Advertise on podcast: Your Keys to College

It's not too early to start thinking about college if you're the parent of a 9th grader. Jen and Gina are here with three tips on the important areas of class selection, skill building, and finding activities that are meaningful and interesting to your student. Ninth grade is a clean slate for students, the beginning of building a high school transcript and the activities that will go into their college application. It's a short episode with good information to help your student is they're considering a college path. Please leave us a review and a five-star rating, and sign up for our newsletter to get information on our upcoming workshop series at www.keystocollege.org. 

You may not think of preparing for orientation as something that is necessary, but we think you'll have a much better time of it if you do a little research before you go (like you and your students getting familiar with the course catalogue).We'll walk you through strategies for selecting first semester courses and how to make the most of all of the student and family activities on campus. We'll close with a conversation on how to talk with students about any anxiety they may be feeling and reinforcing that they've made a good decision. 

There's a lot to consider when your students are filling out the housing forms - from the types of rooms and halls, finding a good roommate (and answering the housing questionnaire honestly!), location of the hall to classes and resources, and thinking about where your students might find like-minded friends their first year. Gina and Jen will guide you through a few key points to talk about as a family before you send in your housing form and deposit. As always, you can email us with any questions at [email protected]. Thank you for listening and giving us five-star ratings and a review!

A lot of families will think about financial aid as one of the main points to consider before putting down that enrollment deposit, but not only are there other money considerations, there's the travel (for you and your student), majors and academic atmosphere, and deciding where your student can grow into who they want to be. Gina and Jen guide you through these considerations (and a few more) to help you think through how to make your college choice.  Please feel free to reach out to us at anytime at [email protected] with any questions, or leave it in your 5 star review of our podcast. Thank you! 

Many students have learning differences, and often parents want to know what questions to ask and whether their student should share this information during the admissions process. Gina, a former school counselor, shares some fantastic advice on how to make sure your student's evaluation is up to date and not expired, what to look for during your college visits to make sure the college can accommodate your student, and whether (and when) you might consider disclosing the learning difference during the admissions process.  Jen adds her insights on what this all looks like in the college admissions process and who to talk to to get your questions answered.  If you have more questions on how to navigate this part of the college process, please reach out to us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

Colleges are about to send out letters of acceptance, referral to regular decision, and some denial letters. How can you help your students think about what's next, especially if they are disappointed with what they hear? We'll talk about the things you can focus on now with your student, having conversations about redirecting them to apply to other colleges, and a reminder that now is the perfect time to submit all of your financial aid documents. 

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode where we talk about when to hit submit on your applications. Gina spends time talking about grades and when and why to send in your application based on your grades. Jen talks about why waiting until everything is absolutely perfect could be a problem. We close with both your gurus talking about different admissions deadlines and how you can use them to your advantage, and why you might want to reach out to colleges if your circumstances change after deadlines have passed.  We'd love your comments and questions so please leave us a 5 star review. You can also email us at [email protected]. We'd love to answer your questions in an upcoming podcast! 

Here's a short episode where you'll learn what your students should include in their college application activities list. The Activities List often doesn't get the attention it deserves as students focus their attention on their college essays. We'll talk about how to help your student include some of the important activities that are too often forgotten or that students don't think count. Should they include leadership roles where they worship? Does a job count as an activity? What if they do all the translation for their grandparents at doctor's visits and other appointments, does that count? We will answer these questions and give you great ideas on how to help your high school senior shine in their activities list. 

Jessenia is a first-year college student and the first in her family to attend college. She sits down with Gina and Jen to talk about how important her parents' support was in her college journey, how she found mentors to help her with her application and financial aid, and gives us some insight on what her first 6 weeks of college has been like. Jessenia shares some great advice about handling imposter syndrome and using daily affirmations to be in the best mindset for college. You can email Gina and Jen at [email protected]. We'll gladly pass any questions to Jessenia as well. The book Jessenia mentioned on overcoming imposter syndrome is called "The Middle Finger Project," by Ash Ambirge. Keep an eye out in December for Jessenia's podcast, Flip the Switch, on financial literacy and the college admissions process, coming soon in multiple languages! 

This week, Rachana, a third-year student studying IT and Management at the University of Virginia, talks to us about how she navigated the admissions process and how she found success in college. She shares her tips on admissions (and Gina talks about Rachana's essay and gives some great advice for you), talks about how she's the first to go through the college application process for US schools, and shares thoughts on how to help students avoid social comparison, or comparing themselves to others. She shares some great bonus information here on success in that first semester of college too! 

This year, college visits can have restrictions and protocols in place that make it harder for the whole family to get a sense and feel of the university. We offer some tips for getting the most out of your visit and some ideas on what to expect on campus. We also talk about alternatives to the traditional campus tour and admissions information session to discover if a college is a good fit for your student and your family. For questions, feel free to email us at [email protected]. And for more on the college search, check out Your Keys to College Episode 6: Beginning your college search: Your role as family, students, and educators. 

When it comes to college admissions, there's a lot of lingo on applying - early decision, early action, rolling admission, and regular decision. And then those admissions folks like to abbreviate them - ED, EA, RD! Find out what each one means to you and your students and what they mean to the admissions offices. We'll talk about which one might be the best and how to ask admissions offices for advice on when to apply. You will walk away from this podcast with great information on the college admissions process that you can use to help you make the best decision for you and your college-bound students!