YCBK 198: The media is not your friend

In this episode you will hear:     (09:54) In this week’s “In the news segment, a  September 20th article by Patrick O’Connor of the Counselors’ Corner blog, “The media is not a college applicant's best friend” This blog article looks at how what stories the media focuses on out of touch with where most college applicants are at. Mark and Dave discuss why the media focuses on the wrong stories and how their fixation is not in the best interest of college applicants.     (26:09) Mark and Lisa  answer the following two questions from listeners:   Question 1)  My son has lost interest in a specific college because he thinks the acceptance rate is too high; what can you tell him? Ann from Illinois   Question 2)  If the school meets a full financial need, how can they prevent having too many "needy" students accepted in a given class and still remain need-blind? Tazin from California   (56:06) Mark interviews Matt McGann, the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Amherst College. Matt will be our interview for the next four weeks. The first two weeks he discusses, how to get a research opportunity with a college professor. The following two weeks he will help us to understand Amherst College. Here is an outline of the interview:   Part 1-Preview   Matt gives his backstory including his admission experience Matt tells us what he majored in when in college, and how he applied his major in the real world Matt tells us what research actually is, and you will love his definition of research! Matt tells us about his own research that he has done Matt lets us know how doing research at an undergraduate college differs from doing research at a university that offers doctoral degrees Matt tells us where a student should start when they want to do undergraduate research     (01:04:03) Our recommended resource is to look at the college career centers for any school on your student’s list. We feature RPI’s Center for Career and Professional Development as an example of this treasure trove of a resource that you want to check out for the college’s on our student’s list:   (01:18:30) Our College Spotlight for episode 198 is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, better known as “RPI”. This 36 minute college spotlight will be split over episode 198 and 199.   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news,  and updates about the podcast before they go live:   To access our transcripts, click: Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans is used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript   Feel free to pass this podcast on to others who you feel will benefit, even if they are not a YCBK listener.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . 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! Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends:   Check out the college websites Mark recommends:     If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All he asks is that you review the services on his website first. His website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/