College Bound Mentor

Waitlists are one of the most unpredictable parts of the college application process - and an area we get questions on all the time. In the first half of this episode, you’ll hear the ins and outs of waitlists, including how waitlists work, how schools differ by their waitlists, and how to write a letter of continued interest. In the second half of this episode, you’ll hear our first Case Study: Jack for The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. There, you’ll learn the most unique aspects of the Michigan application and how to paint an appealing picture with your extracurricular activities and charity work. Note: starting for 2025, students applying to Ross must apply as a direct admit rather than a preferred admit. Subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com

Grades are going up, and standardized test scores are going down. How should we handle this as students and parents? In this episode, we welcome special guest Dr. Jed Applerouth to talk all things grade inflation and standardized testing. Jed is a teacher, educational innovator, and the Founder and President of Applerouth, an expert college admissions tutoring business. Hear how grades and standardized tests have changed in recent years, what to think of colleges who say they’re test-optional, how many times you should take standardized tests, how to manage anxiety during standardized tests, and how to prepare for standardized tests. Learn more about Jed at Applerouth.com and on LinkedIn, and subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com

How do you stand out in college admissions? It all goes back to your college application. In this episode, Lisa, Abby, and Stefanie put together all the puzzle pieces that make up the college application puzzle. Hear the components of the college application, the most important component, whether to submit your test scores, how to handle letters of recommendation, and how specific colleges differ with their applications. Subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com

Feeling safe and supported on a college campus is important for any student. For students in the LGBTQ+ community, it can be an even more important factor when deciding where to go to college. In this Part 1, we interview a panel of college students and recent alums about their experience finding a queer-friendly college. Hear the red flags and positives that stand out at different colleges when it comes to being inclusive, how to research queer-friendly colleges, how to get involved in queer-friendly groups on campus, whether to share your story in your Personal Statement, and their advice to queer students starting their college journeys. Subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com

Some of the trickiest essays to pin down on college applications are the Why College/Why Academic Interest essays. In the first part of this episode, we share why these essays are frustrating, the format of these essays, and how to write them. We then welcome on special guest Lisa Marker-Robbins, Founder of Flourish Coaching, who’s helped over 4,000 high school students and young adults gain the insight, experiences, and confidence they need to successfully embark on their post-high school path. She busts some myths about the Why College/Why Academic Interest essays, reveals some findings of her study of the Top 50 public universities and their admissions practices, and shares her best advice for students who truly don’t know what to major in. Get Lisa’s resources at FlourishCoachingCo.com/Majors and check out her College and Career Clarity podcast, and subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com