Brennan and Rick wrap up season three of The Truth About College Admission Podcast with their favorite moments from the season, what they are looking forward to this summer, what they want to see change in the next year in the college admission landscape, and their words of the year.

LINKS:

The Truth About College Admission Newsletter

Private College 529 Plan

The Truth About College Admission w/Juan Espinoza

The Truth About College Admission w/Emily Pacheco

Mattering - Wallace

The Value of College - CGN Roundtable

"Gen Z Wants To Do Good" - Harvard/Making Caring Common

Arizona State London

"Faster, Thinner" - The Hechinger Report

Hosts: Brennan Barnard, Rick Clark

Production: Jack Purdy

Rick is joined by Moira McKinnon (Director of College Counseling and Postecondary Planning at Burwick Academy), Pamela Tan (Director of Admissions at Cornell University), and Gary Clark (Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management at UCLA) to talk about the unique benefits that summer college visits can provide and how as parents being in the college admissions world has affected their outlook on the process.

LINKS:

Truth About College Admission Newsletter

Private College 529 Plan

Hosts: Rick Clark, Brennan Barnard

Guests: Gary Clark, Moira McKinnon, Pamela Tan

Production: Jack Purdy

Brennan and Rick are joined by Emily Pacheco, a Community Organizer for Imperial College London, to talk about AI through the whole application and admission process from how students can use it, how parents should approach guiding their students through using, how admissions offices have found useful ways in the admission process, and how college level leadership has reacted to AI's adaption.

LINKS:

The Truth About College Admission Newsletter

Private College 529 Plan

Visit Brennan & Rick in Boston

EdHub

CalTech Ethical Use of AI Policy

Georgia Tech First Year Application Review Policy

The Truth About AI and Essay Reading - TACA with Juan Espinoza

"Why Transparency is the White Whale of College Admissions" - Chronicle

Hosts: Brennan Barnard, Rick Clark

Guest: Emily Pacheco

Production: Jack Purdy

Rick is joined by Dr. Steven Antonoff and Jay McCann, the authors of the The College Finder, 5th Edition, to talk about the purpose of their book, how prestige impacts the college search process, recogizing what fit can mean for students, and why counselors are so valuable to the college search process.

LINKS

The Truth About College Admission Newsletter

Private College 529 Plan

College Finder

The Application Trail

College Admission Speaker Series - Khan Lab School

Host: Rick Clark

Guests: Dr. Steven R. Antonoff & Jay McCann

Production: Jack Purdy

Brennan and Rick are joined by Anna Follenbee, the Associate Director (and soon to be Director) of College Counseling at Gilman, to talk about the current period in admissions of students choosing a college, advice for what to do now in that selection process, what parents can do to be supportive, the dynamics of the waitlist, and the importance of college responsiveness in this period.

LINKS

Truth About College Admission Podcast

Private College 529 Plan

"Choosing a College: Is It Right?" - The Application Trail

"Choosing a College: Advice From Admission Experts" - The Application Trail

"Ask This Before You Choose a College" - The Application Trail

Hosts: Brennan Barnard, Rick Clark

Guest: Anna Follensbee

Production: Jack Purdy

Brennan and Rick are joined by Kelley Lips, Associate Vice Provost of Enrollment at Emory University, to talk about how Emory's pathways provide more opportunities for students to start and finish college compared to the normal four-year track, why colleges offer different tracks, and advice for high school juniors and seniors considering different start term options.

LINKS

Truth About College Admission Newsletter

Emory University and Oxford College

Hosts: Brennan Barnard, Rick Clark

Guest: Kelley Lips

Production: Jack Purdy

In a cross-post special, Rick heads to the College Admissions Process Podcast hosted by John Durante to talk about building a class, AI, how to best use the Common Application, and other tools families can use in the admissions process.

LINKS

CAP Episode Link

Truth About College Admissions Newsletter

Host: John Durante

Guest: Rick Clark

TACA Production: Jack Purdy

Rick and Brennan are joined by Gerry McCrory and Ashley Smith from Scoir to talk about the platform, their recent data reports, advice for juniors beginning the admission process, and tools on Scoir that everyone from families to counselors can use.

LINKS:

Truth About College Admission Newsletter

"Getting into college is getting easier" - The Hechinger Report

Scoir

Hosts: Brennan Barnard, Rick Clark

Guests: Gerry Mcrory, Ashley Smith

Production: Jack Purdy

Brennan and the new Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at Georgia Tech, Rick Clark, are joined by friend of the podcast Jeff Selingo to talk about his new book, Dream School. Their conversation details why Jeff was inspired to write the book, how to get a sense of the resources on campus when visiting schools, misconceptions about college value, and how life has been going through the college admissions process with his daughter.

LINKS:

The Truth About College Admission Newsletter

"Clark Named Vice Provost of Enrollment Management" - Georgia Tech

Jeff Selingo's website

Buy Dream School 

List of Harvard 1L Institutions

Future U Podcast

Hosts: Brennan Barnard, Rick Clark

Guest: Jeff Selingo

Production: Jack Purdy

Returning from their winter breaks, Brennan and Rick go through their items to watch for in 2026, books they're reading, tips for the current application cycle, their words for the year, and preview a couple guests who will be on the show this semester.

LINKS:

Brennan Barnard on Forbes

The Application Trail

12-Hour Walk

"AI is scoring college essays" – LA Times

Truth About College Admission Newsletter

Hosts: Brennan Barnard, Rick Clark

Production: Jack Purdy