Admissions Beat

When a Dean Meets a High School Principal in a Hotel Lobby...

When an admissions dean meets a high school principal in a hotel lobby at a national admissions conference, they have a lot to discuss! John Durante of Syosset High Schoo

"AI Can't Feel..."

In AB's third annual roundtable discussion from the annual conference of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, a lively group of deans, counselors,

Channel Your Main Character Energy

From Grey's Anatomy to Bridgerton, Shonda Rhimes is television's storyteller extraordinaire. In this encore broadcast from Season Eight, The Emmy winner visits AB for a l

Here We Go Again

With a nod to Dolly Parton's iconic song, two parents ponder their second run through the college admissions process. Is the second time a charm? Are there lessons gleane

A Translation Guide for "Ed-Speak” in a College Search

Holistic? Full demonstrated need? Optional? Admissions and financial aid officers sometimes speak a particular kind of language...but everyone navigating a college search

Misinformation on the Suburban Social Circuit

"Information" floods a college search from many spigots, not all of which are reliable or helpful. Each September, social media feeds erupt with advice and comment from v

One App, Many Options

In the Season 10 premiere, Common App CEO Jenny Rickard returns to AB for a back-to-school primer on the application used by over 1,100 colleges around the world. Fifty y

Odds and Ends

In a "listener mailbag" bonus episode, Jen Simons from Bright Horizons College Coach joins AB host Lee Coffin to answer an array of listener questions. The mailbag querie

The Initial Friendship Market

In the season finale, sociologist Janice McCabe offers insights on friendship from her new book Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends, as this fall's entering class makes t

The Transition from Home to College

Hooray, the college search is over! Now what?! As high school seniors become "pre-matrics" on the campus of their choice, a surprising swirl of checklists and emotions ar

The Things I Wish I'd Known...

A live audience of high school seniors and parents at Dartmouth's accepted student open house ponder the lessons of the search they are about to complete. "What are the t

Guiding the Voyage of Discovery: The College Finder

Guidebooks have been a staple of the college search process since 1982, when The Fiske Guide introduced a new resource to prospective applicants and parents. Today, over

Once a High School Principal, Now an Admissions Officer

In an uncommon career pivot, former high school principal and English teacher Robin Appleby segued from her school-based tenures in the U.S. and internationally to a late

AP or Honors, Which Looks Better for Colleges?

The quality of an applicant's senior year program—and the grades achieved in that course of study—are foundational to the academic assessment of any application to a sele

Navigating April

For one month each year, two admission cycles overlap as high school seniors and juniors share center stage. As seniors wrap up their searches over the next four weeks an

State You

A "state option" is often recommended as families wrestle with the affordability of college. But focusing on "affordability" of public institutions alone undersells the o

March Madness Part 2: "How Do You Decide?"

"How do you decide?" is one of the most probing questions associated with selective admissions. With so many qualified candidates competing for limited spots, decisions a

March Madness Part 1: Reading Season

In the first of a two-part episode, AB peeks behind the opaque curtain of a selective admissions office in March. Four Dartmouth admission officers join their dean for an

Follow Me!

Do Instagram or Reddit rival a guidance counselor as a source of admissions information and advice? Can YouTube match or beat an on-campus tour as a measure of vibe and p

Crunching Numbers

The college admissions process spits out lots of stats. Some numbers are straightforward, or they seem to be, while many data points require a nuanced interpretation from