YCBK 115: How COVID-19 has Changed Plans for Prospective Students

In this episode you will hear: (15:56) In this week’s news segment, an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, “How is COVID-19 Changing Prospective Students’ Plans”, by Eric Hoover. With colleges being forced to cancel on-campus programs scheduled for March and April, surveys suggest that the result is that one in six high school seniors who expected to attend a 4-year institution are now considering different paths for the fall.   (31:43) We are in Chapter 115 of 171 Answers and Mark walks us through the various ways to colleges use to evaluate who they will give a merit scholarship to. Once you know how you are evaluated you can successfully aim at the target. Anika shares some very interesting insights about how her own daughter has experienced this process this year, which is her senior year in high school.   (52:05) In this week’s bonus content, Mark shares groundbreaking news on COVID-19’s latest wave on standardized testing. Mark regards this segment as one of the most important segments he has ever done on this podcast, if not the most important. Mark shares three different approaches colleges are taking in regard to the SAT and ACT, but Mark makes a bold prediction that the role of standardized testing will never be the same post Covid-19. He shares his reasons why he believes this. As usual, Anika asks great questions.   (01:18:33) Mark continues his interview with Taylor King, Assistant Director of Admissions at Columbus State in Who Makes a Good Match for a Regional Public University, Part II. In this part, Taylor talks specifically about Columbus State and what their marquee programs are as well as what it would cost to go there for an out of state student. Covid-19 has a lot of families thinking about money and there are some incredible deals to be found at the Regional Public/Masters level universities.   (01:30:12) Mark’s recommended resource of the week is a document that uses Common Data Set information to let you know for specific colleges how many kids they wait list and how many students they take off the wait list for the last 3 years; here is the document:     (01:40:16) College spotlight: Ringling College of Art and Design ()   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: [email protected] If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! We are excited to give our listeners a chance to play a role in shaping what topics we discuss, as well as what guests we have on our podcast. You can let your voice be heard by completing this survey. Just put the following link in your browser and give us your honest feedback. We thank you in advance. Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy go to Amazon and click:   If you want to place a bulk order, you will save money by purchasing this book at 171answers.com. Every penny goes to The Atlanta Mission, a Christian organization that helps over 1000 homeless residents every day.  If you want to see what future episodes will discuss in the book chapter section,  just go to 171answers.com and then click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers"