Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Josh Steckel hear graduation updates from three of our Getting In seniors: Alessandra LePera, Jordana Meyer, and Ellis Wells.  The seniors share their favorite parts of the ceremonies and describe what it's been like to participate in the podcast. Plus, Julie and Josh answer a final round of listener questions. Listeners ask about: the value of high school leadership positions, when to consider transferring colleges, the misconceptions surrounding degrees and...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Parke Muth, formerly a dean and an admission officer at the University of Virginia, answer listener questions.  How important are SAT II scores to admissions officers? Which is more valuable a good grade in an AP class or the score on the exam? What's your advice to students applying from abroad? Doesvolunteering matter?Send us an email or voice memo--to [email protected] Call our hotline and leave a message at (929) 999-4353. Find us on Twitter: @GettingInPod...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Parke Muth, formerly a dean and an admission officer at the University of Virginia, answer listener questions.  When you're a student athlete, what are the pros and cons of attending Division 1 and Division 3 schools? Is summer really the best time to start working on common application essays? Test prep is elitist, expensive, and a massive investment of time-- is there any reason our family should opt-in?  Send us an email or voice memo--to [email protected]...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expert Amy Young answer a listener question from an eleventh grader about what juniors should be doing the summer before their senior year. We also hear from Getting In seniors Jonathan Diaz, August Graves, Alessandra LePera, and Jordana Meyer about their own plans for summer before starting college in the fall.Amy Young is the director of college counseling at Avenues, an independent school in New York City.Send questions, comments, and follow us on...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and expert Amy Young talk about how the high stakes intensity of college admissions has trickled down to middle and high school admissions. Amy is the director of college counseling at Avenues, an independent school in New York City.Julie mentions a new effort aimed to reduce the academic pressure and stress found in her own community of Palo Alto, CA. The city is distraught by its teen suicide rate-- four to five times the national average. The...

As the school year winds down, host Julie Lythcott-Haims checks in with four of the Getting In seniors: Jonathan Diaz, August Graves, Alessandra LePera, and Jordana Meyer.The students share more details about the colleges they'll be attending in the fall, what they're excited about, and something completely new they each want to try when they get to campus. We'll also hear their advice for high school juniors getting into the thick of the admissions process right now.Find us on Twitter:...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and expert Amy Young talk about decision season and what happens when a student sends a deposit to one school, but decides in the eleventh-hour to attend a different school. They also get an update from Getting In senior Ellis Wells, one of Amy's students at Avenues, and who'd been accepted to Vanderbilt University in February. Ellis is enjoying his spring as the captain of the golf team and attributes getting organized early with reducing a lot of college...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expert Steve LeMenager answer listener questions. Steve is the president of Edvice, a college counseling firm. He was previously a director of admissions at Princeton University.Listener questions in this episode include one from a Michigan mom who wonders if the limits her daughter's high school places on the number of AP classes a student can take could affect her daughter's college admission chances. A student in the Netherlands and a mother in the...

Host Julie Lythcott Haims welcomes back Penn professor Marybeth Gasman to answer listener questions. A dad in Pennsylvania says his high achieving daughter, a junior, "has no idea what direction she wants to go" or what she wants to study and he'd like some advice on what sort of schools to look at. And a mom in Indiana wonders if moving to a "better" school district will improve her children's college admissions chances.Marybeth Gasman is a professor of higher education at the University of...

As high school juniors begin to build their lists of schools, they'd be wise to consider historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)  and minority serving institutions (MSIs). Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and her special guests, Professor Marybeth Gasman and Breanna Williams, talk about the benefits of attending HBCUs and MSIs.Marybeth Gasman is a professor of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania where she directs the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions.Breanna...

Getting In expert Amy Young guest hosts the podcast this week while Julie Lythcott Haims tours colleges with her son over spring break. Amy is the director of college counseling at Avenues, an independent school in New York City. Amy and her Avenues colleague, Tim Hudson, formerly an admissions officer at Davidson College, listen and react to updates from three Getting In seniors: August Graves, Alessandra LePera, and Jordana Meyer.All three young women have received college notifications...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expert Steve LeMenager hear an update from Getting In senior Jordana Meyer and they answer listener questions. Steve is the president of Edvice, a college counseling firm. He was previously a director of admissions at Princeton University.Listener questions in this episode include one from a mother in Seattle whose son received several acceptance letters, and wonders if the financial aid packages can be negotiated because her husband was recently laid...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and special guest Gretchen Rubin explore how parents figure out their roles on the path to college and we hear updates from the families of two Getting In seniors. Amy and Martin Graves, August's parents and Jonathan Meyer, Jordana's father reflect on how they have navigated this roller coaster year. Special guest Gretchen Rubin is a writer and co-host of the podcast Happier. Her bestselling books include The Happiness Project and Better Than Before. She's also the...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expert Parke Muth answer more listener questions. Parke is a private college counselor and a former admission officer at the University of Virginia.This week's questions include one from a dad who wonders how attending a vocational high school might affect college admission. A mom whose daughter is interested in the New College of Florida-- a school that does not give grades-- wonders how the post-college working world views graduates who don't have...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expert Parke Muth answer more listener questions. Parke is a private college counselor and a former admission officer at the University of Virginia.Julie and Parke talk about some interesting admission trends he's seen this spring --including the prevalence of "likely letters" and tuition discounts being offered his students.And they answer listener questions: Two different mothers contacted the podcast describing the intense pressures high schoolers...

 Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expert Josh Steckel answer listener questions. Josh is the college counselor at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative studies. He's also the author of Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty.Listener questions in this episode include one from a mother in Connecticut who wonders if special spots are held for students who want to enter ROTC. And Josh and Julie answer two different but...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expertJosh Steckel talk financial aid, scholarship strategies, plus they hearan update from Getting In senior August Graves. Josh is the college counselor at theBrooklyn School for Collaborative studies. He's also the author of HoldFast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of aLife Beyond Poverty. Josh lists the most important things seniors andtheir families need to be doing right now if they're applying for...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and expert Amy Young talk about the five things every college-bound high school junior should be thinking about right now: preparing for and taking the SAT or ACT (no more than twice); senior year course selection; forming relationships with teachers who could serve as references; thinking about how you'll spend your summer; and ramping up academic performance.They also get an update from Getting In senior Ellis Wells, one of Amy's students at Avenues, who got some...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and expert Amy Youngreact to the criticism that's bubbled up around the Harvard report proposingsweeping changes to college admissions. Plus, they get an update from GettingIn senior August Graves who this week received a notification from a college.And Julie and Amy answer listener questions. Amy is the director of college counseling atAvenues, an independent school in New York City.   Listener questions this week include one from amom who's daughter is a serious...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims welcomesback Getting In experts Steve LeMenager and Parke Muth to answer more listenerquestions. A college counselor in Boston askswhat online resources he should include in a presentation to 11th-graders. Amom in Switzerland wonders how US Colleges will convert her son's InternationalBaccalaureate scores to an American-style GPA. A college counselor inPittsburgh is wary of parents who insist their social and political connectionscould help their children gain...

Host Julie Lythcott-Haims looks into the world of serious performing arts applicants. If you're a committed musician, actor, singer, or dancer who wants to keep studying that art form in college or at a conservatory, the admissions path has a few more hurdles. We'll hear updates from two Getting In seniors with a passion for music and theater: Jordana Meyer in Maryland and Alessandra LePera in New Jersey. Alessandra is deep into preparation for her auditions for various theater...

This week the Harvard Graduate School of Education issued a report that called for sweeping changes in the college admissions process. Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and Getting In expert Steve LeMenager talk about the report's highlights-- which emphasized authentic community service and aimed to de-emphasize the importance of AP courses and standardized test scores.Steve is the president of Edvice, a college counseling firm. He was previously a director of admissions at Princeton...

By now most high school seniors have submitted their applications, but there may still be one final step happening in the next several weeks: an interview. Getting In Expert Parke Muth and host Julie Lythcott-Haims say the interview is less about lists of accomplishments and much more about authentic conversation.Parke also describes a bit of the backstory behind the influx of elite applicants from China, India, Korea, and Singapore and the challenges they face. Though test-taking is not one...

With a new year come new challenges for high school seniors. While most college applications are complete and submitted, financial aid forms need attention right now. Getting In expert Josh Steckel explains the differences between the FAFSA and CSS forms. And he and host Julie Lythcott-Haims walk through some first steps students and families might take if they plan to apply for government and institutional aid. Josh mentions a few resources that could be helpful for anyone navigating the...