YCBK 98: Why Your EFC Says You have to pay so much for college

In this episode you will hear: (08:17) In this week’s news segment, an article from The Atlantic, “College Admissions Hysteria Is Not the Norm”, by Alia Wong. A focus on highly selective schools obscures the experience of the vast majority of American undergraduates. Ms. Wong wrote this piece as a great reminder to us all that the majority of students are not facing the ultra-stressful admissions process in trying to get into highly selective schools – which tends to dominate media headlines.     (27:39) We are in Chapter 98 of 171 Answers we we’ll be talking about why the EFC can sometimes say that families need to pay an outrageous amount of money. We talk about all of the reasons why the EFC is a false measure of what a family can actually afford to pay for college.   (43:21) This week’s question wants to know how boarding schools prepare kids for college. Anika shares her experience having had two kids attend boarding school and Mark shares how boarding schools uniquely prepare students for college but he also discusses some surprising ways in which boarding schools are overrated in their preparation for college.   (1:00:39) Mark continues his interview with Emily Griffin, Director of the Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning, at Amherst College in – How can you evaluate and fully utilize a college’s career center - Part II. Emily answers the following questions:   Is there a demand in the job world for students who get degrees in things like history, English, philosophy, etc. Emily shares the top skills that employers are looking for? How can you evaluate the various career centers as part of my college process? Can you trust the statistics career centers put out about the percentage of students with a job after 6 months?     (1:13:27) Mark’s recommended resource of the week is Department of Education’s Net Price Calculator Center:   (1:27:17) College Spotlight: UAB   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"