An Education Abroad

Kevin sits down with Sam, a student who Kevin worked with for the past two years for his overseas applications. Sam talks about his experiences in applying overseas, and why he ultimately chose not to apply to Oxbridge (at least not for now).

Today we talk about the Digital SAT with my good friend Lisa Speransky, founder of Ivy Tutors Network. We learn that adaptive testing isn't something to be all that scared of. Behind the scenes, I learn just how useful audio editing can be as the two Aussies were not having a good day...

We talk to the number one private university in Germany, and Islamic finance make an odd appearance in discussing Constructor University's novel method to increase affordability and invest its own financial future in that of its students.

Y'all are in for a treat today. Mark Stucker, host of Your College Bound Kid (where I got my feet wet in the world of podcasting) and founder of School Match 4 You, comes on to talk about the importance of fit and match. If you ever needed a fool-proof way to describe why one school isn't perfect for everyone, Mark's got it.

Aly Stewart, the International Recruitment Manager for North America, joins Kevin to talk about the University of Edinburgh. Home to one of the best vet schools in the world, a number of famous scientists and thinkers, and even a student who learned middle school history from Kevin (who, I'm proud to say, stayed with the social sciences), Edinburgh has a lot to offer.

Ned Johnson, President and Tutor-Geek at PrepMatters in Bethesda, MD, was one of my first phone calls when I decided to take the plunge and do this for real. He, for some odd reason, still answers the phone.

He's also the co-author of "The Self-Driven Child," which takes the question of motivation and addresses it in a way that is beneficial to the mental health of children and adults. Given how much we talk about mental health in the context of college admissions, this one matters.

This week we talk to Todd St. Vrain of the University of Melbourne. Ranked #14 in the world, UniMelb has a lot to offer students who don't want the uncertainty of less quantitatively-driven admissions decisions, even though there is one rather odd entrance requirement.

We talk to Vince Garcia, a long-time IEC and interviewer for the Point Foundation, about issues faced by LGBTQ students when applying both in the US and overseas. Notably, we talk about the best ways to make transitioning to a new country as smooth of a process as possible.

Whenever I meet with students, the question of St. Andrews comes up, simply because everyone has heard of St. Andrews. Ivar Moller of St. Andrews joins me to discuss the flexibility of Scottish degrees, the extremely high graduation and retention rates of UK universities (but particularly St. Andrews), and the temptation of Ancient History.

Normally we aim to release shows every Wednesday, but since we're having Newcastle and St. Andrews on a panel this Thursday, we wanted to make sure people were familiar with both (we're also having the University of Melbourne on, but they will be our next profile!).

Thomas Day of Newcastle is passionate about the absolutely awesome place of Newcastle University both regionally and internationally, and is walking proof of the power of a university that in a lot of ways feels like UNC Chapel Hill, but without the deep-seated rivalry of its neighbor in Durham. Also, I edited out all the talk between Thomas and me about comparative linguistics. You're welcome.