The College Prep Podcast

By Megan Dorsey & Erin Wilson

Education Kids & Family

What's The College Prep Podcast about?

better grades with less stress on the path to the perfect college

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The College Prep Podcast episodes:

06.24.2024
531: Short Summer Series: Megan–Greene’s Guides: Public Ivies & Hidden Ivies
You may have noticed the list of “new Ivys” from Forbes this spring. In today’s episode, Megan discusses two resources with a similar approach: Greene’s Guides: Public Ivies & Hidden Ivies. These books highlight “how to get an Ivy League...
06.18.2024
530: Short Summer Series: Erin Suggests Podcasts
In this episode, Erin shares some of her favorite podcasts. No Stupid Questions — Research psychologist Angela Duckworth, the author of “Grit” and tech / sports executive Mike Maughan ask lots of questions. Hidden Brain looks into the underlying patterns...
06.10.2024
529: Short Summer Series: Megan–The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg
Megan’s resource for the week is a book that was very influential to her early in her career: The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg. This non-fiction work reads like a story and follows admissions officer Ralph Figaroa through a season of...
06.03.2024
528: Short Summer Series: Erin Suggests Books
We’ve made it to June! Hang in there if you have a few more weeks of school. We typically do shorter episodes in the summer and this year, Megan and Erin will take turns sharing different resources to help you...
05.27.2024
527: The Price You Pay For College
Megan and Erin did some reading and have a book report on The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make by Ron Lieber. What does this book cover?...
05.20.2024
526: Drop That Class!
Students are told that dropping a class will ruin their future prospects–the dreaded W on the transcript is the scarlet letter. Erin argues that sometimes dropping a class is the best and most strategic choice. She also discusses what other...
05.13.2024
525: College Essay Question: “What Will You Bring to the College?”
Why does this college application question elicit blank stares from students? How do we help students to figure out what they might bring to the college experience or what sets them apart from other applicants? Megan and Erin discuss how...
05.06.2024
524: Tips for Visiting Colleges: Notes from Megan’s Recent College Visits
Megan is back from a whirlwind tour of college visits and is sharing her notes and secret tips. When should you go? Is it worth it to time your visit to coincide with their “special” day? Lots of tips like...
04.29.2024
523: Spring Start / Summer Start / Transer Students: What to do when you don’t enter with the rest of your graduating class?
How do you get plugged-in? What goals should you have for socialization? What factors should you consider before accepting a delayed admission? What questions should you be asking? What should you do prior to your delayed start? Megan and Erin...
04.22.2024
522: NCAA & Athletics in College
Maybe you are interested in participating in your sport in college. Or maybe you haven’t thought about it at all. Or maybe you are confused as to what the Divisions mean. Wherever you are in the college athletics process, Megan...
04.15.2024
521: Warning Signs when Researching Colleges
Approach with Caution! When you see these red flags, it may be a sign that the college on your list could be more of a gamble than you were looking for. These are factors to watch for as you research...
04.08.2024
520: How Can I Tell if a College Is “Good”?
Everyone wants to get into a “good college,” but if we don’t rely on rankings, what are some ways prospective students can tell if a college is good? Megan shares the things she looks for including specific numbers that might...
04.01.2024
519: Unique College Programs
Some colleges do their curriculum in very different ways. Megan and Erin talk about some of these programs, their features, and what students might enjoy these colleges. Some of these you may never have heard of but could be your...
03.25.2024
518: What We Mean When We Suggest You “Research Colleges”
What do we mean when we ask students to research colleges? What information is helpful? What are some good tools to get started? More importantly, WHY is this information relevant? The post 518: What We Mean When We Suggest You “Research...
03.18.2024
517: Looking Forward to Summer- Suggestions for Students
You might be getting invited to fancy conferences or thinking about travel or camps–are these opportunities worth it? What can students do to make an impact over the summer? Megan and Erin share their suggestions for what students can do...
03.11.2024
516: What to do if you get deferred or want to appeal your college decision
You heard from a school but were either waitlisted or deferred–now what? Megan walks through the questions you should ask youself and shares her top tips on what to do (and what NOT to do). Plus, Erin brings in a...
03.04.2024
515: SAT or no SAT: What is best for students?
Issues, issues, issues with the SAT! The SAT is changing again–and schools are trending back toward requiring the test. Have you noticed this trend? Megan and Erin debate the value of the SAT and help to make sense of this...
02.26.2024
514: Strategies for Selecting Early Decision 1 and 2 Schools
A parent writes in asking about the difference between Early Action and Early Decision. Megan gives us a brief primer on what our Juniors need to be doing right now in the college search process. Then, she helps us make...
02.19.2024
513: How to Make the Most of Merit Scholarship Money
A listener writes in with a question about merit scholarships–can they count on them for all four years or can colleges change their mind? Megan shares what she generally sees with merit scholarships, what to look for, and general guidelines...
02.12.2024
512: Q&A Session!
Erin has asked for topic ideas and questions and has brought them all today. Social media and mental health? College rejections? Preparing for finals? Taylor Swift? All this covered in one episode! EPISODE #505 – Normalizing Rejection The post 512: Q&A;...
02.06.2024
511: SPECIAL GUEST: Sonia Cacique from The College & Career Ready Podcast
Sonia works with students (and parents!) around career and technical education. Sonia is a student advocate and career coach expert that empowers parents and students in the college and career ready journey. Her goal is to help students with self-awareness,...
01.29.2024
510: How Do I Know if I am Ready for Independence?
Students and parents often wonder what it takes to be indpendent. What skills will they need in college besides academics? How can they start honing those skills now? Erin and Megan go through their top lists of skills and provide...
01.22.2024
509: What are Learning Differences and Should We Get Tested?
Erin goes on a deep dive about Dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, and the Executive Function while Megan shares questions that parents and students have asked. This episode is a basic primer on Learning Differences and a couple study hacks to help with...
01.15.2024
508: What’s on Our College Spreadsheets?
A parent writes in and feels overwhelmed with the amount of information coming in about colleges during the application process. How do Megan and Erin keep it all organized? Is there a “best way” to make sure deadlines are compiled...
01.08.2024
507: Burn-Out is real–what can we do about it?
Erin shares that she is beyond burnt-out and has been doing research on what that’s like and what to do about it. Whether you are a student, an educator, or a parent, we all suffer from burn-out. Erin gives some...
01.01.2024
506: All About Financial Aid 2023-24
A parent has a number of questions about financial aid–and Erin and Megan have answers! Everything from the timeline, to how to choose which school based on their offer, this episode is a great overview of the financial aid process. The...
12.25.2023
505: Normalizing Rejection
Megan shares advice from a colleague who tells students, “If you get into all the schools on your college list, you may have avoided challenge.” Rejection is normal and natural but students have a hard time with it. How do...
12.18.2023
504: Help! Where should we start planning for college?
“I’m so behind!” Megan and Erin have been hearing this from parents quite a bit. The post 504: Help! Where should we start planning for college? appeared first on The College Prep Podcast.
12.11.2023
503: College Ideas for Students Who Don’t Seem Ready for Full University Experience
Sometimes, parents aren’t sure their child is ready to go off, live independently, and become a full-time four-year college or university student. If they aren’t quite ready to make that jump, what other options are there? Megan and Erin discuss...
12.04.2023
502: More Than a Gift Idea: GAMES!
Erin uses games and gamification in her work all the time and she is going to share why games are so great for the brain. We’ll break down different types of games and how games can help with Executive Functioning....
11.27.2023
501: Quantify It: Strategy for College Admission
How can you add value to your college application? It feels like everyone is starting a non-profit–it’s the new “it” item for college admissions–but is it? Megan shares her experience with creating an application that is more informative, useful, and...
11.20.2023
500: Special Guest: How to Encourage Students to Ask for Help
Gretchen Wegner comes back for EPISODE 500!! She challenges Megan and Erin to think about the people they need on their team and how we can help students understand that “asking for support” is an important part of their success....
11.13.2023
499: Listener E-Mail: Should We Reach Out to the College Admissions Office?
A parent wants to know what to do when college representatives aren’t visiting their local schools. Should they go visit them? Should they call the Admissions office? How will schools know what the individual high schools are like? Megan answers...
11.06.2023
498: Advice for High School Students Considering a Pre-Med/Pre-Vet Path
Megan works with students who are determined to go on a Pre-Med or a Pre-Vet path and she has some ideas and advice! What things should you consider before starting on that path? What should you be looking for? Megan...
10.30.2023
497: Artificial Intelligence and the Ethics of Cheating: Navigating the Digital Age
AI is here! In fact, AI wrote this title! How do students use tech to cheat? What is the deal with AI–how does it work and how can we use it responsibily? What are students saying about tech? Erin shares...
10.23.2023
496: This Year’s Unique FAFSA
Changes are coming to the FAFSA! What is the FAFSA? We’ll tell you and we’ll go over all the new changes from requirements to deadlines. This is a quick overview of what to expect with the 2023 FAFSA. The post 496:...
10.16.2023
495: Stats Versus Calc: A Showdown
A parent asks – which should my student take? AP Calculus or AP Statistics? What do colleges like to see? Will my math choice be the deciding factor even if I am not a math major? How are the math...
10.09.2023
494: How to Do College Visits The Right Way
It’s time to visit colleges! What should you do? How will you remember one college from the next? How do you use the visit to tailor your application? And Erin provides her list of questions for ask current students. Happy...
10.02.2023
493: Listener E-mail: Senior Year Schedule for a Student with Anxiety
A parent, Lisa, writes in about her daughter who has anxiety. Is it alright to skip the math, science, and foreign language senior year? What do colleges want to see? How do I keep my kid competitive and healthy? The post...
09.25.2023
492: Update to the SAT & ACT and “never ever” advice from Megan
Megan wished everyone knew these things about the SAT/ACT! We also get an idea about some of the upcoming changes to the digital PSAT and the SAT they are rolling out. What you need to know to give yourself the...
09.18.2023
491: Erin’s Essay Questions: How to Help Students Write an Awesome One
Erin is working with students on the college admission process and she has some questions for Megan about helping with college essays. How much should we help? What if we don’t like the essay? How do we handle the battle...
09.11.2023
490: We Get to Hear From You: Course Selection & Sport Questions
Listener emails!! Today we return from summer with a couple email from you! The post 490: We Get to Hear From You: Course Selection & Sport Questions appeared first on The College Prep Podcast.
09.04.2023
489: Erin’s School Supply Smackdown
Ready for back to school? School supply shopping! It is Erin’s favorite thing to do all year and, like most thing, she has some strong opinions on this subject. She even keeps a page about school supplies on her website...
08.28.2023
488: College Applications Series: Expected Major
We are continuing with our shorter summer episodes and with Megan’s series highlighting the components of the typical college application. Today’s topic: expected major. Some applications ask you to declare an expected major-how are you supposed to know this? What...
08.21.2023
487: Things Teachers/Professors Wish You Knew
We are continuing with our shorter summer episodes and with Erin’s series highlighting the ways in which students can learn key skills to succeed in college. Today’s focus is on what teachers and professors wish you knew. What do teachers...
08.14.2023
486: College Applications Series: Activities
We are continuing with our shorter summer episodes and with Megan’s series highlighting the components of the typical college application. Today’s topic: activities. What constitutes a good activity list? What if I have a bunch of activities–which should I list?...
08.07.2023
485: Adulting 101 Series: Cleaning/Tidying
We are continuing with our shorter summer episodes and with Erin’s series highlighting the ways in which students can learn key skills so they can live independently. Today’s focus is on cleaning. Now that we have covered decluttering (episode 481)...
07.31.2023
484: College Applications Series: Testing
We are continuing with our shorter summer episodes and with Megan’s series highlighting the components of the typical college application. Today’s topic: testing. This used to be a very factual and straightforward part of college applications, but with the growing...
07.24.2023
483: Adulting 101 Series: Organization
We are continuing with our shorter summer episodes and with Erin’s series highlighting the ways in which students can learn key skills so they can live independently. Today’s focus is on organization. Moving from decluttering (episode 481) to organization, Erin...
07.17.2023
482: College Applications Series: Honors
We are continuing with our shorter summer episodes and with Megan’s series highlighting the components of the typical college application. Today’s topic: honors. If you don’t brag about yourself, no one will. Megan goes through the different ways to fill...

What's The College Prep Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The College Prep Podcast episodes:

531: Short Summer Series: Megan–Greene’s Guides: Public Ivies & Hidden Ivies

530: Short Summer Series: Erin Suggests Podcasts

529: Short Summer Series: Megan–The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg

528: Short Summer Series: Erin Suggests Books

527: The Price You Pay For College

526: Drop That Class!

525: College Essay Question: “What Will You Bring to the College?”

524: Tips for Visiting Colleges: Notes from Megan’s Recent College Visits

523: Spring Start / Summer Start / Transer Students: What to do when you don’t enter with the rest of your graduating class?

522: NCAA & Athletics in College

521: Warning Signs when Researching Colleges

520: How Can I Tell if a College Is “Good”?

519: Unique College Programs

518: What We Mean When We Suggest You “Research Colleges”

517: Looking Forward to Summer- Suggestions for Students

516: What to do if you get deferred or want to appeal your college decision

515: SAT or no SAT: What is best for students?

514: Strategies for Selecting Early Decision 1 and 2 Schools

513: How to Make the Most of Merit Scholarship Money

512: Q&A Session!

511: SPECIAL GUEST: Sonia Cacique from The College & Career Ready Podcast

510: How Do I Know if I am Ready for Independence?

509: What are Learning Differences and Should We Get Tested?

508: What’s on Our College Spreadsheets?

507: Burn-Out is real–what can we do about it?

506: All About Financial Aid 2023-24

505: Normalizing Rejection

504: Help! Where should we start planning for college?

503: College Ideas for Students Who Don’t Seem Ready for Full University Experience

502: More Than a Gift Idea: GAMES!

501: Quantify It: Strategy for College Admission

500: Special Guest: How to Encourage Students to Ask for Help

499: Listener E-Mail: Should We Reach Out to the College Admissions Office?

498: Advice for High School Students Considering a Pre-Med/Pre-Vet Path

497: Artificial Intelligence and the Ethics of Cheating: Navigating the Digital Age

496: This Year’s Unique FAFSA

495: Stats Versus Calc: A Showdown

494: How to Do College Visits The Right Way

493: Listener E-mail: Senior Year Schedule for a Student with Anxiety

492: Update to the SAT & ACT and “never ever” advice from Megan

491: Erin’s Essay Questions: How to Help Students Write an Awesome One

490: We Get to Hear From You: Course Selection & Sport Questions

489: Erin’s School Supply Smackdown

488: College Applications Series: Expected Major

487: Things Teachers/Professors Wish You Knew

486: College Applications Series: Activities

485: Adulting 101 Series: Cleaning/Tidying

484: College Applications Series: Testing

483: Adulting 101 Series: Organization

482: College Applications Series: Honors

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