YCBK 241: More kids take gap year to seek an admissions edge

In this episode you will hear:   (25:34) Mark and Julia discuss an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal April 28th, 2002 by Alex Janin. The article is entitled, “seeking college admissions edge-more students take a gap year”   They take a look at the growing trend for students to take a gap year in order to pursue a more selective college. Julia and Mark share thoughts on whether this is smart strategy.     (45:32) For our question from a listener, it is bonus content time and Mark recaps a presentation he recently attended entitled, “What is it that is keeping senior admissions people up at night”. As families come to understand the pressure admissions officers are under, it will help explain why so many colleges are so creative and so aggressive in how they recruit students.    (01:12:41) Our interview is with Sue Corner, the Dean of Admissions at Willamette University and someone who started as a student at Willamette in the 80’s. The interview will also serve as our Spotlight as Sue helps us to understand Willamette University (Part 2 of 2) Preview- Preview of Part 2 Preview of Part 2 Sue shares the things that have changed at Willamette since Sue was a student Sue also shares the things that have changed with the city of Salem over the years Sue talks about how Willamette and Lewis and Clark are different Sue talks about what the Northwest 5 consortium is Sue talks about who the overlap schools are Sue talks about what is unique about the admissions process at Willamette Sue talks about how an applicant is evaluated by admissions Sue talks about writing, extracurriculars and admissions interviews Sue talks about the role demonstrated interest plays in admissions decisions Sue talks about the role that test scores play in admissions decisions. Sue talks about the role test scores play in merit scholarships Sue talks about whether ability to pay impacts admission decisions Sue discusses whether Williamette offers need and merit or only merit based money Sue talks about two different fly-in visit programs that they have Sue encourages people to email her at Sue encourages people to copy email the regional admission officer Sue goes on the hot seat in our lightning round     Willamette University is our College Spotlight.    (Part 2/2)   (01:47:53) The recommended resource is This sensational resource looks at accurate government data on cutting edge admissions topics and presents the data visually. It is the work of Jon Boeckenstadt, the VP of admissions at Oregon State. Mark will interview Jon about this resource in three months but he wants listeners to be exposed before the interview.   .   Please send in your questions either on Twitter at @YCBKpodcast using the Messages tab (this is our preference) or via email at for the 27 admissions interviews we are doing in the summer and fall. Our interviews are with the following people at the following schools: Confirmed interviews you can still send in questions for our guests: Bard-Mackie Siebens Mercer-Kelly Holloway Reed College-Milyon Truelove- Rice University-Tamara Siler American University-Andrea Felder Pitzer College-Yvonne Berumen Chapman University-Marcela Meija-Martinez Connecticut College-Andy Strickler* Trinity College-Anthony Berry* College of the Atlantic-Heather Albert* Spelman College-Chelsea Holley* Scripps College-Victoria Romero* Saint Louis University-Daniel Wood-(Interview is about transfer admissions, Daniel is a transfer counselor) University of Connecticut-Vern Granger* Colby College-Randi Arsenault* University of Georgia-David Graves* Washington University St Louis-Ronne Turner     To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our free quarterly admissions deep-dive, delivered directly to your email four times a year, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign up on the right side of the page under “the Listen to our podcast icons”   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news,  and updates about the podcast before they go live. You can ask questions on Twitter that he will answer them on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed. Twitter message is also the preferred way to ask questions for our podcast:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript   We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK.   Please subscribe to our podcast. It really helps us move up in Apple’s search feature so others can find our podcast.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: [email protected].   If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful!   If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live.   Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends:   Check out the college websites Mark recommends:   If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link:     If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at [email protected]. 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