Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Dana Ponsky, who began her career in education more than 20 years ago as a student at the University of Maryland where she earned a degree in American Studies, a graduate degree in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University, and a post-master's certificate in Enrollment Management from the University of Miami. After working in student affairs at the university level, Dana transitioned to work as a school-based college counselor and has served as a high school director of college counseling in Miami, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn, and Northern New Jersey. Dana's unique background in college admissions counseling, career counseling, and student development services, along with her entrepreneurial spirit, provides high school and college students with the tools and resources to have a great application to get into college and to ensure long-term success. Find Dana at www.consultwithdana.com or https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishandcollege. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Kristin Cocquyt, a seasoned college admission expert with nearly 20 years of experience in the field - on both the college and high school sides of the desk. As an Assistant Director of College Counseling and Director of College Counseling at two private high schools, Kristin counseled over 600 students and families through the college search and application process and visited over 200 colleges! Kristin completed her undergraduate degree at Hamilton College and then pursued Columbia University's Continuing Professional Studies, Teachers College Online College Advising Program. After many years of engagement with national professional organizations (i.e. Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools and National Association for College Admission Counseling), Kristin's current professional learning endeavor is as an Application Reader for Rochester Institute of Technology where she can stay current on application and admissions trends. Through Cocquyt College Consulting - based in Rochester, NY and on Zoom - Kristin joyfully collaborates with students and families to encourage and guide their college planning and enrollment. Kristin's student-centered, fit-focused philosophy honors each student's identity and goals and empowers families to make informed choices throughout the search and application process to ultimately make a wise college choice and investment. Find Kristin at www.cocquytcollegeconsulting.com or contact Kristin at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Happiness is elusive in this world, particularly for anyone going through massive growth and change. As we seek successful, stress-free lives of our own, we parents, educators, counselors, and everyone else who deal daily with adolescents should strive to be part of their solutions, not their troubles. Amy and Mike consulted a wide range of knowledgeable experts to share their insights into supporting happy and relaxed teens. What are ten things you will learn in this episode? What are the main drivers of teen unhappiness? What behaviors do teens at the highest and lowest socioeconomic levels exhibit? What are the "passengers" that steer us wrong in stressful moments? Why do adults nag teens, and what they should be doing instead? What are helicopter, snowplow, curling, and absentee landlord parents? Why is it so important to teens as more than just students? How does sleep impact teen physical, mental, and emotional health? How can proper breathing regulate the nervous system? What are the differences between productive and unproductive success? What does balance mean for a high school student? RELATED EPISODES BUILDING HAPPIER TEENS TEEN ANXIETY AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS USING MINDFULNESS FOR TEST AND SCHOOL SUCCESS HELPING TEENS FIND MOTIVATION AND INSIGHT HOW PARENTS CAN BEST SUPPORT STUDENTS IN TEST PREP TUTORING TREASURES: TIPS FOR TEACHING TEENS HELPING TEENS GET THE SLEEP THEY NEED HOW TO BREATHE DURING STRESSFUL ACADEMIC SITUATIONS BRINGING GRIT TO TESTING AND ADMISSIONS BRINGING CRITICAL BALANCE TO HIGH SCHOOLERS' LIVES ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

There are all kinds of colleges and universities in this wide world, which is lucky for all those different kinds of aspiring college students! Amy and Mike consulted a wide range of college admissions experts to share their counsel on which types of students thrive at different types of schools. What are nine things you will learn in this episode? What type of student thrives in an urban college setting? What type of student thrives at a large public university? What type of student thrives in a small college environment? What type of student thrives at a liberal arts college? What type of student thrives at a historically black college or university? What type of student thrives at a women's college? What type of student thrives at a Christian college? What type of student thrives at a Jesuit university? What type of student thrives at a military service academy? RELATED EPISODES ATTENDING COLLEGE IN A BIG CITY ATTENDING A LARGE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY ATTENDING A SMALL COLLEGE ATTENDING A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE ATTENDING AN HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY ATTENDING A WOMEN'S COLLEGE ATTENDING A CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ATTENDING A JESUIT UNIVERSITY ATTENDING A MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMY ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Applicants find themselves more confused than ever by current test-optional admissions policies; how do you know if "optional" really applies to you? Amy and Mike invited college counseling expert Judi Robinovitz to explore the complexities of whether to submit test scores or not. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the difference between test optional and test blind? What did test optional look like as a policy before COVID? What does test-optional mean presently in college admissions? What are the most important considerations in deciding to submit a score or not? What signals from schools can help applicants make wise score submission decisions? MEET OUR GUEST Judi Robinovitz is a Certified Educational Planner with more than thirty-five years of experience in college counseling and school placements. She is the author of numerous articles, books, and software products on educational planning and test preparation. Judi has been a featured speaker at national educational conferences, schools, and places of worship. To keep pace with current educational trends, Judi continually travels across the country to visit dozens of college and boarding school campuses every year. She has acquired vast knowledge of the admissions process as well as the requirements and specialties of hundreds of educational institutions. Since 1980, she and her team have successfully guided more than 8,000 students – from those at the very top of their class to students experiencing significant academic struggles – and their families through the planning and application process for private school, college, and graduate school. Judi specializes in guiding students applying to prestigious double-degree BS-MD programs and the nation's most selective universities as well as colleges that best serve mid-range students and those with learning disabilities. During her 23-year tenure at Educational Testing Service, Judi served as technical liaison to the College Board. She designed and led the programming team to implement the College Board's first SAT-prep software; she also wrote strategy chapters of their original SAT-prep books. Taking the SAT numerous times throughout her career, Judi has several perfect 800 scores on her record. As a founding faculty member of two private schools in Boca Raton, Florida, Judi created their college guidance programs and served as Director of College Guidance to the first four graduating classes of each school. Judi founded Score At The Top Learning Centers & Schools in South Florida. Accredited by AdvancED and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the learning centers provide academic tutoring, SAT & ACT preparation, and courses for credit to over 1,000 students every year, both in person and via Skype. The accredited schools are home to more than 180 full-time students who thrive in intentionally small classes ranging in size from one to eight students. Judi is a professional member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, the Higher Education Consultants Association, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the Secondary School Admissions Test Board, and the Learning Disabilities Association of America. Judi earned degrees in mathematics and computer science from the University of Connecticut and Rutgers University, both with highest honors. Her professional life has been devoted to helping students achieve academic success. Judi first appeared on our podcast in episode 139 to discuss Building an A+ Extracurricular Resume and in episode 202 to discuss Crafting A College Resume. Find Judi at [email protected]. LINKS What Does Test-Optional Mean? Truth About Test Optional What Does an SAT Score Mean in a Test-Optional World? The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System RELATED EPISODES WHY COLLEGE READINESS MATTERS WHY OPTIONAL STATEMENTS AREN'T OPTIONAL WHO BENEFITS MOST FROM TEST OPTIONAL POLICIES? ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Higher education might be the priciest purchase in a person's life. So why are there still so many questions about when and how to put money aside for that specific expense? Amy and Mike invited financial planner John Skomski to share strategies for investing in college. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Is it reasonable for families to expect the full cost of college to be covered by scholarships and grants? How much should an average family set aside for college? When is the best time to begin saving for college? What are some optimal long-term saving strategies for college? What are some good strategies for investing when college is a year or two away? MEET OUR GUEST John Skomski has over a decade of experience helping people visualize and achieve their ideal futures. He's worked alongside hundreds of families, assisting them in setting goals and removing obstacles to their success. He started his career right out of college as an academic coach, advising students and their families regarding the courses and cost structure of earning their degree. He joined Best Times Financial in 2014, and began as the firm's Paraplanner, where he focused on guiding clients through the trademarked Custom Wealth Architect process. He and Kevin Best also created Cash Flow Discovery, a financial planning process that provides clients with a straightforward guide along each step toward their financial independence. In 2017, John launched his own financial planning practice within Best Times, specializing in designing financial plans that provide clients with strategies for wealth creation and retirement. He works with a broad range of individuals, from retirees to working professionals, and advises them in the areas of cash flow, investments, insurance and education planning. He also leads the firm's seminar program and teaches several courses in the community each year. John has a Bachelor of Science in Business through Thomas Edison State University in NJ and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional, the highest certification achievable in financial planning. He holds FINRA Series 7 and 63 securities registrations, as well as all requisite state and insurance licenses required to implement financial plans. John resides in Rochester with his wife, Natalie, and 3 children. He enjoys spending time with them, keeping freshwater aquariums, football and home AV systems. They also enjoy volunteering with their church and at local community events. Find John on LinkedIn or 585-504-3600. LINKS John Skomski's personal page Think. Live. Repeat. Podcast RELATED EPISODES UNDERSTANDING YOUR COLLEGE TUITION BILL WHAT IS A NET PRICE CALCULATOR? RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN COLLEGE ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Empowering Students To Succeed In Life Through Private, Personalized Tutoring with educators Eva Addae and David Blobaum What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the story behind Summit Prep? What differentiates Summit Prep? What kinds of students work best with Summit Prep? What kinds of outcomes do Summit Prep students experience? What else should someone curious about Summit Prep know about it? ABOUT SUMMIT PREP Summit Prep is a premier tutoring company that specializes in private, personalized tutoring. We provide both in-person and online tutoring from our tutoring centers in Summit and Bernardsville, New Jersey. In order to provide students with the best possible education to help them succeed in life, we attract, train, and retain top talent. To do so, we offer full-time salaries and full benefits to get the best applicants and then hire only the best of the best. Each instructor then goes through over 160 hours of customized SAT and ACT training and must pass stringent post-training assessments before they can start teaching our students. And we rigorously track all results to ensure that our students get the best results. It is our privilege to work with students, and we hope you will give us the opportunity to show you how we can help your child succeed. To learn more about Summit Prep, please visit summitprep.com. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Coaches often claim that we play like we practice. Unfortunately, we don't always replicate our best practice results when it counts. Amy and Mike invited educator Brooke Hanson to discuss what to do when a test score disappoints. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How can test takers determine expectations for test score increases at the outset? What factors should be considered when scores don't meet expectations? How should a student approach a second, third, or fourth retest? How can superscoring play a role in a retest decision? When should a student consider the testing process over? MEET OUR GUEST Brooke Hanson grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and Kansas City, graduated from Stanford University with honors, and holds an MFA in Cinematic Arts Production from the University of Southern California. After spending over a decade juggling a career in Hollywood with her tutoring and test prep work, Brooke founded Supertutor Media to make college admissions and test prep more accessible and engaging. Her YouTube channel SupertutorTV now boasts over 20 million views and 230K subscribers. She's been featured on CNN, US News and World Report, Teen Vogue, and Yahoo! Finance. Brooke has also written two ACT® math books and developed comprehensive online video-based prep courses for both the SAT and ACT. Brooke previously appeared on this podcast in episode 213 to discuss Test Prep YouTube, episode 290 to discuss First Thoughts About The New Digital SAT, and episode 310 to discuss Letters Of Continued Interest. Find Brooke at supertutortv.com or subscribe to her YouTube (youtube.com/supertutortv). LINKS Test Preparation Checklist Disappointing Results? Press On! RELATED EPISODES WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A BAD TEST TAKER BRINGING GRIT TO TESTING AND ADMISSIONS HOW TEST PREP TUTORING SHOULD WORK ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

The college admissions process can provoke a lot of anxiety, not just in students but in every other person with a stake in uncertain outcomes. Does submitting applications have to be this hectic? Amy and Mike invited high school counselor Candace McMahon to share guidance on destressifying the college admissions process. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is overwhelming students today about the college admissions process? Why has college admissions become an academic arms race? Who is responsible for the college madness: students, parents, or colleges? How can those who support students bring balance into the process? What radical steps might high schools take to relieve admissions stress? MEET OUR GUEST Candace McMahon began her teaching career as a music educator in the Cadillac City School District after graduating from Western Michigan University in 1988. The following year, she began her career in the Olmsted Falls City School District, where she spent 9 years teaching vocal music at the intermediate and high school levels. After earning a Master's in School Counseling in 1998, she began her school counseling career in the Rocky River City School District. This year marks her 24th year in the district-serving students under the academic, college/career, and social/emotional domains; she also holds an administrative license. Throughout her tenure in education, she has facilitated, chaired or assisted in numerous educational ventures: The Blue Ribbon Team Writer and Editor, Outcome Accreditation Committee for Student Recognition, Welcome Back to School Committee, School Development Team, League Transition Committee, Grant Writing Committee, Faculty Council, the RRCSD Vision and Mission Human Resources Committee, Senior Project Coordinator, Curriculum Advisory Committee, and Student Recognition Alteration Committee. In addition, she has served the greater-Community as a Levy Committee Member and Levy Campaign Community Speaker. As a member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health Heroin Task Force, she was a Greater-Cleveland Community Speaker, in partnership with the U.S. District Attorney's Office. She has also received the Ohio Department of Education's Master Teacher designation twice. LINKS Effectively Balancing Academics With Extracurricular And Co-curricular Activities The Mental Health Toll of Academic Pressure The Case For SEL: How Academic Stress Affects Student Mental Health School Stress Takes A Toll On Health, Teens And Parents Say RELATED EPISODES BRINGING CRITICAL BALANCE TO HIGH SCHOOLERS' LIVES HOW PARENTS CAN BEST SUPPORT STUDENTS IN TEST PREP FAMILY CONVERSATIONS ABOUT COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Discover the power of Niagara University with Alison Boland and Kyle Schwindler What are five things you will learn in this episode? Where is Niagara University located and what are its demographics? What types of students feel most at home at Niagara University? What is the energy or vibe like on campus? What are the strengths of Niagara University? What is something most people don't know about Niagara University? ABOUT NIAGARA UNIVERSITY Founded in 1856, Niagara University is a comprehensive institution, blending the best of a liberal arts and professional education that's grounded in a values-based, Vincentian tradition. With more than 80 majors, 60+ minors, six pre-professional options, and accelerated master's programs, NU students are immersed in meaningful real-world learning opportunities to realize their confidence, clarity, and purpose from the moment they step foot on campus. Niagara University's dedication to quality and affordable academic experiences is well known. NU receives annual praise from U.S. News and World Report, Colleges of Distinction, and Money magazine for its ability to offer students an excellent return on their educational investment. Ninety-nine percent of incoming students receive financial aid. Niagara's five academic colleges offer programs at the baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral level, and have received the highest rankings from the top accreditation boards in their fields. In addition, the university offers a national award-winning academic program for students undecided about their study but ready to maintain their four-year schedule with major advantages. A student-to-faculty ratio of 11-to-1 and an average class size of 18 allow for personal attention and classroom interaction. The faculty members at Niagara are internationally renowned for their abilities as researchers and teachers, helping students to accomplish their personal and professional goals. To learn more about Niagara University, please visit niagara.edu. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Meredith Bagwill, the owner of Total College Prep, LLC. Meredith has 28 years of experience in education. Total College Prep, LLC. provides comprehensive tutoring services that enable students to improve test scores, navigate college admissions, and excel in academic coursework. SAT/ACT test prep courses and academic tutoring sessions are offered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and across the country virtually. Additionally, Total College Prep, LLC. partners with A-List Education to provide ACT & SAT professional development (in-person and online options available), classroom instruction, and content licensing to schools, organizations, and education-focused nonprofits across the country. Find Meredith at 1-972-587-5005 or https://www.totalcollegeprep.net. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Kailey Ossanna, the proud owner of KO Tutoring, the test prep company she founded in August 2020. She is a graduate of Campbell University, receiving her BS in Biology. Kailey's path to KO Tutoring has had many interesting stops. From her time as an officer in the United States Army to overseeing quality control of the production of vital medical supplies to teaching math and science in Appalachia, Kailey has brought professionalism and passion to everything she has done. She is now using her experiences and love for education and education policy to provide excellent service to her clients and work towards uplifting all students by working within the professional tutoring community and local communities. Find Kailey at https://www.kotutoring.com. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Dr. Kuni Michael Beasley has a BS from Texas Christian University (GO Frogs!), an MBA from Oklahoma City University, a Doctor of Ministry in Greek and Hebrew from Tyndale Seminary, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has been helping students prepare for college for over 40 years. Dr. Beasley has helped students enroll in the top colleges in the country including Harvard, West Point, Stanford, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Pepperdine, and MIT, with many on full scholarships. Dr. Beasley has an eclectic background. After earning his undergraduate degree, he served on active duty with the Army where he was the youngest commander in Europe in charge of a nuclear Field Artillery unit. When he returned to the US, he oversaw Officer Training and developed several novel training strategies that won him a medal for his efforts. While on active duty, Dr. Beasley earned his master's degree in fifty weeks attending classes at night. He left active duty to take a position with the Federal Reserve Bank where he was a Training Specialist, Management Systems Coordinator, and the Strategic Planner. While there, he worked on the new currency and applied creative ideas to operations and check processing. From there, Dr. Beasley was the International Management Consultant for Caltex Petroleum overseeing executive development and strategic training for executives in 55 countries. Dr. Beasley left corporate America to pursue a personal passion to coach football. In his first year as a high school football coach, Coach Beasley's team won the 1994 Texas AAA state championship. He returned to coaching in 2021 and led his team to the state championship game again. Seeing that many students were under-challenged, in 1996, Dr. Beasley started his own school in a rented Sunday School room at the First Baptist Church in Duncanville, Texas, with seven students. By 2009, there were 22 schools from Springfield, Massachusetts to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Palm Springs, California. He initiated a College Readiness business taking his unique preparation process to public and private school students. His SAT and ACT prep programs were used in public schools in nine states. Dr. Beasley taught college for sixteen years at several institutions including Northwood University, Dallas Baptist University, University of Texas at Arlington, and thirteen years at LeTourneau University. He is credentialed to teach at the graduate level in 14 subject areas, including Business, Political Science, Public Administration, Urban Studies, Economics, Psychology, Geography, and Military History. His Ph.D. is in Urban and Public Administration where he wrote his dissertation on the transition of the Federal Reserve in the late 80s. He earned his Doctor of Ministry in Greek and Hebrew studies concurrently with his Ph.D. Very few can bring a portfolio with military command, championship coaching, academic achievement, college teaching, school administration, and innovative entrepreneurship to build a nationwide business. You can find Kuni at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Jeff Eisenberg, the founder of Long Island Test Prep, has been working as a test prep professional since 1991. He's a lifelong resident of Long Island. Having just retired from the classroom after a 31-year career teaching Social Studies at East Meadow High School, he's now working full-time to help students prepare for college by coaching them for all sections of the SAT, ACT, and GRE exams, and guiding them through the Admissions Essay process. Having done the SUNY Tour, he has a BA in History from Binghamton University and an MA in American History from the University at Albany. He also enjoys working with students who ask for help preparing for Social Studies class. In his free time, he revels in the joy of his family and friends, music and reading non-fiction. He also spends time being repeatedly disappointed by his favorite sports teams. You can find Jeff at https://www.longislandtestprep.com. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Huzefa Kapadia is the founder of Scalar Learning LLC, an education services company based in Los Angeles, CA. Moreover, he is a math video curriculum developer, math musician, and a private math tutor. His life is fully devoted to the art of teaching math, and all aspects of content creation are aimed towards helping students master mathematics for both school curriculums as well as standardized tests. Prior to launching Scalar Learning LLC, Huzefa worked as a software developer for three years before attending law school at Northwestern University. He was then employed as a patent attorney for four years at two international law firms. After working as a software engineer and patent attorney, Huzefa entered the world of math education as an homage to his true passion: teaching mathematics. Since founding Scalar Learning LLC, Huzefa has created hundreds of hours of digital content targeting math concepts for students across elementary, middle, and high school. He has produced and released 5 video courses on mathematics, 3 of which prepare students for the math portions of competitive standardized tests like the SAT, ACT, and ISEE. Additionally, he has written, recorded, and produced 17 math music videos, several of which have been featured on BuzzFeed, The Blaze, The Journal, and EdTech Digest. Huzefa has also delivered a tremendous amount of hours of private math tutoring across the Los Angeles area. Additionally, he has spent over two years as a 6th-grade math teacher at Seven Arrows Elementary in the Pacific Palisades Find Huzefa at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Learning and innovation, it is said, go hand in hand. Unfortunately, teachers don't always see how to bring the two together. Amy and Mike invited educator Barak Moore to describe how to be an innovative educator. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What makes innovation such an important cornerstone of education? What academic theories of innovation should teachers and tutors today be excited about? What do you mean when you say that you don't teach SAT, you teach ingenuity? Why is learning to transcend pattern-matching so important? What are the responsibilities of learners in an innovative educational environment? MEET OUR GUEST Barak Moore has been a professional SAT and ACT tutor for more than three decades. He is a graduate of Princeton University, and was formerly the Director of the Princeton Review of NJ. He has been a consultant to leading educational organizations such as McGraw-Hill, the United Nations, IBM, the New York City Board of Education, the Marine Corps, and the World Bank. Barak previously appeared on this podcast in episode 296 to discuss Self-Advocacy In Education And Admissions. Find Barak Moore at facebook.com/baraktutor. LINKS Purposeful innovation: Five lessons from Silicon Valley Scamper: How to Use the Best Ideation Methods RELATED EPISODES MAKING LEARNING SCIENCE WORK FOR YOU HOW TEST PREP TUTORING SHOULD WORK NEW INSIGHTS INTO LITERACY ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

So many important factors converge in the college selection process, yet one of the most critical ones is far too often ignored. Amy and Mike invited college consultant Chris Wills to make the case for considering college financial fit first. What are five things you will learn in this episode? In what ways have the costs of college changed over the last few years? Why shouldn't students wait to consider costs until after they are accepted? What does prioritizing financial fit first look like? Why do different schools offer different levels of aid? At what point in the college process should applicants determine their budgets? MEET OUR GUEST As a college student, Chris Wills founded a company that helped millions of high school students transition to life after high school and has had a passion to help families with the college process ever since he and his parents made many mistakes and learned things the hard way. Chris is now the President of College Inside Track, which helps families navigate the complicated college process, find the right fit and get the best price at the schools they are considering. Chris is a featured speaker at college admissions conferences around the country, and is a regular guest for major media outlets. Find Chris at http://collegeinsidetrack.com. LINKS 3 Tips For Having The College Money Talk Schedule one hour of free college planning advice from College Inside Track RELATED EPISODES WHEN BORROWING FOR SCHOOL IS A BAD IDEA THE PRICE YOU REALLY PAY FOR COLLEGE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT MERIT AID ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Discussions about education tend to focus on those who do the teaching. Let's not ignore, however, the abundant opportunities for improvement possible at the point of learning. Amy and Mike invited educator Patrice Bain to explain the importance of feedback-driven metacognition. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why doesn't study time always equate to commensurate learning? How can we discriminate between what we know and what we still need to learn? How are retrieval, spacing, and metacognition connected? Who is ultimately responsible for learning outcomes? How can teachers and learners both harness feedback-driven metacognition? MEET OUR GUEST Patrice M. Bain, Ed.S., is a veteran K–12 educator, speaker and author. As a finalist for Illinois Teacher of the Year and a Fulbright Scholar in Russia, she has been featured in national and international podcasts, webinars, presentations and popular press, including NOVA and Scientific American. In addition to Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning, she also co-authored an essential practice guide for educators, Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning, in collaboration with the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Bain's latest book A Parent's Guide to Powerful Teaching reinforces the "Teaching Triangle'' of student, parent, and teacher collaboration. Patrice was one of two U.S. teachers on the working task group: Neuromyths vs. Neurotruths, sponsored by (IES) and the National Commission of Educational Research (NCER). In addition, she was a contributor to the United Nations UNESCO ISEE (International Science and Evidence-based Education) Assessment, outlining the vision for world education by 2030. Find Patrice at www.patricebain.com. LINKS Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning A Parent's Guide to Powerful Teaching www.powerfulteaching.org www.retrievalpractice.org Ebbinghaus's Forgetting Curve RELATED EPISODES THE SCIENCE OF MEMORY MAKING LEARNING SCIENCE WORK FOR YOU HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Test takers have more ways than ever to prepare for important exams. However, if the way you are learning doesn't involve actually taking practice tests, does it even count as prep? Amy and Mike invited educator Paul Pscolka to explain why practice tests matter so much. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Is it really test preparation if you don't take practice tests? What can be learned from practice tests? Why is simulating official test conditions so critical? Are timed tests necessary? What kinds of tests provide the best practice? MEET OUR GUEST Paul Pscolka is the founder of Ivy Masters, an organization based out of New Jersey devoted to helping students improve their SAT and ACT scores and get accepted at their first-choice university. Paul has taught SAT and ACT full-time since 2003. His students have scored perfect on SAT and ACT as well as countless others who have scored within 100 points of perfect on SAT and within 2 points of perfect on the ACT. Many of his students have received thousands in scholarship money as a direct result of their scores. Paul was a Division 1 student-athlete at an Ivy League School. He earned his B.A. in Sociology and his M.S. Ed. at the University of Pennsylvania. Paul first appeared on this podcast in a TEST PREP PROFILE in episode 296. Find Paul at https://www.ivymasters.com or 732-485-6480. LINKS How to Take a Practice Test Why Practice Tests Matter So Much RELATED EPISODES WHAT SAT & ACT DIAGNOSTIC TESTS CAN TELL YOU COMMON TESTING MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A BAD TEST TAKER? ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Helping Tutoring Companies Grow Their Businesses with educator Matt McCorkle What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the story behind Clear Choice Prep? What makes Clear Choice Prep the clear choice? What kinds of organizations work best with Clear Choice Prep? What kinds of outcomes do Clear Choice Prep clients experience? What should someone curious about Clear Choice Prep know about it? ABOUT CLEAR CHOICE PREP Clear Choice provides a 100% custom-branded test prep solution that includes comprehensive student workbooks and the online portal, myPREPcoruse, which includes everything tutors need to deliver a highly efficient, fully personalized test prep experience. Tutors use myPREPcourse to save time on lesson prep by quickly reviewing detailed analysis of full-length practice tests, workbook lessons, and skill builder worksheets. Students use myPREPcourse to complete work between sessions by submitting answers, watching video solutions (from more than 300 hrs of video), and flagging problems for review at the next session. And parents use myPREPcourse to stay in the loop by receiving email progress reports. Clear Choice launched in Manhattan Beach, CA in 2005, when brothers, Bryan and Matt McCorkle, began creating a simple database of test prep worksheets to support their small team of in-home test prep tutors. In the nearly two decades since, that simple database has been completely reinvented as a 100% custom-branded, turn-key solution for tutoring companies that are ready to scale. To learn more, please contact Matt at [email protected] or book a software demo here. To learn more about Clear Choice Prep, please visit https://www.clearchoiceprep.com. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Most new college students say they don't want a reprise of high school, but rather a brand new world of educational immersion and independent living. So why are so many teens not only unprepared for exactly that but unable to locate the resources put in place for their benefit? Amy and Mike invited educator Perry LaRoque to share strategies for making the most of college support systems. What are five things you will learn in this episode? In what critical way does life at college differ from the high school experience? What kind of support resources do colleges typically offer? How often are existing resources utilized? What types of students should seek out or create support systems? How can we help students advocate more effectively for support? MEET OUR GUEST Dr. Perry LaRoque is the founder and president of Mansfield Hall, an innovative residential college support program for diverse learners. He earned his doctorate in special education from the University of Wisconsin and has served in a variety of leadership roles serving at-risk youth and people with disabilities. Before returning for his doctoral work, Dr. LaRoque worked in an assisted-living care facility for adults with intellectual disabilities and taught special education in several public schools. Upon returning for his doctoral studies, he continued his service in the field and served as a teacher and mental health specialist in a children's residential psychiatric program at Meriter Hospital in Madison, WI. Dr. LaRoque is also the co-founder of the College STEPS Program, a non-profit with a mission of providing post-secondary education to students with developmental disabilities in various locations across the East Coast. Dr. LaRoque has served as an Adjunct Professor at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and University of New Hampshire and as an Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Potsdam. He is published in several major education journals for his work on educating students with disabilities and has presented at numerous national and international conferences. Dr. LaRoque also served on the Vermont Special Education Advisory Council, which is an appointed position by the Governor. Most recently, he was an Associate Professor and the Special Education Program Director at Johnson State College in Vermont, where he was instrumental in creating the first dual-certification Elementary Education program in Vermont and also started the Think College Program at Johnson State College. For more information on Perry, please visit: https://perrylaroque.com/ LINKS Taking Flight: The Guide to College for Diverse Learners and Non-Traditional Students College Autism Network RELATED EPISODES HELPING STUDENTS PREPARE FOR THE DEMANDS OF COLLEGE TRANSITIONING YOUR IEP OR 504 PLAN TO COLLEGE INCREASED COLLEGE COSTS FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Most of us understand the meaning of the term "hook" in the context of a catchy song or piece of writing, but when did we start using it for college applicants? Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Aly Beaumont to explain what "unhooked" means in admissions. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What exactly is a "hook" in college admissions parlance? Why do institutional priorities carry so much weight in admissions? Are hooks the same from one college to another? Is there really anything like a completely unhooked student? How can an unhooked applicant improve their odds of being accepted? MEET OUR GUEST Aly Beaumont is the founder of Admissions Village, a family focused, affordable, one-on-one college guidance consultancy. Aly is deeply committed to making the college admissions process less stressful, and her success with this objective can be measured by both the growing number of referrals she receives as well as the repeat business of family siblings. Aly is also a founder and advisor to The College T, a website connecting high school students with college students and recent graduates so that first-hand information and experiences can be shared. Aly is a graduate of Tufts University where she majored in History with a concentration in Modern Women and African American History, and was captain of the Equestrian Team. She lives in Wilton, CT with her husband Perry, their two dogs Buddy and Buzz and their three sons. Two of their sons are currently in college at The University of St. Andrews in Scotland and Keyon College in Ohio, and one graduated from Santa Clara University. Aly is an Associate member of IECA and she has her certificate as an Independent Educational Consultant from the University of California Irvine. Aly previously appeared on this podcast in episode 212 to discuss PREPARATION FOR HIGHLY SELECTIVE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS, episode 341 to discuss COURSE SELECTION FOR HIGHLY SELECTIVE ADMISSIONS, and was the subject of an IEC PROFILE in episode 264. Find Aly at https://www.admissionsvillage.com. LINKS What Does it Mean to be a "Hooked" Applicant? IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S THEM Dream Crusher Takeaways from 2022: What's Next in College Admissions? RELATED EPISODES FITTING IN AND STANDING OUT CREATING A PASSION PROJECT BUILDING AN A+ EXTRACURRICULAR RESUME ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

We all value physicians, which means we all, by extension, value medical school. Like it or not, that must mean we all value that really challenging admissions exam all future doctors in the U.S. must excel on. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Shirag Shemmassian, Ph.D. to tell us all about the MCAT. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is tested on the MCAT? How is the MCAT scored, and what is a good score? What kinds of schools or programs use the MCAT for admissions? When should students prepare for and take the MCAT? When should students retake the MCAT? MEET OUR GUEST Shirag Shemmassian, Ph.D. is the founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions and college admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school and top colleges using his systematic and proprietary approach. Shirag first appeared on this podcast in episode #215 to discuss GETTING INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL. Find Shirag at www.shemmassianconsulting.com. LINKS Taking the MCAT® Exam | Students & Residents MCAT: The Ultimate Guide (2022) | Shemmassian Academic Consulting RELATED EPISODES WHAT EVERY PRE-MED MAJOR SHOULD KNOW GETTING INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL GETTING READY FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

While college applicants are often offered all different sorts of financial aid, one type of aid stands head and shoulders above the rest. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Nancy Paul to answer the most common questions about merit aid. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is merit aid, and why is it more desirable than other forms of financial aid? What are the most common criteria for merit aid, and do test scores still matter? Can a student ever earn enough merit aid to cover all costs of college? How can applicants find out about merit aid? What are some common myths about merit aid and college costs? MEET OUR GUEST Nancy Paul believes that every family has a right to know how they can pay less for college…and empower students with confidence, life skills, and financial literacy in the process. Nancy founded The Institute for Financial Literacy in College Planning to educate, collaborate and advocate around the importance of financial literacy as a solution to unnecessary college debt and missed opportunities. Nancy helped her three daughters win $600,000 in merit scholarships – money for college based on student achievement. A professional speaker and consultant, she is also the author of the bestseller The Little Book about Scholarships. She advises school districts, financial educators, credit unions, and financial advisors. Since 2011, Nancy has been creating custom strategies for families so their students can go to college without going into debt. Find Nancy at [email protected]. LINKS The Little Book about Scholarships How to Pay Less for College…Even if You Earn Too Much for Financial Aid RELATED EPISODES COMMON MISTAKES IN SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS HOW TO WIN LOCAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS WHAT IS SCHOLARSHIP DISPLACEMENT? ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Generations of applicants have turned to the same metrics and authorities time and again to compare institutions of higher education. Should they? Amy and Mike invited professor Jed Macosko to explore which college rankings you can trust. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why are college rankings so influential? What do traditional college rankings purport to tell us? What do the traditional rankings often tell us instead? Should applicants trust college rankings? How should applicants use rankings to evaluate schools? MEET OUR GUEST Jed Macosko is a Professor of Physics at Wake Forest University. In the past twenty years, he has focused his research on the biophysics of cancer, drug discovery, the mechanical properties of cells, and cellular transport. Macosko's Ph.D. work at UC Berkeley was in the structure and function of the synaptic SNARE complex, influenza hemagglutinin, and HIV's Rev response element. He performed post-doctoral research under Drs. Carlos Bustamante the action of polymerases at the single-molecule level. Macosko hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has spent time living in Minsk, Tashkent, Copenhagen, Strasbourg, and other international cities. He graduated with a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and worked with Nobel laureate Kary Mullis at a biotech start-up in Southern California. His lab has received millions of dollars in outside funding, and he is a contributing author of several books. His work has been cited thousands of times, and his patents have been developed in the biotech sector. One of his most fulfilling intellectual projects so far has been to improve academic rankings with the team at AcademicInfluence.com. Find Jed Macosko at [email protected]. LINKS Academic Influence RELATED EPISODES US NEWS & WORLD REPORT COLLEGE RANKINGS FINDING YOUR COLLEGE FIT RED FLAGS IN COLLEGE SELECTION OVERLOOKED ASPECTS OF CAMPUS LIFE ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

The ability to achieve incredible things usually results from the combination of two powerful ingredients: practice plus coaching. However, nobody can follow that painstaking path to success without a third, equally essential element. Amy and Mike invited educator Sean McCormick to answer the age-old question, "How do I motivate my student?" What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why are executive function skills as important to focus on as math or reading skills? How can parents and educators support better executive function in students? What makes a breakdown in executive function the perfect opportunity for growth? How does motivational interviewing work? What are the ideal expected outcomes for motivational interviewing? MEET OUR GUEST Sean McCormick is the founder of Executive Function Specialists, an online coaching business which guides middle, high school, and college students in overcoming procrastination, disorganization and anxiety by teaching time management, prioritization and communication skills so they feel motivated, prepared, and empowered. He has spoken about executive function skills at prominent conferences including the Association of Educational Therapists' National Conference, The Executive Function Online Summit, and the Love Tutoring Festival. Sean is also the host of the Earn More Tutoring Podcast with a mission to eradicate educator poverty. Find Sean at [email protected]. LINKS Motivational Interviewing For Students 5 Ways To Motivate Your Students Turning some Ideas on their Head: Dr. Adele Diamond, TEDxWestVancouverED Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding RELATED EPISODES HOW EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING PROCESSES IMPACT LEARNING EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN TEENS EXECUTIVE FUNCTION AND ADD/ADHD ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Most conversations about memory tend to focus on familiar challenges with retention and retrieval of what we've previously learned and must know now. An overlooked but equally important area of concern should be what we need to remember later. Amy and Mike invited educator Andrew Watson to explain how to improve future memory. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is prospective memory? What makes remembering the future difficult? How can habits alleviate working memory overload? Does writing information down really help us remember important information? Can electronic devices replace paper and pen for offloading memory tasks? MEET OUR GUEST Andrew Watson has been teaching since 1988, studying brains since 2008, and combining those fields since 2012. As a consultant and conference speaker, he works with students and teachers to make learning easier and teaching more effective. Author of three books, he writes frequently on memory, attention, motivation, and skepticism. Find Andrew at [email protected] or Twitter @andrewwatsonttb. LINKS Have You Heard of..."Prospective Memory"? What It Is, Why Teachers Should Notice The Goldilocks Map: A Teacher's Quest to Evaluate 'Brain-Based' Teaching Advice Learning Begins: The Science of Working Memory and Attention for the Classroom Teacher Learning Grows: The Science of Motivation for the Classroom Teacher RELATED EPISODES THE SCIENCE OF MEMORY MAKING LEARNING SCIENCE WORK FOR YOU HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

In May 2020, the University of California Board of Regents eliminated standardized testing as part of its admissions considerations for at least five years. The move was alternately hailed or condemned, depending on your thoughts about education, standards, and opportunity. But what did the evidence suggest? Amy and Mike invited professor Donald Wittman to clarify why UC was wrong to stop using the SAT. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What led the University of California Regents to ban the use of the SAT and ACT for admissions? Was this decision supported by the findings of the UC faculty? Why were the Regents wrong to stop using the SAT? Is the SAT biased for or against socioeconomically disadvantaged students? What admissions policy would make more sense for the UC system? MEET OUR GUEST Donald Wittman is an emeritus professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He uses the tools of economics to explain a wide variety of subjects, including law, democratic politics, international relations, purely economic topics, and an assortment of unrelated topics (sports rules, theocracy, and family dynamics). He has 100 publications in professional outlets, including 2 sole-authored books and 4 edited books. His most recent publication is Average Rank and Adjusted Rank are better Measures of College Success than is GPA, published in Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. His present research is focused on two areas: (1) Why city council policy is more aligned with minority interests when there is at-large voting rather than when there is district voting even though minorities support the latter; and (2) Why the University of California Regents were wrong to abolish the use of the SAT in admissions. Find Donald at [email protected]. LINKS A Foolish Decision on Testing Critics will fight on despite faculty report urging University of California to keep SAT and ACT in admissions The University of California Is Lying to Us UC Officially Ditches All Tests for Undergraduate Admissions RELATED EPISODES DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER: WHAT TESTING TELLS US WHY COLLEGE READINESS MATTERS APPLYING TO A COLLEGE IN THE UC SYSTEM ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Unique Insights Into College Admissions, Costs, Academics, Reputations, and Rankings with Stuart Nachbar What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the story behind The Good College? What experience is The Good College based on? Who was The Good College written for? What kinds of outcomes should readers experience? What should someone curious about The Good College know about it? ABOUT THE GOOD COLLEGE The Good College offers unique insights into college admissions, costs, academics and college reputations and rankings. It was written to help students and their families do their own research and visit campuses to make their college lists-and ultimately choose their Good College. The author, Stuart Nachbar, is a Certified Educational Planner based in Central New Jersey. He is a college and graduate school admissions advisor who has visited and profiled over 200 colleges and universities over the past decade as publisher of Educated Quest.com. Prior to starting the Web site, he worked around higher education for over two decades as an urban economic development professional and software marketing executive. Stuart joined us on the podcast in episode 78 to discuss WHAT EXACTLY IS A GOOD COLLEGE? To learn more, please visit http://thegoodcollege.com. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

With nearly 3,000 four-year schools in the United States to choose from, prospective students need ways to tell them apart. But how exactly are institutions of higher education sorted? Amy and Mike invited journalist Sarah Wood to share some of the thinking behind US News & World Report college rankings. What are five things you will learn in this episode? 1. What are the most significant metrics that US News uses in its ranking systems? 2. How have the college rankings changed over the last few years? 3. Do schools rise and fall substantially from one year to another? 4. What are some of the "Best" college categories in the rankings? 5. How should students factor these rankings into their college lists? MEET OUR GUEST As an education reporter for U.S. News & World Report, Sarah Wood covers various K-12 and higher education topics, such as college admissions and financial aid. Prior to joining U.S. News in 2021, she wrote about higher education trends and campus initiatives for over two years at Diverse: Issues in Higher Education—a higher education magazine in Fairfax, Virginia. Wood is a graduate of Elon University in North Carolina, where she studied journalism and international studies, and currently resides in the Washington D.C. area. Find Sarah Wood at [email protected]. LINKS 2022-2023 Best Colleges Rankings US News Best Colleges Rankings US News Rankings Methodology Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education RELATED EPISODES WHAT EXACTLY IS A GOOD COLLEGE? OVERLOOKED ASPECTS OF CAMPUS LIFE FINDING YOUR COLLEGE FIT ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

As if taking high-stakes exams wasn't stressful enough, test takers today don't just need to contend with fantastically challenging content and rigorous time constraints. Some days, even the parts of the test experience that you take for granted work against you. Amy and Mike invited educator Rob Pollak to explore how and why to manage your proctor. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What exactly is the role of a test proctor? How does the professionalism of the proctor influence performance? What happens when proctoring goes wrong? What can or should students do when a proctor compromises a test? Why are proctored practice tests so valuable in practicing ? MEET OUR GUEST Rob Pollak is an expert SAT and ACT tutor with a passion for helping high school students and their families navigate the standardized testing process. In 2012, Rob founded Pollak Tutors, a private tutoring company that helps students in NJ, NY, and CT prepare for and achieve their goals on college entrance exams. Rob is a graduate of Hamilton College, Fordham University School of Law, and the ACT Instructional Mastery program. Rob first appeared on this podcast in a TEST PREP PROFILE in episode 155. Find Rob Pollak at [email protected], 617.285.3210, or www.pollaktutors.com LINKS Always Know More Than The Proctor How Not to Proctor a Test RELATED EPISODES TRACKING TIME ON STANDARDIZED TESTS COMMON TESTING MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM WHAT SAT & ACT DIAGNOSTIC TESTS CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Parents, educators, and all the other adults in children's lives focus on helping them become healthier, smarter, and better prepared for their futures. Sometimes, though, we forget about what's ultimately most important. Amy and Mike invited pediatrician Hansa Bhargava to advise on building happier teens. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why do teens seem to be facing more pressure than ever? What are the main drivers of teen unhappiness? Why is building resilience essential for future success and happiness? What belongs in a teen's mental wellness toolbox? Why should the concept of self-compassion extend to the adults in a teen's life? MEET OUR GUEST As our children are struggling more and more with their mental well-being, parents are struggling too, as we try to support our teens. As a parent, it can be challenging to navigate the fast-paced life of screens and school, and to promote a healthy lifestyle. Dr. Bhargava, author of Building Happier Kids: Stress-busting Tools for Parents Paperback – March 15, 2022 published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, speaks to schools and communities about a mental well-being "toolkit" to help parents prevent mental health diseases, recognize warning signs, and promote resiliency in their kids. As a physician, educator, and author for over 15 years, Dr. Hansa Bhargava is passionate about making a difference in families' lives. A board-certified pediatrician at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, former senior Medical Director at WebMD, and current Chief Medical Officer at Medscape Education, she is passionate about meeting families where they are, to provide them with tips and tools to help navigate stormy times. A thought leader, writer, and speaker on mental health in families and healthcare workers, Dr. Bhargava has spoken at the American Academy of Pediatrics, the FDA, the Health Communication National Conference, and schools, and notably conducted a panel discussion with former First Lady Michelle Obama at UNICEF roundtables. She was a visiting professor at the University of Maryland Medical School and lectured on screens & media use in children and the challenges of being a parent. She produced the Medscape video series "The Doctor's Dilemma of Overcoming Burnout", and teaches a resiliency course at Emory University Medical School on Cognitive Based Compassion Training (CBCT). She is a regular contributor to Forbes and is frequently interviewed by major news outlets on issues of pediatric health and mental well-being. Dr. Bhargava is also a member of the executive committee for the Council on Communications and Media for the American Academy of Pediatrics and from a broader philanthropic lens, she is on the Advisory Board for the Christopher Wolfe Crusade for Prevention of Opioid Addiction. Her favorite role, however, is being a mom to her two amazing teenagers. Find Hansa at https://hansabhargavamd.com/. LINKS Building Happier Kids: Stress-busting Tools for Parents RELATED EPISODES BRINGING CRITICAL BALANCE TO HIGH SCHOOLERS' LIVES BRINGING GRIT TO TESTING AND ADMISSIONS HELPING TEENS FIND MOTIVATION AND INSIGHT ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Colleges and graduate programs seek a broad range of attributes in applicants, only some of which are effectively measured in current entrance exams. Amy and Mike invited professor Robert Sternberg to explore advancements for improving admissions tests. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the theory of successful intelligence? How do we test for a broader range of contributors to success? What do assessments of creativity or wisdom look like? How predictive are tests like these of college success? What are the impediments to implementing better admissions tests? MEET OUR GUEST Robert J. Sternberg is Professor of Psychology in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University and Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, Germany. Previously, Sternberg served 8 ½ years in academic administration as a university dean, senior vice-president, and president. Before that, he was IBM Professor of Psychology and Education and Professor of Management at Yale and Director of the Yale Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise. Sternberg is a Past President of the American Psychological Association, the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, the Eastern Psychological Association, and the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology. Sternberg also has been president of four divisions of the American Psychological Association and Treasurer of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Sternberg's BA is from Yale University summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, his PhD is from Stanford University, and he holds 13 honorary doctorates. Sternberg has won more than two dozen awards for his work, including the James McKeen Cattell Award (1999) and the William James Fellow Award (2017) from APS. He has won the E. Paul Torrance Award from the National Association for Gifted Children, 2006, and the Distinguished Scholar Award, also from the National Association for Gifted Children, 1985. He also is the winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology (2018). He is the author of over 1800 publications. He was cited in an APA Monitor on Psychology report as one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century and in a report in Archives of Scientific Psychology by Diener and colleagues as one of the top 200 psychologists of the modern era. He was cited by Griggs and Christopher in Teaching of Psychology as one of the top-cited scholars in introductory-psychology textbooks. According to Google Scholar, he has been cited over 200,000 times. He has authored textbooks in introductory psychology, cognitive psychology, and in communication in psychology. Sternberg is a member of the US National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Find Robert at [email protected]. LINKS Intelligence — Robert J. Sternberg Assessment of Creativity: Theories and Methods Tufts and the Kaleidoscope Project Assessment - Social Emotional Learning RELATED EPISODES ALTERNATIVES TO MULTIPLE CHOICE ARE IQ TESTS VALID FIVE MYTHS ABOUT ADMISSIONS TESTS ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Erin Billy is the founder of Test Magic in San Francisco, California and the test prep forum Urch Forums. Since 1991, he has personally worked with thousands of students to help them get into great universities in the US, from the academic preparation in the early years to the tests and applications required to apply, both to under-graduate and graduate programs. Erin worked in restaurants in Washington, D.C. during the 1980s and 1990s to support himself through college. He graduated from George Mason University with a degree in English Literature, after which he traveled for four years, spending a few months in Europe and three years in Rio de Janeiro. He is currently working on a Master's Degree in Education from San Francisco State University. After working, and after preparing delicious, nutritious meals for his family, Erin is working on distilling his experiences running a business and helping students apply to college in books and websites Find Erin at https://www.testmagic.com. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Emily Raphael is the mom in Testmom, the company she founded (she was very disappointed that the name Pro-Test was taken). She works primarily with high school students preparing for the SAT and ACT. She covers all sections of both tests. In past lives she has taught composition and loves talking and thinking about the writing process. She enjoys teaching and sharing "aha!" moments with students. Emily has her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in English from NYU. She taught composition and literature at the University of Virginia and Queens College for a number of years. She lives on Long Island with her husband Steve and her dog, Malcolm, and has two grown children who refuse to move back home. She is involved in her community and was on the Board of Education in her town for two terms, with particular interest in the needs of children with disabilities. In her free time (HAHAHAHAHA), Emily reads a lot of everything: heavy on fiction, especially if it's depressing, with large, fortifying doses of poetry, political biography, history, disability studies, feminism, and anything else that looks interesting. She is partial to old movies, the oeuvre of Bob Odenkirk, and the Beatles. Sometimes she writes things but rarely shows them to people because her work is too avant-garde for you all to understand. Find Emily at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Luis Smith-Rosario, owner and founder of Hartford County Connecticut-based Just Solve It Tutoring. Luis founded Just Solve It in 2009, and he has since expanded his business to employ a range of skilled STEM tutors and to provide tutoring for students taking STEM courses and standardized tests, offering coaching at all skill levels. Luis is an SAT mathematics tutor who works with middle school and high school age students to improve their SAT math scores for college applications. His students often achieve score improvements of 100+ points on the math portion of the SAT, with many students earning over 700 on this portion. Luis is also a member of the National Test Prep Association. Luis graduated with a BS from Central Connecticut State University with a major in economics and a minor in mathematics. Luis gained his teaching certification through the Alternate Route to Certification (ARC) program and previously worked as a public high school math teacher in the Greater Hartford area for many years while tutoring privately on the side. Although he has transitioned careers to one of a private tutor, he is still committed to his goal of improving math literacy for students and helping them find academic success. Luis has one daughter and many nieces and nephews in Connecticut who have received tutoring and achieved success in math using Just Solve It Tutoring. Find Luis at www.justsolveittutoring.com. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Patricia Brown, a native of the East Coast (New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Boston) who established Team Talent for SAT and ACT and ISEE test prep in the San Diego North County town of Rancho Santa Fe over 15 years ago, serving students from eight private schools and over a dozen public schools. Her word-of-mouth reputation gets clients who are friends of other clients and then who stay with her for all the siblings of the initial student. Her tutoring expertise is in all sections of all three tests. When the opportunities present themselves, she loves using the test sections to impart life-long improvements in reading comprehension, to establish solid editing skills for student writing, and to improve operational math skills because she believes these are essential skills for college and careers. If she can plant the seeds to generate an interest in reading for pleasure (not easy to do nowadays) or if she can improve a student's confidence in math to the point at which the student might tackle a more math-intensive major in college, that's a source of extra job satisfaction! Prior to her years of student test prep, she took a Liberal Arts degree in Psychology and (with the help of a high score on a standardized test taken during a job interview) parlayed that into a 25-year career in the Computer Industry serving Fortune 500 corporations, working as an Executive in Engineering, Client Consulting, and M&A for companies focused on database software, manufacturing application software, and neural network models. Her early experience teaching corporate clients how to use novel computer software and her own personal work experience of having to learn new technologies and new job skills every few years have been very applicable to teaching high school students to reach their personal best on the SAT and ACT. Her analytical skills from years in the computer industry have been used evaluating curriculum alternatives for test prep and researching pedagogical strategies. Her degree in psychology has been put to use each semester as she identifies and refers students for further neuropsychological testing. After working with a student several sessions, she can identify reading or math issues that are atypical and should be further investigated. These referrals have confirmed with a DSM-5 diagnosis learning disabilities that were not previously recognized by teachers. Given her underlying interest in psychology as it relates to learning, she has also reviewed the published research in memorization, reading comprehension, math pedagogy, and performance anxiety to establish methods and best advice to assist her students. In her spare time, she is an avid non-fiction reader and Wondrium is her favorite streaming channel. After a long day of tutoring, she snuggles with her two Old English Sheepdogs. She enjoys hiking trips to Switzerland and sailing vacations with her husband who has taught her everything she knows about the outdoors since she would spend her time in a chair reading if he wasn't around! Find Patricia at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Andre Kiss started Critical Point Test Prep nine years ago, after falling in love with helping students reach their potential on the SAT and ACT. He graduated from Ursinus College Summa Cum Laude and shortly thereafter spent 9 months in the Amazon region of Brazil on a Fulbright Scholarship from the US Department of State. He has a Border Collie named Harambe who loves to play frisbee! Find Andre at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

One of the great challenges of modern education is finding ways to teach students everything they should know along with everything they must know. Unfortunately, while understanding saving, spending, and investing falls into the latter category, most teens and young adults haven't learned the basics. Amy and Mike invited educator Isabel De La Cruz to outline financial literacy essentials for students. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why is financial literacy so important for high school and college students? 400-850 Where should young adults learn financial literacy? 1438 What are common problems resulting from poor financial literacy? What should young adults know about personal finance? What should young adults invest in? MEET OUR GUEST After over seven years of tutoring Math, Science, and Spanish 1-on-1, Isabel De La Cruz decided to start a YouTube channel in March 2020 to provide free instruction to students all around the world. Her mission was to make Math and Science fun, simple, and applicable to everyday life. However, she realized that much of what she was teaching did not prepare students for one crucial aspect of their lives: finances! Isabel had gone through a rough financial path herself and realized that the only reason she struggled with finances was that she too lacked financial education growing up. It took her years of hard work and hundreds of hours of educating herself to finally get to a financially comfortable place. Now, she wants to share everything she learned during her financial journey with the younger generation so that they can avoid the preventable mistakes she made. This is why she decided to focus her channel on Financial Literacy for teens. Not only because it is a necessary topic, but because it's something her High School students crave. Since March of 2020, Isabel has released over 100 videos on her YouTube channel, created a Financial Literacy game, and started a free Financial Literacy for Teens Udemy course. Her ultimate goal is to make financial literacy available to every teen regardless of their current financial status. Isabel can be reached at [email protected]. LINKS Isabel Explains How to Adult: Personal Finance for the Real World YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/isabelexplains Instagram: www.instagram.com/isabelexplains/ TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@isabelexplains RELATED EPISODES THE TRUTH ABOUT STUDENT LOAN DEBT THE PRICE YOU REALLY PAY FOR COLLEGE WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STUDENT LOANS ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

We all expect K-12 schools to run smoothly, supportively, and safely while providing the highest levels of educational excellence. How much, though, do most of us know about the roles of principals and other administrators in accomplishing those noble goals? Amy and Mike invited educator Beth Plunkett to share insights and examples of effective school leadership. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How does an effective school leader deal with crises? How can a school leader keep her community emotionally and physically safe? What does productive teacher support look like? How do you cultivate effective teacher-parent communications? What is the role of a principal's discretionary authority in shaping a school's culture? MEET OUR GUEST Beth Plunkett began her career in 1970, teaching English and reading. She worked as a homebound tutor while raising her family. Eventually, she returned to the classroom as a full time English teacher She then worked at the Alternative Discipline Center as an option for high school students who had been suspended from their own schools. In the fall of 1992, Beth opened Fern Ridge High School, Parkway's fully accredited alternative option for students to earn their high school diplomas. She served as Principal at Fern Ridge until 1995 and then moved to Parkway West High School as the Longhorns' Principal. After 15 years at West, she made a very difficult and emotional decision to retire in June of 2010. Beth is passionate about public education, and she found the challenges of leadership within the system, while at times frustrating and indecipherable, to ultimately be a source of unexpected influence and personal growth. She is eager to share what she has learned in her book, Lessons That Endure: Reflections of A High School Principal. Beth can be reached at https://bethplunkett.com or [email protected]. LINKS Lessons That Endure: Reflections of A High School Principal RELATED EPISODES BRINGING CRITICAL BALANCE TO HIGH SCHOOLERS' LIVES ADVOCACY FOR PARENTS OF HIGH SCHOOLERS REINVENTING THE HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: Integrated Acceleration System The Ultimate Resource for Grade-Skipping, Subject Acceleration, and Early Entrance with researchers Susan Assouline and Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the story behind the Integrated Acceleration System? How does the Integrated Acceleration System work? Who currently uses the Integrated Acceleration System? What kinds of outcomes do users experience? What should someone curious about the Integrated Acceleration System know about it? ABOUT THE INTEGRATED ACCELERATION SYSTEM Determining whether or not to accelerate a child can feel overwhelming. Teachers or parents often have questions about whether their students need more challenges. They may wonder whether their student should skip a grade, start kindergarten or college early, or move ahead in a particular subject. The Integrated Acceleration System, an online tool developed by leading researchers in gifted education, guides participants through the process of gathering and integrating information about acceleration. Informed by decades of research, the Integrated Acceleration System systematically accounts for the major factors to consider when making a decision and generates a report about whether acceleration is a good fit for a particular student. This report includes the recommendation plus extensive documentation of the information used in the decision. During the process, a team of educators and parents collects pertinent data, such as test scores, grades, and indicators of the student's psychosocial development. Teachers, parents, and the student contribute information that is entered into the online platform. The Team Meeting is the culminating step in the process, in which all data are reviewed, a report is produced, and the team discusses the decision and a potential transition plan. The Integrated Acceleration System guides you along every step of the process and gives you the power to make confident, research-driven decisions. The authors of the Integrated Acceleration System are Dr. Susan Assouline and Dr. Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik; they are also co-authors of other relevant work, including the Iowa Acceleration Scale, A Nation Empowered: Evidence Trumps the Excuses Holding Back America's Brightest Students, Developing Academic Acceleration Policies, and Developing Math Talent. Mr. Brian Douglas is the Lead Developer. The team is affiliated with the University of Iowa Belin-Blank Center, a leading research center in gifted education and talent development. Ann first appeared on this podcast in episode 136 to discuss THE IMPACT OF SKIPPING A GRADE ON STUDENTS. To learn more about the Integrated Acceleration System, visit https://accelerationsystem.org or email [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ivy League colleges and universities may share a certain level of selectivity and academic rigor, but they also differ in surprisingly significant ways. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Marlena Corcoran to explain how to tell the Ivies apart. What are five things you will learn in this episode? In what ways are Ivy League schools similar? How do different Ivy League schools differ in size and structure? How do different Ivy League schools differ in culture and atmosphere? Can you send the same application to all of the Ivies? 1800 Does your alumni experience differ based on which Ivy League school you attend? MEET OUR GUEST Dr. Marlena Corcoran is the founder of Athena Mentor: International University Admissions Counseling (Munich and New York). Before starting Athena Mentor, Marlena held visiting research appointments at Brown, Harvard, Princeton, Oxford and the CNRS Paris. For almost 20 years, she has helped young people discover who they are and what they really care about—and present themselves with confidence, enthusiasm and success to the most selective colleges and MBA programs in the world. Marlena can be reached at [email protected]. LINKS How Not to Get Admitted to All 8 Ivies How Much Do You Know About Applying to University? RELATED EPISODES PSYCHOGRAPHICS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PREPARATION FOR HIGHLY SELECTIVE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS DOES COLLEGE ENGAGEMENT MATTER MORE THAN SELECTIVITY? ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Reading, we've long understood, is fundamental. Where we lack consensus, however, seems to be on what the fundamentals of reading are. Amy and Mike invited educator Dr. Linda Hirsch to share new insights into literacy. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why is early literacy so foundational? What is the history of the "reading wars"? Why has pedagogy shifted to its current re-emphasis on phonics? How do decoding strategies and cultural knowledge interact in reading How do we encourage children to become readers? MEET OUR GUEST Dr. Linda Hirsch is a professor in the English Department at Hostos Community College/CUNY and a literacy development expert. She is also the creator, producer, writer and host of EdCast, a TV program that examines pressing issues in education. EdCast airs on CUNY TV, WNYE and the web. Since its inception, EdCast has received seven Telly awards for excellence in cable broadcasting. These include "How to Spot Fake News," "Holocaust Education," NYC Men Teach: Bringing Men of Color into the Classroom," "A Conversation with André Aciman: Whose Text is it Anyway?" "Addressing Bullying," "New Approaches to Stuttering" and "Children's Emerging Literacy Development." Dr. Hirsch is the Director of the Liberal Arts Degree and Co-Coordinator of the Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) Program at Hostos. She holds a Ph.D. in English Education from NYU and is the author of numerous publications on literacy, English-language learners and WAC. She has taught graduate courses at Columbia University's Teachers College, New York University, and the CUNY Graduate Center on literacy and linguistics and was a consultant for the PBS children's literacy series, Ghostwriter. Linda can be reached at [email protected]. LINKS "EdCast" Playlist A Brief History of 'The Reading Wars' Casualties of the Reading Wars RELATED EPISODES IMPROVING READING SKILLS WITH STRUGGLING TEENS (PART 1) IMPROVING READING SKILLS WITH STRUGGLING TEENS (PART 2) SOCIAL STUDIES INSTRUCTION AND READING COMPREHENSION ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

If you find the news that many high schools require admissions tests surprising, you'll be even more shocked to learn just how many different exams there are! As part of our series on HS admissions tests, Amy and Mike invited educator Kelly Frindell to explain the role and structure of the SSAT. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the purpose and structure of the SSAT? 325-1300~ How is the SSAT scored? When should a child start preparing for the SSAT? What are some of the "best practices" for preparing for the SSAT? How important is vocabulary on the SSAT? MEET OUR GUEST Dr. Kelly Frindell is an expert, effective test prep tutor with over 20 years of experience. She has assisted students in achieving testing success and providing students with the tools to get into the schools of their dreams since 2001. Kelly graduated with honors from Trinity University with a BA in psychology, then obtained her Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Texas. She started tutoring at prestigious test prep companies such as Tutorial Resources and Toby Rose Prep, both in Miami, FL, the Princeton Review in San Antonio, and House of Tutors in Austin. After gaining invaluable experience at these institutions, she started InHouse Test Prep in 2007. Dr. Kelly is an expert in test preparation styles, techniques and study material. Her specialties are the SSAT, ISEE, PSAT, SAT, ACT, and GRE. Dr. Kelly's love and passion for helping students exceed their expectations is the driving force behind her company and her success. Kelly can be reached at InHouse Test Prep. LINKS Official SSAT Website What's a "Good" SSAT or ISEE score? RELATED EPISODES WHAT IS THE ISEE? WHAT IS THE HSPT? WHAT IS THE SHSAT? ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

The PSAT high schoolers take in October of 11th grade has no bearing on college admissions, but that doesn't mean the test isn't worth taking or prepping for. Amy and Mike invited educator Brian Stewart to clarify if and when you should prepare for the PSAT. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Should students take the PSAT? Do you have to take the PSAT before you can take an SAT? How do you know if you have a good chance at National Merit recognition? What can students do to prepare for the PSAT? Can students qualify for the National Merit Scholarship without taking the PSAT? MEET OUR GUEST At the end of his first year teaching Social Studies at Dublin Jerome High School, Brian Stewart thought it would make sense to do some part-time tutoring work over the summer. After all, he had done quite well on standardized tests when he was in high school and really enjoyed coming up with creative ways to explain challenging concepts to students. Other companies charged a fortune and didn't seem to have a high-quality product. As Brian worked with more students, word spread about the quality of his tutoring services. He started to offer ACT and SAT test prep group classes, and worked with students from all over Central Ohio. In 2011, Brian left his day job to run BWS Education Consulting full time with his wife Caitlin. Applying the expertise from her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy, Caitlin has ensured that our teaching materials and methods make high-quality test preparation accessible to students of all backgrounds and ability levels. In 2012, Barron's Educational Series contacted Brian about submitting samples of his writing as they conducted a national search for their next ACT book author. Brian was chosen to write Barron's ACT, and has gone on to write several ACT, SAT, and PSAT books with Barron's Educational Series. His books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. In 2014, BWS Education expanded to have associate tutors who teach not only the ACT and SAT, but tutor students in math, science, and writing. Brian and Caitlin personally interview and train every tutor on our staff to ensure they are the best in the business. BWS is a team of committed educators who relentlessly look for the best way to deliver educational enrichment to our clients, whether it's test prep, academic help, or college admission counseling. Brian previously appeared on this podcast in episode 33 to discuss the PSAT AND THE NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROCESS. Brian can be reached at bwseducationconsulting.com. LINKS PSAT/NMSQT Study Guide, 2023: 4 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice (Barron's Test Prep) Colleges that offer Full-Rides for National Merit Sample Alternate Entry Form for National Merit Information on the New Digital PSAT Why Take the PSAT? RELATED EPISODES HIGH-PRIORITY SAT AND ACT TOPICS COMMON MYTHS ABOUT THE SAT AND ACT WHY COLLEGE READINESS MATTERS ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Kate Sonnenberg is the founder of KS College Success and a college admissions expert who has seen the application process from numerous vantage points. As a former application reader in the Princeton University Admissions Office she knows what it takes to have an application that stands out. She brings this experience, as well as her background teaching English and her lawyerly eye for detail, to help guide families and empower students on their journey to college admissions success. In addition to working with her private clients, Kate is the Executive Director of EdMom Scholars, a non-profit that provides free college application counseling to high achieving, low-income students in Northern New Jersey. She is also an instructor in the Independent Education Consultant Certificate Program at the University of California-Irvine. Kate is a graduate of Princeton University and the Columbia University School of Law. To further her professional development, she attended the IECA Summer Training Institute, completed a Certificate in College Counseling from UC-Irvine, and is a WOW Certified Essay Coach. Kate is a Professional Member of the IECA, HECA, NACAC, NJACAC and NCAG. Find Kate at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

The fascinating independent educational consultant we want to profile today is Marcy Fischer. We're so glad to be speaking with you today, Marcy. How are you doing? What will you learn about our guest in this episode? Can you tell us a bit about where you are and what you do? How did you get your start in college consulting and what did you do before you moved to this career? What was your training like? How has your practice evolved? What are your favorite aspects of working in college consulting? What aspects of college consulting do you find frustrating or challenging? What insights would you like to share with current and future independent educational consultants? What is something most of your colleagues would be surprised to learn about you? Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Marcy Fischer attended the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated magna cum laude and was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. She spent several years at Bain & Company and went on to start her own interactive marketing agency. Subsequently, she earned an MBA with honors at Harvard Business School. After successful careers at Staples and Fidelity Investments, Marcy decided to pursue her passion - helping students find and gain acceptance to their best-fit colleges - and launched Collegiate Coach. Marcy's experience interviewing students for the University of Pennsylvania and serving as a college essay coach at Brookline High School provided her a launchpad in assisting students in identifying and achieving their admissions dreams. Leveraging her quantitative background and consulting experience, she utilizes a data-driven approach to identify the appropriate college list for her clients, and she works in a highly consultative way with each student. Marcy has visited over 40 colleges in the past few years, and has resumed visiting schools where COVID restrictions permit. As the mother of 2 daughters who were both accepted to their first choice highly-selective colleges, Marcy knows how to mentor and work with students to accomplish the many time-consuming admissions tasks, to position themselves for success, and ultimately gain acceptance to their top choice schools. She is happy to start working with students at any time between their freshman year of high school to the summer before senior year. Her expertise includes (but is not limited to!) high school course selection, standardized test timing and strategies, college list development, essay coaching, mock interviewing, and application strategies. Marcy is an Associate member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, an indication of her education, expertise, ethics, and training, and also a testimony to her passion for staying current in the admissions consulting industry. Find Marcy at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Ibrahim Firat has been an IEC for 17 years. His recent positions include entrepreneurship instructor at Babson College, lead faculty for Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses program, professor at Houston Community College, Head of School for Nexus Futbol Academy, an all boys' independent soccer school for 4th-8th graders, and chief business growth consultant for the Firat Group. Firat holds an MBA and a BA in history from the University of St Thomas (TX) and a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from Babson College. He is a member of IECA, NACAC, TACAC, and IACAC. For eight years, he has authored The Firat Guide for Private High School Admissions and The Firat Guide for Private School Admissions. He also appears regularly on local and national news outlets discussing matters related to education, college admissions, and testing. Firat currently serves as the president of the IECA's board of directors and previously served as its secretary/treasurer, vice chair of College Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. In addition, he served as a board member and VP of the board of directors for the iWrite Literacy Organization. Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Firat went through the college application process as an international student when he was 17 years old, and that process inspired the work he is doing now. Firat specializes in college consulting. Find Ibrahim at [email protected] or on LinkedIn. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Tara Niemi, founder of Plan College With Me. Tara is an Independent Educational Consultant helping students and their families in the college planning process. Tara is based in NJ and works with students both locally and nationally. Tara offers Comprehensive packages, Hourly Block Rates and free webinars. Tara believes in meeting the unique needs of each student and helping them discover their path. Tara is an associate member of IECA, NACAC & NJACAC. She is a co-advisor for the IECA Consultants with Young Children Affinity Group. Tara is a 2021 graduate of the IECA Summer Training Institute. Prior to becoming an IEC, Tara spent ten years as a high school counselor for a large public school district in NJ. She managed a caseload of 325 students in grades 9-12, and learned how the college application process is integrated into public schools. Tara holds a Bachelor's Degree from Rutgers University and a Master's Degree in Educational Counseling from The College of New Jersey. Tara lives with her husband and children in NJ. She enjoys journaling, exercising and spending time with her family. Find Tara at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Lisa Barrett, a former professor and administrator at Columbia University. Dr. Barrett has exceptional educational experience in the areas of English Education, College Admissions, and Career Counseling. She is a nationally recognized educational consultant committed to helping students of all backgrounds reach their potential. Her career in college admissions for Columbia University gives her a unique perspective on the admissions process at both regional and national levels. Dr. Barrett can provide the expert guidance needed in improving test scores, developing a list of target colleges, managing applications, writing college and scholarship essays, researching scholarship and financial aid resources, and preparing for college and career interviews. Find Lisa at [email protected]. ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.