Too many students think that getting into a college implies a guarantee that they’ll be successfully getting out with a degree. Reality suggests otherwise, but teens can tilt the odds in their favor even while still in high school. Amy and Mike invited educator Michael Ermann to share college readiness advice from a college professor. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What does readiness mean in the context of college? What is one of the most important traits in a college-read...
Jan 30, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 543
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: Anti-Boring Learning Lab The community of educators obsessed with sharing the science-backed study skills and executive function strategies every student needs to thrive with educator Gretchen Wegner. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the story behind the Anti-Boring Learning Lab? How does the Anti-Boring Learning Lab work? Who are the ideal clients for the Anti-Boring Learning Lab? What kinds of outcomes do clients experience? What should someone cu...
Jan 26, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 542
The various flavors of computer science and engineering majors tend to be among the most popular and potentially lucrative for incoming students. No wonder they’ve also become some of the most selective programs to get into! Amy and Mike invited college dean Jennifer Stephan for guidance in navigating the competitive landscape of computer science and engineering admissions. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How competitive are Computer Science (CS) and engineering admissions? ...
Jan 23, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 541
Billie Jean King described tennis as a perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquility. In a lot of ways, taking a high-stakes exam feels the same way. Amy and Mike invited educator Scott Greenspan to explore how tennis and test prep are similar. What are five things you will learn in this episode? 1. What makes tennis such a perfect analogy for testing? 2. What can aspiring test takers learn from tennis? 3. In what ways are tennis players and test takers...
Jan 16, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 540
Every innovation in technology eventually impacts education, yet artificial intelligence already seems poised to transform the way people learn and teach at every level. Amy and Mike invited technology expert Amit Jain to explore how tutors can use AI. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How have Large Language Models (LLMs) solved the decades-old problem of Natural Language Processing (NLP)? How is AI helping curate and personalize content for individual students? How is AI enh...
Jan 09, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 539
The digital SAT may look like the future of standardized admissions tests, but the exam continues a long tradition of verbal priorities. The more things change, the more they stay the same! Amy and Mike invited educator Lori Goldstein to talk all about digital SAT Reading & Writing. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How is the SAT Reading & Writing section structured? How important are vocabulary skills on the test? What makes SAT Reading questions so difficult? What m...
Jan 02, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 538
Admissions factors in college applications often boil down to grades plus tests and then the rest. What happens when the influence of standardized scores is minimized or entirely excluded? Amy and Mike asked U of R Vice Provost and Dean of Enrollment Management Robert Alexander and educational consultant Aly Beaumont the million-dollar question: what do truly test-optional colleges focus on? What are five things you will learn in this episode? How do you know if a school is truly test-optional? ...
Dec 26, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 537
Mathematics is one of the fundamental tools for understanding the universe, nothing less than the science and study of quality, structure, space, and change. That doesn’t mean, though, that we can’t make a contest of it, especially if doing so can uncover a generation’s brightest math minds. Amy and Mike invited Vida John to explain all about the American Math Competition. What are five things you will learn in this episode? 1. What is the American Math Competition, and who runs it? 2. How is th...
Dec 05, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 536
Bill Watterson observed that there is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do. With the right scheduling habits, though, maybe there can be. Amy and Mike invited educator Rebecca Rauscher to share best practices for making time visible. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What does it really mean (concretely) to “Make Time Visible”? Why is this such a big issue for students more so today than ever before? What are some strategies and ideas for making time visible? Is...
Nov 28, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 535
Now that college admissions is moving back into a test-preferred environment, students don’t have to struggle with the choice of whether or not to take a college entrance exam but rather which one. Amy and Mike invited educator Susan Powers to weigh the important factors in choosing between the digital SAT and the ACT. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why should students give thought to which test they want to take? How are the ACT and digital SAT different? How does the ACT ...
Nov 21, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 534
We all know that the first and most influential item in a college application is the academic record, right? But, at a time when everything else in the calculations of selective colleges seems uncertain, can we be so sure the role of grades hasn’t changed as well? Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Susie Watts to explore just how important GPA is in college admissions. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Will a low high school GPA keep you out of college? Will a high GP...
Nov 14, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 532
Since its inception, the SAT has challenged math conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. What, if anything, has changed on the new digital adaptive test? Amy and Mike invited educator Mike McGibbon to talk all about digital SAT Math What are five things you will learn in this episode? What aspect of the new test will affect preparation and performance the most? How much will Desmos and other aspects of the digital delivery system matter? How does the digital SAT's math content compa...
Nov 07, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 532
Earning valuable college credit while fulfilling high school requirements sounds too good to be true, and yet many teens do exactly this every year. Why don’t more? Amy and Mike invited educator Dr. Amanda Sterk to explore when dual enrollment is a good option. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What exactly does dual enrollment mean? What are the benefits of dual enrollment? Do many students pursue dual enrollment opportunities? Are dual enrollment credits always transferable?...
Oct 31, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 532
We often hear that internships are a smart option for teens whether they have clear career aspirations or not. What we don’t hear are all the details about where, when, how, and why. Amy and Mike invited business development consultant Robert Khoury to review everything you need to know about high school internships. What are five things you will learn in this episode? 1. How valuable is an internship to a high school student? 2. What makes an internship significant? 3. What are the best ways fo...
Oct 24, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 530
That old truism about needing to have money to make money wasn’t necessarily coined with college in mind, but unlocking the long-term economic benefits of higher education definitely involves an investment upfront. Amy and Mike invited college finance experts Dave Peterson and Dan Cieniewicz to share insights on how to pay for college. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What sources do you recommend utilizing to pay for college? What do the changes to the FAFSA mean for parents...
Oct 17, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 529
Students, parents, and even teachers sometimes fall prey to the misconception that academic improvement follows a perfectly linear path with each performance a marked improvement over the last. If only! Amy and Mike invited educator Shahar Link to explore strategies for breaking through test score plateaus. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How can you tell the difference between a score ceiling and a plateau? What are the most reliable ways to break through score plateaus? Wh...
Oct 10, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 528
Few concepts in education and performance psychology are as universally accepted as that of the power of a growth mindset. Does that mean the research is conclusive and settled? Not exactly. Amy and Mike invited journalist Jill Barshay to dig into an unexpectedly controversial question–does growth mindset matter? What are five things you will learn in this episode? 1. What is growth mindset? 2. How new is the concept of growth mindset? 3. What is the research evidence for growth mindset? 4. Is t...
Oct 03, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 527
Every year, timeless verities related to getting into college–or even what colleges a student can get into–give way to painful, new truths and exciting, new opportunities. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Rebecca Stuart-Orlowski to return to the show with admissions notes for the HS graduating class of 2024. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What does it truly mean to build a balanced college list? What's a good way to help manage expectations for students who are a...
Sep 26, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 526
Every aspect of being or raising a teenager is complicated by the emotional, irrational, and idiosyncratic responses inherent to all of us. Luckily, psychologists have been piecing together some strategies for bringing order to our typical chaos. Amy and Mike invited counselor Samantha Straub to explore using brain science to help your teen navigate the college process. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What distinguishes the teen brain from the adult brain? What are the impli...
Sep 19, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 525
Grades 9 through 12 represent one of the most influential periods in a person’s life, a time of dramatic change and growth during which many teens determine the trajectories of their lives. Amy and Mike invited educator Flo Brett to share what parents, educators, and counselors should know about how to be successful in high school. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What difficulties do students typically experience in their transitions into high school? What are the keys to a ...
Sep 12, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 524
With all the focus on the primary personal statement, we often overlook the importance of supplemental essays in the college application. Amy and Mike invited IEC Jodi Rosenshein Atkin to explain the best ways to answer the matched questions, “Why this college, why this major?” What are five things you will learn in this episode? 1. Why are supplemental essays so important in college applications? 2. Why is the "Why this college?" supplemental important? 3. Why is the "Why this major?" supplemen...
Sep 05, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 523
Every time a sophisticated educational assessment changes, every aspect has to be reconsidered and possibly changed. The digital adaptive SAT is no exception, and one particular aspect of that test has transformed substantially. Amy and Mike invited educator Brenna O’Neill to explain how the digital SAT is scored. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How does multistage adaptive scoring work on the digital SAT? Does every question count the same on the dSAT? What is Item Response...
Aug 29, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 522
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Keith Brown, Ph.D. With a strong foundation in standardized tests such as ACT, SAT, and PSAT, Keith is committed to guiding students toward academic excellence. His teaching journey commenced at CalTech, where he earned an MS and Ph.D. in Biology, amassing extensive tutoring experience exceeding 4000 hours. Having served as a Teaching Assistant, he has mastered the a...
Aug 25, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 521
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Maria Harmon. With an MIT degree and love of all things STEM, Maria knows the value of curiosity and its power inside and outside the classroom. She attended a vocational high school, studying under electricians for 4 years. Her Environmental Engineering degree led her to visit farmers in India, get dirty with waste-pickers in Nicaragua, and chase volcanic smog aroun...
Aug 24, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 520
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Kartik Sarda. At 25, Kartik's journey is a promising one, marked by an intriguing blend of entrepreneurship, education, and creativity. It all began at Streamline Learning, where Kartik spent three years juggling roles, from tutoring to handling their digital marketing and product development. His entrepreneurial spirit then led him to found two startups: Saathi Glob...
Aug 23, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 519
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Josh Kutchai, a private SAT/ACT and curriculum tutor. Josh teaches all sections of the SAT and ACT as well as curriculum mathematics up to and including calculus BC. Josh grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he spent a lot of time playing basketball and piano. He then moved to New Jersey to attend Princeton University, where he majored in mathematics and minor...
Aug 22, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 518
The promise and potential of higher education remain popular in good economic times and bad. Even more popular is the prospect of not paying full price for a degree! Amy and Mike invited educator Dr. Kuni Beasley to reveal some colleges that offer the best scholarships and financial aid. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why does college cost so much and what are the best ways to lower out-of-pocket costs? How can families find low-cost colleges? Which colleges offer the best ...
Aug 18, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 517
At every level of education, teachers serve irreplaceable roles as purveyors of knowledge, curators of culture, and gatekeepers to priceless opportunities and understandings. So why do students seem to so desperately avoid their instructors? Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Dale Troy to enumerate the compelling reasons why students should get to know their teachers. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How does knowing your teachers–and having them know you–open up opp...
Aug 15, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 516
In many ways, higher education can be considered one of the top U.S. exports, especially when you consider just how long the line of prospective international students is. Amy and Mike invited visa expert Ben Arterburn to share top tips to pass your study visa interview. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Who needs a visa to study in the United States? What is the main reason someone is denied a visa? What is the biggest mistake visa applicants make? How can a visa applicant be...
Aug 11, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 515
The U.S. media has been delivering heavy doses of news and commentary about the state of our higher education system for years. Interestingly, the topic draws a lot of attention internationally as well as domestically. Amy and Mike invited educator Kathryn Suwa to make the case to students around the world about why students should study in the United States. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What are some of the key benefits of pursuing higher education in the United States? ...
Aug 08, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 514
