The College Metropolis Podcast: College Admissions Talk for High School Students and Parents

#089 – On today’s episode, I present the meaning of the “Summer Melt” and the ways in which it could help you gain admission to college, while at the same time allowing you to negotiate more institutional aid for yourself. Changes in the rules that guide how colleges and universities recruit students now allow colleges to poach students away from other colleges, even after May 1st, commonly known as Commitment Day. This has increased the level of competition among colleges as they seek to fill every available admission slot. I present a couple of ways in which this increased level of competition benefits students greatly. As the episode continues, I discuss the questions that college admission officers at selective colleges ask about your high school and about you to gauge whether or not you challenged yourself as much as you could have while in high school, and to estimate your chances for success in college. Towards the end of the episode, I talk about the number of AP courses students should take if they plan to apply to selective colleges, and facts to consider when selecting the AP courses you will take. You can find the show notes for this episode at https://collegemetropolis.com/89. If you would like to communicate with us, you may reach us through the Contact Us section at the bottom of our website, https://www.collegemetropolis.com, or by leaving us a voice message using the Send a Voicemail tab on the site. Please help our show by leaving us a 5-star rating and by leaving us a positive review. That is the best way you can show your support for our podcast. Thank you!

#088 – Today, we explore the admission criteria at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, better known as MIT. We begin by analyzing admission information about the most recent freshman class, highlighting the admission rate, standardized test scores, and other academic and non-academic factors considered by MIT Admission Officers as they offer or deny admission to students every year. This episode centers on the one component of the application that is the most important to MIT. Regardless of academic prowess, if that component is not evident in a student’s application, admission to MIT is not given. The information you will learn on this episode will be very important to you because you will be able to utilize it as you apply to the different colleges and universities on your list. At the beginning of the episode, I reminisce about the reasons why The College Metropolis Podcast was created, and ask our listeners to help us grow and reach a wider audience. You can access the resources mentioned on this episode on our show notes at https://collegemetropolis.com/88. Please help our show grow by giving us a 5-star rating and giving us a positive review on the podcast platform you used to download this episode. We would truly appreciate it. Thank you!

#087 - Today, we continue our conversation focused on the most important portions of your college application that will garner the attention of College Admission Officers. Depending on what they find on your application, they will decide to continue exploring your qualifications, or not simply deny you admission to that college or university. On this episode, Jankel and I present a very important way to present yourself in a way that impresses Admission Officers, giving you a great chance to succeed as an applicant. This particular way to stand out is, in fact, extremely important and should be part of your college admission strategy. It is so important that for selective colleges and universities, it carries more weight than having a very high grade point average. We also continue our list of key points to remember as you learn to think as a College Admission Officer, so that with that information in hand, you could give yourself the best chance to succeed. At the beginning of the episode, I share with you some of the heartbreaking stories I have been told by some of the high school students with whom I have had an opportunity to speak. These stories highlight the disadvantage that the vast majority of high school students currently face, namely, navigating the college admission process in high school with very little information or support in school or at home. We present the activities we carry out at The College Metropolis as a way to help our high school students make informed decisions and carry out their college admission goals. You can find the show notes for this episode at https://collegemetropolis.com/87. To communicate with us, please reach out to us through the Contact Us section at the bottom of our website, https://www.collegemetropolis.com, or by leaving us a voice message through the Send a Voicemail tab. We reply to each message we receive. Please help our show by leaving us a 5-star rating and by leaving us a positive review. We will truly appreciate that very kind gesture. Thank you!

#086 – This is a very special episode in which I am joined by my son who will share with us some of his observations about a recent trip we took to visit some of the schools to which he will apply. These include, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and UC Santa Barbara. Although his ultimate goal is to do graduate work in vertebrate paleontology, his undergraduate degree will be in geology. The trip was very informative. As the episode progresses, I share ways in which students can learn to think like college admission officers, and in doing so, use that information to help their chances for admission, especially into the more selective schools. While I present the first portion of the application that catches the attention of admission officers, I uncover the three very important questions they try to answer as they explore each application. By the end of the episode, you will know those three very important questions, and you will be better prepared to present yourself in the best light possible. Additionally, I contrast the core course requirements for Virginia Tech and UT Austin, as well as additional requirements for the UT Austin School of Architecture and the Cockrell School of Engineering. You can find the show notes for this episode at https://collegemetropolis.com/86. Please feel free to reach out to us through our homepage at CollegeMetropolis.com. Please help us reach a wider audience by giving us a 5-star rating and leaving us a positive review. That kind gesture would help us reach other high school students and parents. Thank you!

#085 - This is the third episode in a series that deals with some of the most common misconceptions about college admissions. On the previous two episodes we talked about the fallacy of the “Best-College Rankings” and what research shows is the connection between the level of selectivity of a college or university and the quality of education students receive in those institutions. Spoiler alert, there is no connection! On this episode, we conclude with a presentation of what different types of research show is the one characteristic that all the schools that have allowed students to enjoy the best outcomes is, namely, engagement. I had an opportunity to reminisce about three professors in my college career who were very engaging and played a very important role in the person and the professional I became. They are, Dr. Nabil Razzouk, Dr. Florence Pollard, and Dr. Krone, whose name escaped me during the recording of the episode. Schools that allow for students to connect with professors and the school in meaningful ways, provide students with the best opportunity to succeed. Jankel presents six ways in which engagement happens. We also talk about the importance of engagement as students create a group of questions to ask as they attempt to create a list of colleges to which they will apply. In all, this episode cites 13 different research articles and books written on this subject. You can easily access every resource we mention on this episode by visiting our episode webpage at https://collegemetropolis.com/85. Please help us reach other parents and high school students who may need the information we provide, by giving us a 5-star rating and leaving us a positive review. We would be very appreciative and grateful to you for that bit of support. Thank you!

#084 – The perceived complexity of the college admission process makes it easier for students and parents to believe misinformation, as they attempt to gather as much information to do it right. On the previous episode, we debunked the idea that Best-College Rankings are true indicators of the quality of education offered by a college or university. On this episode, we will visit another common misconception, one that has to do with what many expect enjoy as a result of attending a highly-selective college or university. This episode is based on a white paper produced by CollegeSuccess, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. Following the order in which the white paper is written, I will uncover what research shows is the link between attending a highly-selective college and the overall level of preparation a student receives (learning), job satisfaction & general well-being after graduation, and economic opportunity (a salary comparison of graduates of highly-selective colleges and graduates of colleges with open admission policies. Please visit our episode webpage at https://collegemetropolis.com/84 for sources used or mentioned on this episode, including the different research articles mentioned on the episode, and the link to the ChallengeSuccess white paper. Remember, you can help us reach a higher number of parents and high school students by giving us a 5-star rating and leaving us a positive review. We will truly appreciate that kind bit of support. Thank you!

# 083 – Today, I uncover the fallacy of common methods of ranking colleges and universities. On any day, it is very common to hear talk about so-called best colleges, top colleges, ranked colleges, highly-ranked colleges, top-10 colleges, etcetera. These designations are usually based on rankings published every year, mostly by newspapers and magazines, such as, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and The U.S. News & World Report, as well as The Princeton Review, better known for providing test prep and tutoring services.  On this episode I shed light on the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings, the most popular of all. I begin the episode by going over what most people believe the rankings indicate, namely, that the higher a college or university ranks, the better the quality of education students receive in those institutions. At least, that is what a logical person would gather after hearing the term “Best Colleges Rankings.”  As the episode progresses, I go over some of the factors used in the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings, and allow you to gauge for yourself whether these rankings should be taken seriously. Prepare to be surprised. Although I do not go over all the factors, it is very easy to see that the factors that are given the most weight in the rankings, are highly subjective, in which college administrators are asked to give their opinions about other colleges and universities, even those they have never visited before. You will also find it easy to see that the factors that are more objective, meaning that they are based on data, are factors that cannot be used to determine the level of quality of education in any institution. Please visit our episode webpage at https://collegemetropolis.com/83 for sources used or mentioned on this episode, including the U.S. News & World Report, Colleges That Change Lives, and ChallengeSuccess. Please help us by giving us a 5-star rating and leaving us a positive review. That kind gesture would be very helpful to our podcast and would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

#082 – Today, we uncover the characteristics of teaching institutions, which in many ways, are different from research institutions. We begin by presenting an article that appeared on the Chicago Tribune, which criticized the state of higher education at the time, from the perspective of the author. The article exposed colleges and universities in which teaching was not a priority, and as such, students received an education that greatly differed from what many students set out to receive. Jankel and I continue by introducing a research project undertaken by three professors at DePaul University in Chicago, which came as a result of that original Chicago Tribune article. The research project resulted in an article that was published in the Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, and presented the qualities that teaching institutions must have. In addition of presenting some of the article findings, we followed up with reasons why each finding is so important and the ways in which each would benefit students in teaching institutions. We had a great time as we took time to reminisce on some of the experiences we enjoyed at the teaching institution we attended as undergrads. We finished the episode by sharing some of the factors that will help you decide whether you should apply to research or teaching institutions, and by exploring one of the most renown teaching institutions in the country, Amherst College in Massachusetts. You can find the show notes for this episode at https://collegemetropolis.com/82. Please help our efforts by giving us a 5-star rating and leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcasting platform. That would go a long way in helping us be found more easily by other high school students and parents who are also looking for college admission content. Thank you!

#081 –  On this episode, Jankel and I begin by outlining some of the major differences between research universities and teaching universities. We begin by sharing some Jankel’s experience doing geological research in the Pisco Basin of Peru, while at Loma Linda University. We then dive deep into the characteristics of research universities and the advantages of attending one. We also uncover the qualities and abilities that students should have to do well in research universities. As the episode progresses, we highlight the importance of research to the world, and give an example of a recent findings that came from a research project at Harvard University. Those findings will surely make a huge impact in the world of medicine, and will make a positive difference in the lives of the almost 3 million people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis around the world. We also talk about research opportunities that are available to undergraduate students in some universities, and go over the many opportunities available at one of the premier state universities in California, UC Irvine. Towards the end, we talk about the classification system that exists to rank universities according to their commitment to research. This is a classification system that you can use as you make your lists of schools, if you are interested in research. You can find the show notes for this episode at https://collegemetropolis.com/81. Please help us by giving us a 5-star rating and leaving us a positive review. In doing so, you would be helping us be found more easily by other high school students and parents who are also looking for this type of content on the different podcasting platforms. Thank you!

#080 – On this episode, Jankel and I present a very important person in the college admission aspirations of high school students, the high school college counselor. We discuss the enormous workloads that are placed on the desks of counselors, who on the average are assigned with guiding 500 students through their college admission process. In some states, high school college counselors are assigned as many as 1,200 students. Considering the huge time and resource limitations in which counselors have to carry out their duties, we provide advice for high school students to follow to create the best working relationship with their counselors. Additionally, we go over 15 questions that all high school students should ask their high school college counselors, regardless of their grade level. These questions are designed to ensure that students achieve a successful college preparation and are able to meet or exceed the admission requirements of the colleges and universities to which they want to apply. You can find the show notes for this episode at https://collegemetropolis.com/80.  Please help our efforts by giving our show 5 stars and by leaving us a positive review on the platform you used to download this episode. Your review will ensure that we reach more high school students and parents who need the information we share each week. Thank you!