The Search with Lee Coffin

At a time when college applications are rising sharply and the most selective colleges are more competitive than ever, there's a lot of news—and noise—about college admissions. But how much of the chatter is accurate? And how much is just fear-mongering or gossip? For straight talk from experts who know the score, turn into our new series, Admissions Beat. Each week, Lee Coffin, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Dartmouth College, will consider some of the top admissions headlines and hot topics from the national admissions beat. A roundtable of experts will offer conversation and advice before answering listener questions. Subscribers to our last series, The Search, a two-season primer on applying to college, will want to return for this newsy sequel. And if you're new to all of these lively and useful conversations, welcome aboard! By the end of October, they'll be available wherever you get your podcasts.

In this special bonus episode, Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin welcomes the Class of 2025 to Dartmouth.

In our series finale, Dean Coffin invites Charlotte Albright, the producer of "The Search," to reflect with him on what they have learned together over the course of 22 episodes stretched across two seasons. Among the surprises: applications to selective colleges surged during the pandemic. Coffin's last words of advice to the next class of high school seniors: Be your own best advisers, and follow your hearts as you plot the next chapter of your lives.

When Heath Monsma applied to Dartmouth College, he wrote beautifully in his essay about what he learned by creating his own podcast in high school. So Dean Coffin decided to switch seats with this engaging applicant. Heath asks the dean about his own youth and about what drew him into college admissions, picking up, along the way, some insider tips about how to become the first in your family to attend a selective college.

"What's Your Major?" The answer is likely to change, maybe even several times, during the first year in college. Dean Coffin invites three professors from Dartmouth to reminisce about how their own academic interests evolved as they found their true calling. Being undecided about what to focus on, they agree, can be a good thing for newly enrolled college students, because it keeps the door open to discovery.

If you’ve just been accepted to more than one college or university, congratulations! Now it's decision time. Lee Coffin, dean of admissions and financial aid, advises you to listen to your heart as well as your head, as he asks three college counselors to share advice about making the best possible college choice, and feeling great about it.

Getting accepted to more than one college is a great thing. But comparing financial aid offers—that’s a complex calculation. It’s not enough to know how much money is on each table. It’s equally important to calculate the true, full cost of a four-year education, beyond tuition, so that you can make a wise, financially informed choice. Dean Coffin invites two experienced colleagues to guide you through the maze.

College acceptance letters have gone out. Now it’s your turn to choose. Listen to your heart, as well as your head, says Dean Lee Coffin. This week, he invites two vice provosts who work closely with undergraduates at Duke University to share advice about how to find the best possible home away from home, where you can find your place while continuing to grow and explore new ideas and interests.

Every year, from mid-March to early April, college-bound high school seniors are on pins and needles, waiting for decision letters from selective colleges to land in their mailboxes. In this episode, Dean Coffin asks two fellow admissions officers, from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago, to explain how they make those tough decisions, and what it means to be admitted, denied, or “waitlisted.” A Boston-area college counselor offers tips for receiving, absorbing, and sharing that news. A “no” in selective admissions, the guests agree, should not be taken as a personal failure; rather, it reflects the scarcity of seats as colleges shape and build diverse communities.

College admissions is a high-profile topic that invites speculative chatter. In this episode, “My Neighbor Says,” we debunk all kinds of myths, with a mother going through the application process with twins, a college counselor from a secondary school, and three college deans. Their perspectives differ, but they all agree on one thing: don’t believe everything you hear about getting into college.