The walls of academia have always seemed distant and distinct from the corridors of political power. But even the ivory tower isn’t safe during periods of dramatic societal change. Amy and Mike invited educator Dominique Padurano to explore how political changes are shaping higher education.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. What have been some events that have catalyzed change in higher education during the past two years?  

2. What could be the biggest changes to US colleges and universities in the coming months?

3. What impact have these developments had on international students?

4. What are some academic considerations that families need to think about when building college lists now?

5. What are some social and cultural items families might want to consider when building college lists now?

MEET OUR GUEST

Dominique Padurano has been helping students achieve their academic dreams for 27 years.  After teaching history and Social Studies full-time at several elite New York high schools, she founded Crimson Coaching in 2014 to work one-on-one with students prepping for standardized tests like the SAT and ACT; striving to master academic content and skills in high school; and applying to college and scholarships. “Dr. P.,” as her students call her, does 98% of Crimson Coaching’s tutoring and coaching herself. She’s also an adjunct professor of Historical Studies at Empire State University, part of the State University of New York. Currently, Dominique’s at work on a how-to book tentatively titled, Writing College Essays That Work.

Dominique appeared on the podcast in episode 373 to discuss Small Group Classes Vs 1-1 Tutoring for SAT & ACT Prep and in episode 513 to discuss Diversity And The College Essay.

Find Dominique at Facebook, LinkedIn, and [email protected].

LINKS

Fulbright scholarship board resigns amid 'unlawful' federal funding rollback

As Crises Grip Colleges, More Students Than Ever Are Set to Enroll

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in Light of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (PDF)

Find Your Representative

Contacting U.S. Senators

Liam Knox | Inside Higher Ed

Navigating School and College Selection in Tumultuous Political Times

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THE DEMOGRAPHIC CLIFF IS HERE 

STOP MAKING $EN$E: THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT PROBLEM

TOP TIPS TO PASS YOUR STUDY VISA INTERVIEW

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.

Smart college applicants know not to let artificial intelligence agents write their entire personal statement but might shudder at the idea of ignoring these tools entirely. How much is too much? Amy and Mike invited educator Razi Hecker to explore how much AI is just right in the college essay.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. Should students avoid AI entirely when writing their college application essays?

2. At what points in the writing process can AI be most helpful?

3. What tasks can be AI-assisted and which ones should never be?

4. Is there a danger that use of AI might be detected by essay readers?

5. Why is a main thesis so critical for effective college essays?

MEET OUR GUEST

Razi Hecker is a Harvard graduate (Cum Laude, B.A. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations) and a creative writer whose work appears in literary journals, news outlets, and the most recent edition of 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays.

With over 2,000 hours of college essay coaching and 10+ years in education and creative writing, Razi helps students transform personal experiences into powerful, memorable admissions narratives. His students have been accepted to every Ivy League school, as well as Stanford, MIT, and Caltech. This past year alone, over 70% of Razi’s top retainer students were admitted to at least one Ivy. Those who didn’t landed spots at other elite institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, and Washington University.

Find Razi at League Bound Consulting.

LINKS

Common App Fraud Policy

Can prospective students use generative AI to help with their application to Cornell?

AI Is Taking Over College Admissions

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COLLEGE ESSAYS IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

MAKING YOUR COLLEGE ESSAYS COUNT

WRITING RHETORICALLY IN ADMISSIONS ESSAYS

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.

The Tests and the Rest podcast has always been relentlessly focused on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Sometimes, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. Catch up with us in the latest episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. How was the NTPA Conference in Minneapolis?

2. Where did Mike go after Minneapolis?

3. What projects are Mike and Amy working on?

4. What does the next month hold for Amy and Mike?

5. What special milestone has TATR hit?

We definitely want to respond to listener questions in our next EXTEMP episode, so reach out to us on social media or get in touch through our contact page. Let’s get this Tests and the Rest mailbag rolling!

LINKS

Tutor: The Stuff of Growth

RELATED EPISODES

EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: May 2025

EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: April 2025

EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: March 2025

EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: February 2025

EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: January 2025

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.

If you’re applying as a STEM major or looking at selective colleges, there’s no question that you should consider taking advanced or accelerated math courses at the secondary level. The question instead revolves around which course to take. Amy and Mike invited researcher Adam Tyner to review whether taking calculus in high school is absolutely necessary.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. What are the typical pathways for showing math rigor in high school?

2. Does the choice between calculus or statistics matter?

3. In what cases would one of these choices be more advantageous to an applicant?

4. Do students who have taken calculus in high school outperform their peers?

5. Are their equity issues wrapped up in this decision?

MEET OUR GUEST

Adam Tyner is the national research director of research at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where he helps develop and manage Fordham’s research projects. Prior to joining Fordham, he served as senior education analyst at Hanover Research, where he executed data analysis projects and worked with school districts and other education stakeholders to design custom studies. 

Adam has also spent several years leading classrooms, teaching English as a second language in both China and California and teaching courses at the University of California, San Diego. His work has appeared and been cited in national and international media such as The Economist, The New York Times, Forbes, Education Week, Education Next, and The Diplomat, as well as in numerous local outlets. Adam holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego, where he completed his doctoral dissertation on the integration of rural-to-urban migrant workers in China’s cities. He also holds a bachelor of arts in international studies from the University of Oklahoma.

Adam first appeared on the podcast in episode 140 to discuss Social Studies Instruction and Reading Comprehension and in episode 295 to discuss Would Eliminating Tests Make Education More Equitable.

Find Adam at fordhaminstitute.org.

LINKS

Calculus or Statistics: Does it Matter?

RELATED EPISODES

CHOOSING HIGH SCHOOL MATH COURSES STRATEGICALLY

MATHEMATICAL MATURITY AND TEST SUCCESS

GETTING READY FOR THE AP CALCULUS AB OR BC EXAM

GETTING READY FOR AP PRECALCULUS

GETTING READY FOR THE AP STATISTICS EXAM

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Most students matriculate directly from high school to college. But what if you’re not like most students? Amy and Mike invited education consultant Julia Rogers to explore how to plan a gap year.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. Is there a typical profile of "who" takes a gap year?

2. What are the biggest benefits of taking a gap year to this particular sub-generation of students?

3. How does a student get started with planning a gap year?

4. What steps should students and families take to ensure the gap year is structured and meaningful?

5. What are the financial implications of gap years?

MEET OUR GUEST

Julia Rogers is a traveler, business owner, and experiential education expert who has spent the last 16 years as a professional gap year counselor. As the founder of EnRoute Consulting, Julia oversees a social enterprise dedicated to fueling the gap year movement and developing a generation of compassionate, driven and resourceful global citizens. She partners with educators, service-learning organizations, non-profits, government entities and families around the world to develop creative educational pathways that result in young adults being better prepared to succeed in life and work. Julia is a TEDx speaker, a podcast host, and President Emeritus of the Gap Year Association, a US-based nonprofit dedicated to the intentional growth of the gap year option through research, standards-setting, and advocacy efforts.

Find Julia at https://enroutegapyear.com/.

LINKS

Gap Year to Freshman Year - En Route Consulting

Gap Year Radio

Gap Year Association

Academic Outcomes – Gap Year Research Consortium at Colorado College

Global Gap Year Fellowship

RELATED EPISODES

WHY TAKE A GAP YEAR?

GAP YEAR ALTERNATIVES DURING COVID

BUILDING AN A+ EXTRACURRICULAR RESUME 

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Kristen Lefebvre, the National Director of Education at StudyPoint, an educational services company that supports students across the U.S. on their journey to college by providing one-on-one academic and test prep tutoring services and college admissions coaching. Kristen graduated from Bates College and earned her master’s degree at Tufts University. Always interested in education, she joined StudyPoint in 2002 as a program manager for the Greater Boston area. In addition to her responsibilities working with families and tutors, Kristen began tutoring as well, working with students preparing to take the SSAT, ISEE, PSAT, SAT, and ACT. She loved helping students learn the ins-and-outs of the tests and reach their score goals. More than twenty years later, she’s still at it! In her role as National Director of Education, Kristen oversees StudyPoint’s curriculum and program development, as well as tutor hiring and training.

In her free time, Kristen enjoys spending time with her husband, three daughters, and their dog. They are a big soccer family, so Kristen spends an unreasonable amount of time on the sidelines of soccer fields, either coaching or watching her daughters and their teams play, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. When not at the fields or work, she enjoys reading, traveling, running, and hot yoga.

Find Kristen at https://www.studypoint.com.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Allen Tsao, who started out as an Electrical Engineer (BS at UC Berkeley, and MS at Stanford University), and worked as a full-time engineer for 11 years before switching to tutoring full-time. He loves helping students improve their problem-solving ability, especially in difficult classes. His business (Bothell STEM Coach) specializes in AP Physics, with around 150 students studying with him each academic year, along with about 30 AP Calculus students each year. 

His goal is to make physics a lot more accessible to students and easier to understand, which is why he also releases a ton of free materials on his YouTube channel as well.

He has a wonderful wife, 3 kids, and a dream job that he loves doing day in and day out.

Find Allen at [email protected].

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Margaret Duden, Founder of Twin Cities Test Prep Tutor, is a full-time test prep and writing tutor who specializes in helping highly motivated students hone their writing skills, achieve their score goals on the ACT and SAT, and gain acceptance at their top choice colleges. Margaret conducts all tutoring sessions herself and prides herself on customizing lessons to meet each student’s unique needs and goals. She is a member of the National Test Prep Association (NTPA), the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), and Phi Beta Kappa.

Before starting her tutoring business, Margaret's career centered around writing, editing, outreach, and research in the educational and nonprofit sectors. She has worked for the University of Maryland, Georgetown University, Stanford University, Concordia Language Villages, the Smithsonian Institution, and Twin Cities Public Television.

Margaret graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Anthropology. In her free time, she loves practicing yoga, learning about sustainable food production, and reading fantasy novels. She lives in Minneapolis.

Find Margaret at twincitiestestpreptutor.com.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Ren Abraham, the founder of Telos Tutors, a test prep and academic tutoring company serving students in the Philadelphia suburbs and beyond. With nearly two decades of teaching experience across both the humanities and STEM, Ren brings an interdisciplinary approach to SAT and ACT prep.

After experiencing the limitations of one-size-fits-all SAT prep as a high school student, Ren resolved to craft more responsive, student-centered experiences—grounded in the belief that anyone can learn anything with enough time and the right support. Since founding Telos Tutors in 2016, he has helped students consistently reach their goals on the SAT.

Ren lives with his wife and four children. When he's not working with students, he enjoys reading, TV, singing, and cooking.

Find Ren at [email protected].

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.

The unfolding changes to the ACT take effect everywhere in September. Are you ready? Let two nationally recognized experts in education–your hosts of the Tests and the Rest podcast–help you understand both the ACT enhancements and how students should navigate them. This free Game Plan for the Enhanced ACT webinar was presented live as part of the Tests and the Rest Seminar Series.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. How is the ACT changing?

2. How does the Enhanced ACT compare to the Legacy test?

3. What is the difference between the ACT and SAT?

4. Which tests should students take?

5. When should students test?

LINKS

Game Plan for the Enhanced ACT Video

2025 ACT Enhancements–First Looks

ACT Enhancement Content Rebalancing

Enhanced ACT English Prompts

RELATED EPISODES

ALL ABOUT THE ACT TEST ENHANCEMENTS

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THE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF TEST SCORES IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.