College Matters. Alma Matters.

Making sense of the College News of the week, curated by Alma Matters. Coronavirus continues to drive the news. Shveta Bagade, College Counselor gives us her take on the news.

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guest: Shveta Bagade, College Counselor based in Silicon Valley California.

Resources referred to in this episode:

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode Transcript.

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For Transcripts of all our podcasts, visit almamatters.io/podcasts.

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Kate fell into College Counseling due to what she calls “a happy accident”. Kate just followed her first year roommate into an interview to be a campus tour guide. She wasn’t interested in doing the interview.

But an aggressive future Dean persuaded her to do the interview.

Many happy accidents later, Kate is the Director of Counseling at The Overlake School.

On our podcast, Kate talks about her background, The Overlake School, counseling approach and challenges, managing expectations, and her advice for high school students.

In particular, we discuss the following with her:

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guest: Kate Asgari is the Director of College Counseling and Associate Dean for Grades 11 & 12 at Overlake School, Redmond WA.

Memorable Quote: “...what we witnessed in that Test Optional landscape is overwhelming choices that a student faces. And every school having its own policy and way by which those test scores get submitted.” Kate Asgari.

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.

Recommended Episodes: College Experiences

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In High School, Grace was, by her own admission, a nerd and an activist. She took lots of AP classes. She played the viola, cello, and violin. She also played varsity tennis.

As an activist she fought for Educational Equity and Indigenous causes.

When time came to think about college, she felt scared and unprepared. That’s when a good friend introduced  her to Matriculate.

Grace joins us on our podcast to share her Undergraduate Experience at Columbia, Matriculate’s Role, Transition to College, Indigenous Causes, Being a Rhodes Finalist, and Advice for high schoolers.

In particular, we discuss the following with her:

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guests: Grace Fox is double majoring in Psychology, and Ethnicity and Race studies for Native American and Indigenous Studies at Columbia University.

Memorable Quote: “So without the Gates Scholarship, I wouldn't have not been able to go to Columbia despite getting in, despite getting a likely letter, despite being you know, inducted as a Kluge Scholar, which is a prestigious, you know, award for incoming freshmen that lasts throughout their senior year.” Grace Fox.

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.

Similar Episodes: College Experiences

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When Emmi Harward attended her public high school, she did not know anyone in her school, whose job was just college counseling.

After college, Emmi went into College Admissions. She started by supervising college tour guides and loved interacting with students. That led Emmi to College Counseling roles in High Schools.

Today, Emmi is the Executive Director for ACCIS - working with College Counselors in Independent Schools across the country.

On our podcast, Emmi talks about her background, about ACCIS, her Counseling approach, Counselors’ challenges, managing unpredictability, and her advice for high school students.

In particular, we discuss the following with her:

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guest: Emmi Harward is the Executive Director of ACCIS - Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools.

Memorable Quote: “I would say on my good days, on my best days, I work to listen more than I talk. I think that's kind of the point of any of this is it, the whole point is centering the student, and their journey, that they need to be the ones they need to be the ones in the driver's seat.” Emmi Harward.

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.

Recommended Episodes: College Experiences

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Making sense of the College News of the week, curated by Alma Matters. Coronavirus continues to drive the news. Shveta Bagade, College Counselor gives us her take on the news.

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guest: Shveta Bagade, College Counselor based in Silicon Valley California.

Resources referred to in this episode:

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode Transcript.

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe to Receive Venkat’s Weekly Newsletter

One alum would take more classes, difficult ones, another would attend all the daily talks (followed by dinner) on campus by renowned experts, and yet another would befriend professors as future collaborators. There’s more.

This episode organizes alumni thoughts on this topic from past episodes, into 6 different buckets, while providing a flavor of their thinking in the form of snippets.

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guests:

Memorable Quote: “...I wish I learned that lesson earlier, follow your heart, follow your passions. I felt like keeping that economics double major was, you know, something that would be better for my job prospects or would help please my family more.” Aidan Arasasingham, UCLA.

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode Transcript.

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When Jenny was in college, she did not apply for any of the nationally competitive awards. In fact she didn’t even know of their existence.

It so happened that Jenny discovered Fellowship Advising, after she graduated with her PhD. She really liked working with college students, helping them with their writing, and helping develop their goals.

In this podcast, Jenny Hyest shares her background, her role as Director, the various Awards, The Importance of Awards, How they help students apply, and Advice for High Schoolers.

In particular, we discuss the following with her:

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guest: Jenny Hyest is the Director of the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards at the University of Cincinnati. Director Hyest earned her PhD in English from Lehigh University.

Memorable Quote: “...the last piece of advice that I would give is to embrace the fellowship, the world of fellowships, as an important part of your college experience, and not just something that is kind of tangentially related to it. Because I think I mentioned this before, but I think a great way to use these scholarships is, they can make things that hadn't even been imaginable before, put them in the realm of possibility.” Jenny Hyest.

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Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.

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The Sciences were Maya’s favorite courses in High School - Chemistry, Biology and Ecology. Especially Chemistry. It seemed aligned with the way her mind worked. Outside of class, she ran cross country, track.

Maya joins us on our podcast to share her UG Experience at CU Boulder, UG Research, Hiking Expeditions, and Advice for high schoolers.

In particular, we discuss the following with her:

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guests: Maya Nelson  is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Memorable Quote: “But the more I've been doing research, and I'm so invested in this project, I'm asking questions about this project, answering them myself through lab work. It really, really deepens your understanding of the classes that you're in. And the classes that you're in, ironically, seem a little bit easier.” Maya Nelson.

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.

Similar Episodes: College Experiences

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Tom admired his coaches in high school. In fact after graduating from High School, he went back to his high school to be a coach under his varsity soccer coach. During that time, he noticed that a number of coaches were also guidance counselors. He liked that enough to get a Master’s degree in School Counseling.

But it would be another 20 years before he actually jumped into counseling full time at Westhill High School.

On our podcast, Tom talks about his background, Westhill High School, Counseling approach & philosophy, the challenges, Success Stories, and his advice for high school students.

In particular, we discuss the following with him:

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guest: Tom Stepkoski is the Career and College Counselor at Westhill High School in Stamford, Connecticut. In addition, Tom also runs Tom Step Coaching for Personal Development.

Memorable Quote: “The smartest person in the room, is not the one who has all the answers. It's the one who asked the most questions. So, so keep on going, keep on asking, keep on inquiring, and, you know, always, always, always, always try to learn, and learn about you.” Tom Stepkoski.

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.

Recommended Episodes: College Experiences

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Prof. Haseeb Kazi is a fourth generation academic. For the past 2 decades - He has been living his dream - teaching and doing research. Prof. Kazi has been at the forefront of undergraduate research in Mathematics inspiring, promoting, guiding and facilitating student projects.

Prof. Kazi joins us on our podcast to talk about UG Research at Trine University, CUR’s Role, Impact of Research, Success Stories, and Advice for High Schoolers.

In particular, we discuss the following with him:

Topics discussed in this episode:

Our Guest: Dr Haseeb Kazi is a Professor of Mathematics at Trine University. Prof. Kazi received the Bachelor’s Degrees in Applied Mathematics and Physics from the University of the Punjab, and Master’s in Applied Mathematics from Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. He received his Master’s and PhD in Applied Mathematics from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Memorable Quote: “What is a mistake? It is a take that was missed! So what? Do another take.There is nothing as failure. Failure basically means a second iteration towards success. ” Prof. Haseeb Kazi.

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.

Similar Episodes: UG Research

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