Application to Admission

The better question is “do the college rankings consider Black families……”

Regardless, affluent college educated Black families have very strong feelings about what

These are real questions that middle and upper-class Black people think about and Dr. Deborwah Faulk has taken the time to dissect this phenomena and give it light. As a Professor of Anthropology and Africana Studies at the University of Richmond, her 2023 scholarly research entitled College Choices, Choice Dilemmas: Black Advantaged Parents’ Views of Their Children’s College Options focuses on much of what we aim to examine in our book, The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions: A Conversation About Education, Parenting and Race. We were fortunate to interview this proud woman of Spelman who earned her doctorate at the The Ohio State University and share our thoughts as well as highlight hers. 

Rankings, status, prestige and “what other people think” are woven into the fabric of American society. As Black people who make financial, cultural and educational choices for our children, we cannot ignore this fact.  Dr. Faulk gives voice to those who embrace this notion and those who want to challenge it. Her scholarship is novel and necessary. Learn something and let’s discuss. 

Money matters in college admissions. We want everyone to prioritize cost when searching for and applying to schools. We’re big believers in HBCUS too, so when you combine the two - scholarships and HBCUs - there’s only one name in 2023 that rings as the ultimate resource for students and parents: Paula Dofat.

As the leading voice on IG with her @hbcumoneyguide, Paula prides herself on offering “free degree tea” with her posts on where to find the money. A mom of two HBCU grads and a serial college visitor to all HBCUs, she’s done her homework, invested her time and eager to share how to turn HBCU dreams to debt-free realities.

 If you want money for college and you’re thinking about HBCUs, this episode is for you!!

https://www.hbcumoneyguide.com/

Leadership is not easy. It demands patience, conviction and transparency. In the profession of college admissions and college admissions counseling, it’s

 Vern Granger holds the respect of thousands of individuals who work in college admission and school counseling. Many of us will descend upon Baltimore this week for the annual conference of the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC). He is the standing Board Chair of our professional organization who doubles as the Director of Undergraduate Admission at the University of Connecticut. With senior admissions positions also from The Ohio State University and North Carolina State University, Vern has overseen seen

Our interview with him - a must listen - was better than we could have asked for. He offered advice for families, gave us his perspective about the state of

Vern is a dad to one but a father figure to many. He watched his own daughter apply to college in 2022 and knows how important compassion and communication are in this process.  A true man of the people, servant and leader are the two words that best describe him. We are honored to have spent this 45 minutes with him and now we present his wisdom to you. 

If you have a student athlete in your home, you’re going to want to hear this. This former Olympian and NFL wide receiver has some gems for you.  

We all know college and sports work in tandem in our culture and with the recent success and impact of one famous Black football coach in particular, we need to continue to pour into our young men and women to make sure they survey all athletic options. We want families to know more about the college admissions and recruitment processes. Here it is. 

Enter Steve Brown Academy where he and his team prepare athletes for success inside and outside the classroom. A dedicated educator and dad, Steve knows the truth about college recruiting and wants to share it with you. This is for sports fans, sports parents and student athletes. Learn from an expert who’s been there, done that and wants you to win. 

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” - United Negro College Fund

We are not well. Never have been and maybe never will be. PTSD from a variety of places can obstruct our progress or we can seek help, heal and move in our purpose. 

“We as parents, must learn to compromise with our teens. Rarely will a student get everything they want, just as a parent will not get everything they want. The goal for a parent must be to partner with their student and have open communication, with an understanding that the student’s social and emotional well-being is most important.”

Jewels. Gems. TRUTH!!!! 

Dr. Busch is a must-hear interview that will help us all to change our perspective and approach to how we redefine success in the college admissions

When you’re a mom of 4, Princeton grad, writer extraordinaire, and college counseling aficionado, what more is there to say???!! Alison Slater Tate is a respected and appreciated college admissions professional who is as knowledgeable about the process as anyone in the profession. 

Why? Because she consistently researches and writes about it while serving as the Director of College Counseling at Lake Mary Prep in Orlando AND simultaneously living through the process as a mom. Two times so far with two more to go!!! 

She’s a trusted contributor to a bunch of news outlets including  Today and Grown and Flown and possesses a wealth of information that we all need to hear.

Few people on our planet are as scientifically sharp as Stephanie Espy. STEM

Understanding but not accepting the gender gap is what fuels Stephanie. As one of only 19% of

It’s 2023, yet it eerily feels like 1963. At the behest of a 6-3 vote by the Supreme Court last week, higher education, decades of diversity initiatives and most importantly, our students and their access to selective admission to PWI colleges just took a major blow. The news is still swirling, no concrete action plan has been implemented to combat this and many people are just frustrated, dismayed and confused.

While we don’t have all the answers, we do have some. Understanding the Choices and the Application to Admission podcast has been

The Chief Experience Officer of an organization is a big title, but when you’re overseeing just under 30K college admissions and college counseling professionals (NACAC) National Association for College Admission Counseling who are committed to students, education and access, the stakes are greater. With a steady smile and an unwavering sense of purpose, Shantel Goodman-Luckett, MBA accepts this duty as a welcomed labor of love. They say that experience is the best teacher and Shantel has plenty of it.

She has held positions as Marriott International manager of marketing strategy and programs at the The Washington Post. She’s been a leader for Newsweek Interactive’s (a subsidiary of The Washington Post) as senior manager for consumer marketing and served as an adjunct faculty member at Marymount University. Armed with a BS in mass communications/advertising from Virginia Commonwealth University, an MBA from The Johns Hopkins University Hopkins and certificates from University of Virginia and University of Pennsylvania, Shantel is the model of perseverance and the unquestioned breath of fresh air we all need to aim for excellence as educators.

Leading with intelligence and poise makes Shantel an amazing and versatile educational administrator, but you know what she’s most proud of? Being a mom of a Spelman College senior. She gives us the realities of her own daughter’s college search, application and admissions processes and how she straddled the professional and personal components of the college process with her child.

Sound familiar anyone?

Shantel is determined to impact all of us who serve in this profession and those listening to this podcast. We are honored that she gave us her time and wisdom.