Traits like cognitive flexibility and impulse control strongly influence student grades and test scores to such an extent that they may be best learned in an academic context. Amy and Mike invited educator Ariel Lieberman to explore the relationship between the three core executive functions and test prep. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What are the core executive functions and why are they important? How do weak EF skills get in the way of a student’s test prep? Why is exe...
Mar 18, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 632
Expanding your tutoring business with MentoMind with educators Amit Jain and Jeremy Bryant What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the story behind MentoMind? How does MentoMind work to help with student outcomes? How does MentoMind work to help educators attract students? Who currently uses MentoMind? How is MentoMind helping educators transition to an AI future? ABOUT MENTOMIND MentoMind is a revolutionary SAT/ACT prep platform designed to support students and help tutorin...
Mar 14, 2025•20 min•Season 1Ep. 631
So much of the college search and application process looks forward, focusing on the destination. Where a student is coming from matters quite a bit though. Amy and Mike invited educational consultants Aly Beaumont and Meg Joyce to explain the significance of the high school class profile. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the high school class profile? What information do school profiles contain and why does it matter? Do all high schools have a school profile? What c...
Mar 11, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 630
A year ago, an innovative new digital adaptive SAT came to the United States–a year after its first appearance internationally. This is the perfect time to find out how College Board feels about both the obstacles and opportunities encountered over this historic transition. Amy and Mike invited Vice President of SAT Suite Program Maureen Forman to talk all about the digital SAT: how it started and how it’s going. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Looking back, what were the mo...
Mar 04, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 629
While we generally profess to celebrate all interests and contributions, the clubs and activities that mean the most to some high schoolers fail to earn the respect that other extracurriculars do, even when students receive recognition on a state or national level. Do colleges at least care? Amy and Mike invited educator Vida John to explore the admissions implications of academic competitions. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What are academic competitions, and what are some...
Feb 25, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 628
The Tests and the Rest podcast has always been relentlessly focused on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Sometimes, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. Catch up with us in the latest episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Where did Amy and Mike ...
Feb 21, 2025•29 min•Season 1Ep. 627
During a period of American education history where most standardized tests fell at least momentarily out of favor, one series of exams seems to be growing in popularity with no end in sight. Amy and Mike invited educator Rob Franek to explore the explosive rise of Advanced Placement testing. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What has inspired the recent increase in AP tests and testing? What is College Board’s strategy with the Advanced Placement program? Will AP tests replac...
Feb 18, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 626
Big life changes hit all of us differently, which is to say that not every teen is equally prepared for the dramatic academic, social, and emotional shift that comes with moving away from home. Amy and Mike invited counselor Katie Burchenal to discuss college transitions and distress tolerance. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is Distress Tolerance? What issues elevate Distress Tolerance? What are some strategies to manage Distress Tolerance and what is DBT? How can pare...
Feb 11, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 625
The entire edifice of higher education and industry depends on a steady flow of students coming in and qualified graduates flowing out. What happens to the system when the crucial input of applicants drops dramatically? Amy and Mike invited journalist Jon Marcus to answer that very question, because the dreaded demographic cliff is here. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What exactly is a demographic cliff? What have colleges done to prepare for a decline in applicants? Which ...
Feb 04, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 624
A widely held belief about brain function is that very little is truly understood in modern science. Unfortunately, most people probably know even less than they think! Amy and Mike invited education professional Gretchen Wegner to explore and debunk the most common neuromyths. What are five things you will learn in this episode? 1. What exactly is a neuromyth? 2. Is there one neuromyth that stands out over all the others? 3. What are some other common neuromyths? 4. Why is it so destructive to ...
Jan 28, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 623
The opacity and complexity of elements of the college application process inspire endless speculation about what really matters. In many cases, though, the best place to find answers is with the colleges themselves. Amy and Mike invited educator John Durante to review admissions lessons learned from admissions representatives. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What can admissions reps share about the college admissions process that you won't find elsewhere? What are some of th...
Jan 21, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 622
A new year brings new excitement. The Tests and the Rest podcast has always been relentlessly focused on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Sometimes, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. Catch up with us in the latest episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike. What are five things you will learn in thi...
Jan 17, 2025•29 min•Season 1Ep. 621
Considering how prevalent the topic of AI has become in business, leisure, and education, it was only a matter of time before college students would choose to focus on its study. Amy and Mike invited college dean Jennifer Stephan to explore what you need to know about artificial intelligence as an undergraduate major. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What do students study when they major in AI? What are some focus areas within an AI degree? Is an AI major a replacement or im...
Jan 14, 2025•25 min•Season 1Ep. 620
The global onset of the coronavirus shut down schools, which interrupted the educational process for millions of students. The expectation was that deficits in fundamental areas would be made up once the world opened up again. Did that happen though? Amy and Mike invited education professional Nancy Weinstein to explore post-pandemic learning loss. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Are students really performing differently since the pandemic? Does learning loss differ based o...
Jan 07, 2025•30 min•Season 1Ep. 619
Finding your best fit school requires a lot of smart research, so don’t overlook one of the best sources of institutional information available. Amy and Mike invited independent counselor Jane Gabin to discuss how the common data set can help interpret what colleges tell you. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the Common Data Set? How can studying the CDS help with judging the value of a school? What does a school’s graduation rate tell us about the school? How can the ...
Dec 31, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 618
Wanting to pursue higher education is not exactly the same as being ready for higher education and all that its pursuit entails, as too many students learn to their detriment. Amy and Mike invited educator Carey Dukes to explore just how prepared and ready most teens are for college. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Are students typically prepared for both the academic and emotional challenges of college? What critical skills should students develop to enhance their readiness...
Dec 24, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 617
The Tests and the Rest podcast has always been relentlessly focused on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Once in a while, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. Catch up with us in the latest episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How was the NTPA ...
Dec 20, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 616
How odd is it that one of the most effective ways to learn about college applicants tends to be among the least frequent steps in the process. How valuable is direct conversation for evaluating prospective members of an educational community and what might the future hold? Amy and Mike invited college admissions expert Parke Muth to explore the importance of college interviews. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is typically meant by a college interview? How common and imp...
Dec 17, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 615
Just about anyone can become an educator or coach, but can anyone become great at it? Amy and Mike invited educator Dan Lerman to enumerate the qualities of great educators and coaches. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What are the foundational qualities of a great tutor or coach? What can be taught to tutors and how? How do you know if you are not a great tutor or coach? Beyond a test, what does a great tutor teach? What is the current state of tutor training? MEET OUR GUEST...
Dec 10, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 614
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Alison Merzel. Alison Merzel is the founder of AHM Advising LLC, an independent educational consulting practice focused on helping high school students and families find their best-fit post-secondary educational options. Prior to launching her business in 2019, Alison was at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business for 15 years, most recently as the Senior ...
Dec 07, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 613
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Julie Spak. Since 1985, Julie has been connecting students to their futures in her work as a College Admissions Officer, Financial Aid Officer and Honors Program Counselor at the University of New Hampshire, where she received her M.Ed in Counseling and BA in Communication and English. Julie also worked as a School Counselor, so she knows how to help students and familie...
Dec 05, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 612
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Stef Mauler, founder of the Mauler Institute™ and author of The Complete Candidate™ . She began working in Ivy League admissions over 30 years ago. She met thousands of high school students and their families as they went through the mysterious Ivy League admissions process. Discovering that the majority of applicants had the academic record, but were not accepted, she s...
Dec 04, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 611
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Michelle Siddons. Michelle is an Associate Member of IECA, a new member of NTPA, and has her Masters in Education from Seton Hall and undergraduate degree from Colgate University. Michelle has been helping high school students for over twenty five years with test prep and the past five years with college counseling. She completed her certificate in college counseling fro...
Dec 03, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 610
Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced independent educational consultant? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Feiyang Liu. As a naturally introverted high school student, Feiyang felt immense pressure to adopt a bubbly, inauthentic persona for my college applications. This led to a lack of fulfillment and a realization that pretending to be someone he wasn’t came with significant consequences. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in Political Science and from USC with a Mast...
Dec 02, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 609
The successful outcome of preparing for the SAT & ACT can yield a massive return on investment, but the real value lies in the process itself. Amy and Mike invited educator Rob Pollak to explore how test prep prepares you for college. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Is test prep all about tips and tricks? How is standardized test prep more than just preparation for one isolated exam? In what way does test prep challenge students to think more strategically about their le...
Nov 26, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 608
Teens on the road to college tend to encounter a variety of counselors positioned to support them on their journeys. However, not every one of these counselors has the same job. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Margaret Rothe to define the different roles of school and private counselors. What are five things you will learn in this episode? In what ways are school and private college counselors the same? Do you have to be a high school counselor to be a private college counselor? What...
Nov 19, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 607
The fact that students are earning higher grades than ever without any appreciable increase in other assessments of academic ability should be well-known by now. Less understood are the root causes of this increasing phenomenon. Amy and Mike invited researchers Maia Goodman Young and Dan Goldhaber to dig into the data on how grading policies influence grade inflation. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the purpose of grading? How did state policy around grading in Washi...
Nov 12, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 606
The Tests and the Rest podcast has always been relentlessly focused on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Once in a while, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. Catch up with us in the latest episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What new piece of...
Nov 08, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 605
The ACT has been remarkably stable since the last time the exam was “enhanced” in 1989. However, significant changes are coming more quickly than you might think to this influential college admissions exam. Amy and Mike invited ACT representative Catherine Hofmann to share all the details about the ACT Test Enhancements. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How is the ACT changing? What aspects of the ACT are staying the same? What is the motivation for these enhancements? Will t...
Nov 05, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 604
You don’t need to be a future business major to bring some marketing acumen to your application to higher education. Amy and Mike invited marketing professional Stacey Ross Cohen to review how to build a winning brand to ace college admissions. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How are college admissions and personal branding related? Why is personal branding/digital leadership critical for college-bound students? What are essential steps teens should take to build a strong pe...
Oct 29, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 603
