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. Once in a while, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own 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 Winter Workshop?

2. How did Amy celebrate the end of Mike’s term as NTPA President?

3. How will Amy and Mike be celebrating the holidays?

4. Where is the newest place you can find Tests and the Rest?

5. What are our goals for the new year?

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

https://www.youtube.com/@TestsAndTheRest

RELATED EPISODES

EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: November 2024

EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: October 2024

INTRODUCING THE NATIONAL TEST PREP ASSOCIATION

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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.

How odd is it that one of the most effective ways to learn about college applicants tends to be among the least frequent steps in the process. How valuable is direct conversation for evaluating prospective members of an educational community and what might the future hold? Amy and Mike invited college admissions expert Parke Muth to explore the importance of college interviews.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. What is typically meant by a college interview?

2. How common and impactful are interviews in the current admissions process?

3. What are the best ways to prepare for college interviews?

4. Why should interviews be used more often?

5. What are some of the downsides of requiring more interviews?

MEET OUR GUEST

Parke Muth has worked in education for over 35 years. Most of the time he served as a Dean at the University of Virginia in the admission office and in the English Department. He now works with companies, schools, families, and students across the world but mostly focusing on Asia where he spends about 1/2 of the year. 

While at Virginia, Parke was, among other things, Director of Selection and Recruitment of Honors Scholars, Director of Application Assessment Training, and Director of International Admission. He’s been serving for over 25 years as a member of the Jefferson Scholars selection committee. This four-year, full scholarship is among the most elite programs in the United States. Parke also serves as an advisor for the Ron Brown Scholars Program, an elite scholars program that provides financial support and leadership training, networking, and career services for underprivileged black students. 

Because of his experiences in admissions, Parke is a highly sought-after speaker He has been interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Bloomberg, Associated Press, NBC, etc. He has had over 6 million people read his responses on the website Quora.com. He also has a blog with over 4,000 pages of content, all free, no ads or promotions: https://onlyconnectparke.blogspot.com/

Parke previously appeared on this podcast in episode 81 to discuss You Can't Handle the Truth: Secrets of College Admissions and in episode 148 to discuss Stop Making $en$e: The International Student Problem and in episode 292 for an IEC Profile.

Find Parke at [email protected].

LINKS

Glimpse by InitialView

Can You Answer These 10 College Interview Questions?

Askwith Education Forum Details Impact of Wealth on College Admissions

RELATED EPISODES

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A COLLEGE ADMISSIONS INTERVIEW

POWER DYNAMICS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

HOW TO SPEAK TO A COLLEGE ADMISSIONS REP

WHY OPTIONAL STATEMENTS AREN’T OPTIONAL

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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.

Just about anyone can become an educator or coach, but can anyone become great at it? Amy and Mike invited educator Dan Lerman to enumerate the qualities of great educators and coaches.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. What are the foundational qualities of a great tutor or coach? 

2. What can be taught to tutors and how?

3. How do you know if you are not a great tutor or coach?

4. Beyond a test, what does a great tutor teach? 

5. What is the current state of tutor training? 

MEET OUR GUEST

Dan Lerman is a professor of Cognitive Science at Columbia University. He is passionate about using Cognitive Science to optimize learning, and his specialty is in creative problem-solving. Dan has previously taught at St. Paul's School in London, Saint Ann's in Brooklyn, and Oxford University, and he has founded three companies in the tutoring space. He is passionate about social skills, personal growth, and combating the loneliness epidemic, which has spawned the Backyard Comedy Series. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, daughter, and dog. 

Find Dan at [email protected] or at danlerman.com.

LINKS

Advanced Tutoring Techniques | Programs | TC Academy

Rogers Three Characteristics/Attributes Needed for Client-Therapist Relationship

How to Assess Tutors and Test Prep Providers

RELATED EPISODES

THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE IN TEACHERS

HOW TO BE AN INNOVATIVE EDUCATOR

WHY YOU WANT TO WORK WITH A CAREER TUTOR

TUTORING TREASURES: TIPS FOR TEACHING TEENS

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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 independent educational consultant?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Alison Merzel. Alison Merzel is the founder of AHM Advising LLC, an independent educational consulting practice focused on helping high school students and families find their best-fit post-secondary educational options. Prior to launching her business in 2019, Alison was at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business for 15 years, most recently as the Senior Director of Graduate Recruiting and Admissions. 

Alison holds a BS from Northwestern University in Communications and Spanish and a Master of Labor and Human Resources from The Ohio State University. She has a certificate in Independent Educational Consulting from the UC Irvine Division of Continuing Education. She is a Wow Writing Workshop Certified College Essay Coach and completed the Gap Year Association’s 2022 Counselor Institute. Alison is awaiting the results of her CEP assessment (Certified Educational Planner) and upon approval, will become just the 6th education professional in the state of Ohio to hold this designation. 

Alison is a professional member of IECA, the Independent Educational Consultants Association, where she serves as co-chair of the Jewish IEC Affinity Group and as a member of the College Tour subcommittee.  She is also a member of NACAC, OACAC, and OASFAA and serves as an Advisory Board Member for College Planner Pro, software that is designed exclusively for IECs. 

Locally, Alison is a member of the Bexley Chamber of Commerce and sits on the Board of Trustees of Congregation Tifereth Israel where she serves as the Co-Chair of the synagogue’s Personnel Committee. 

Alison and her husband, Jeff, have lived in Bexley for 17 years and have three children (17, 15, and 10) The Merzel family is not complete without mention of Marvin, an Australian Labradoodle, and Toby, a Cavapoo.  

Find Alison at www.ahmadvising.com.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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 independent educational consultant?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Julie Spak. Since 1985, Julie has been connecting students to their futures in her work as a College Admissions Officer, Financial Aid Officer and Honors Program Counselor at the University of New Hampshire, where she received her M.Ed in Counseling and BA in Communication and English. Julie also worked as a School Counselor, so she knows how to help students and families from "both sides of the desk." She is a Past President of New Hampshire School Counselors Association and is currently a member of the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association and National College Advocacy Group (NCAG). Julie is Birkman certified.

Julie's coaching produces a stand-out college application and also accelerates the career search during college and beyond. Working as a Career Coach & Educational Consultant combines all of her passions of helping students learn about their strengths and finding the best fit college major and institution while keeping finances in mind.

Julie lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband and two active boys, where there is truly never a dull moment!

Julie previously appeared in episode 479 for a SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: National College Affordability Group.

Find Julie at [email protected] or https://www.juliespakconsulting.com/.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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 independent educational consultant?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Stef Mauler, founder of the Mauler Institute™ and author of The Complete Candidate™. She began working in Ivy League admissions over 30 years ago. She met thousands of high school students and their families as they went through the mysterious Ivy League admissions process. Discovering that the majority of applicants had the academic record, but were not accepted, she set out to find patterns in what differentiated the students who were accepted from those who weren’t. Stef holds a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a Graduate Certificate in College Counseling from the University of California, San Diego. Stef is a Certified Educational Planner and a professional member of IECA, HECA, AICEP and NACAC.

Find Stef at https://www.themaulerinstitute.com.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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 independent educational consultant?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Michelle Siddons. Michelle is an Associate Member of IECA, a new member of NTPA, and has her Masters in Education from Seton Hall and undergraduate degree from Colgate University.  Michelle has been helping high school students for over twenty five years with test prep and the past five years with college counseling. She completed her certificate in college counseling from UCLA.  She and her husband live in Mountain Lakes New Jersey, have three young daughters and she serves as a volunteer with many local organizations including the Mountain Lakes Swim and Dive Association, the local travel soccer club and serves on the board of a program called Project Readiness which seeks to level the playing field for all of New Jersey’s children – regardless of economic background – through school supply drives, and free counseling services for students seeking financial assistance for college.   In her free time, Michelle can be found on local platform tennis courts as she is a self-professed “paddle junkie”.

Find Michelle at [email protected].

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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 independent educational consultant?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Feiyang Liu. As a naturally introverted high school student, Feiyang felt immense pressure to adopt a bubbly, inauthentic persona for my college applications. This led to a lack of fulfillment and a realization that pretending to be someone he wasn’t came with significant consequences. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in Political Science and from USC with a Master's in Education (Enrollment Management and Policy), he grappled with people-pleasing while working in admissions and student services at UC Berkeley from 2019 to 2023. The burnout from constantly putting others' expectations above his own led to a pivotal moment of self-reflection.

In 2023, Feiyang relocated to New York, where he finally had the space to rethink my identity and values. This journey of self-discovery ignited a passion for genuine mentoring and ultimately led him to found Your Epic Consulting. His mission is to help students avoid the trap of "college pleasing" and instead showcase their true selves in their applications.

Feiyang combined his personal experiences and professional expertise to guide students toward holistic success. At Your Epic Consulting, they don’t coach you to say what 'sounds good' for college admissions. Instead, they empower you to express your authentic self, ensuring that self-acceptance and college acceptance go hand in hand.

Find Feiyang at https://www.instagram.com/yourepic.consulting/.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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.

The successful outcome of preparing for the SAT & ACT can yield a massive return on investment, but the real value lies in the process itself. Amy and Mike invited educator Rob Pollak to explore how test prep prepares you for college.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. Is test prep all about tips and tricks?

2. How is standardized test prep more than just preparation for one isolated exam?

3. In what way does test prep challenge students to think more strategically about their learning and approach to studying?

4. How do the skills students develop during test prep translate to real-world applications beyond college?

5. How can test prep be a tool for teaching students to manage stress and perform under pressure?

MEET OUR GUEST

Rob Pollak is an expert SAT and ACT tutor with a passion for helping high school students and their families navigate the standardized testing process. In 2012, Rob founded Pollak Tutors, a private tutoring company that helps students in NJ, NY, and CT prepare for and achieve their goals on college entrance exams.  

Rob is a graduate of Hamilton College, Fordham University School of Law, and the ACT Certified Educator program.

Rob first appeared on the podcast in episode 155 in a Test Prep Profile and in episode 397 to discuss How And Why To Manage Your Proctor.

Find Rob at [email protected], 201-472-5050, or www.pollaktutors.com

LINKS

College Readiness Benchmarks

RELATED EPISODES

COLLEGE READINESS ADVICE FROM A COLLEGE PROFESSOR

WHY COLLEGE READINESS MATTERS

TRACKING COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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.

Teens on the road to college tend to encounter a variety of counselors positioned to support them on their journeys. However, not every one of these counselors has the same job. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Margaret Rothe to define the different roles of school and private counselors.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. In what ways are school and private college counselors the same?

2. Do you have to be a high school counselor to be a private college counselor?

3. What is something high school counselors do that IECs don’t or can’t do?

4. What is something an IEC does that school counselors don’t or can’t do? 

5. What resources support all counselors supporting college applications?

MEET OUR GUEST

Margaret Rothe is a leading authority in higher education and student affairs policy. With over 20 years of experience, Margaret has been a driving force behind shaping institutional policies that deeply impact student communities. She was instrumental in pioneering the nation’s first live/learn communities, creating powerful connections between faculty and staff that enrich the student experience, earning both campus and national recognition for her efforts.

Her expertise spans from first-year programming to balancing enrollment goals, even stepping into public safety roles when needed. After leaving university administration, Margaret brought this extensive experience into private college counseling, where she recognized a significant gap in college readiness that contributed to student attrition. There was no standard for guiding students on how to choose the right school or how to prepare academically and personally. Moreover, no software existed that was truly counselor-centric—most were built for government reporting or data extraction.

This realization led her to co-create CounselMore Educational Services Management Software, a platform that combines both the art and science of college counseling to reduce counselor burnout and better serve students. CounselMore now supports over 1,000 private college counselors and has earned two EdTech Digest awards for education innovation and she was honored in 2023 with the Innovation Visionary award.

Margaret can be reached at [email protected].

LINKS

The Role of the School Counselor

FAQs on the Independent Educational Consulting Profession

RELATED EPISODES

HOW SCHOOL AND PRIVATE COLLEGE COUNSELORS CAN WORK TOGETHER

OVERWORKED SCHOOL COUNSELORS

HOW TO CHOOSE A COLLEGE COUNSELOR

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.

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.