleges might take away their offer of admissions. But is this a myth or reality? Megan weighs in with the following discussion: * Why it is indeed true that colleges might take away offers of admission* The three reasons colleges might do this, including falsified information, showing bad character or judgement, and a significant shift in grades* What to do so that you make sure none of these reasons apply to you.