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We’re back with another essay review! 🎓 Today’s Common App essay explores a student’s passion for politics and big ideas, and her journey toward becoming a more thoughtful, collaborative leader. We’re sharing what we liked, what stood out, and where there’s room for improvement, including how to show genuine growth and balance confidence with humility. Interested in more live essay review episodes? Let us know in the comments! 👇 #CollegeAdmissions #CollegeEssays #CollegeApplication #EssayTips #CollegeEssayTips

Capitalize! Spell-check! Punctuation! In this episode of Not Your Mom’s Admissions, we go section by section through the Common App to highlight the small but important details students and parents should double-check before submitting. From profile and family information to coursework, test scores, essays, and the Additional Information section, we share practical tips for catching common mistakes, navigating Common App quirks, and making sure every part of your application is submitted correctly. Listen in for a final proofreading checklist to help you polish your application and hit submit with confidence!

Back by popular demand: we’re critiquing more of our least favorite supplemental essay prompts. In this episode of Not Your Mom’s Admissions, we’re discussing prompts from the University of Michigan, Brown, Penn, and Macalester, plus the ever-stressful “short take” essays, breaking down why we don’t like them and sharing suggestions for how students can respond to these less-than-favorable prompts. And, as always, we’re sharing practical strategies for tackling the prompts without losing your mind in the process. 🎧 Listen to Not Your Mom’s Admissions wherever you get your podcasts. 👍 Like, subscribe, and share with a student (or parent) working on college applications! Have a supplemental essay prompt you love to hate? Drop it in the comments!

You asked, we listened! 🎓 In this episode, we’re doing a live essay critique, sharing constructive feedback on a student’s Common App essay. Today’s essay explores a student’s experience as a summer camp counselor, with themes of straddling childhood and adulthood, a love for the natural world, and an awareness of current events. We’ll share what we liked, what stood out, and where there’s room for improvement. Seniors, a quick reminder: If you’re considering a full essay rewrite at this stage, we generally recommend against it. Your essay is just one piece of the application, and the goal is to make sure each component works together as a whole. Your essay does not need to be a masterpiece. Interested in more live essay review episodes? Let us know in the comments! 👇

In this episode of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget and Kyla talk about how to maximize the updated "Activities & Experiences" section to highlight your true impact. ✅ Key Common App updates ✅ Strategic ordering techniques to elevate your most meaningful, sustained commitments. ✅ Why concrete deliverables and quantifiable metrics build a believable, high-impact activities list. Crafting an effective activities list requires clarity, honesty, and strategic prioritization. Watch this episode for practical tips on highlighting your true impact! Want more? Head to scholarco.com for free guides and application resources.

Early Decision can significantly alter an applicant's admissions trajectory, but it requires a clear strategy and careful timing. In this episode of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget Allen and Kyla talk about how families should approach Early Decision during this application season. ✅ Why applying Early Decision can increase your admission odds if you are a competitive applicant. ✅ How the binding nature of Early Decision shapes the overall Regular Decision pool. ✅ Why more public universities are adding Early Decision options and what that means for out-of-state applicants. ✅ Crucial financial implications to consider before committing to a binding offer. Deciding on an Early Decision school requires balancing strategy with financial fit. Preparing your materials early ensures you make thoughtful, unhurried choices. 💡 Want more? Head to scholarco.com for free guides and college planning resources.

🎙️ Welcome back to Season 2 of Not Your Mom’s Admissions! Fall is here, and we’re kicking things off with a big change in college admissions: “Why are colleges asking for fewer (or no) supplemental essays?” For the Class of 2027, many schools have reduced or eliminated their required essays. We break down why that’s happening and what students should do about it. ✏️ Why colleges are asking fewer questions 🤖 How AI is changing the value of essays 🔎 What to do when a school has fewer supplements 📬 How to demonstrate interest beyond the application 📌 Follow for weekly drops, leave a comment with your Qs, and let us know what topics you want us to tackle next. For more admissions resources, including our blog, visit www.scholarco.com.

🎙️ Not Your Mom’s Admissions is back for Season 2! This season, we’re diving even deeper into the college admissions process, breaking down the topics such as: 🎯 Standardized testing policies 🤖 AI in the admissions process 📋 Application strategy 🎓 And so much more Don’t forget to subscribe and follow along with our blog for even more admissions insight. Have a question you’d like us to cover on the podcast? Send it our way! 🔗 Subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode!

The biggest shifts in admissions aren't always the ones making headlines. In the Season One finale of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget and Kyla unload a round of unfiltered hot takes on where the admissions landscape is heading. ✅ Why the liberal arts may be queued for a comeback and how programs are split between pre-professional tracks and big-picture thinking, with less in the middle ✅ What's behind the fading Early Decision and legacy debates, and how the readiness gap is pulling scores back into focus ✅ How colleges are adapting faster than high schools to an AI-shaped job market and why a gap year might be one of the most underrated moves a student can make ✅ The reason the college essay isn't going anywhere, even as AI changes how students draft A candid look at the trends, tensions, and shifts shaping the next admissions cycle from two advisors watching it unfold in real time. 💡 Want more? Head to scholarco.com for free guides and planning resources.

Start too early and it fizzles. Start too late and it's a scramble. Test prep timing matters more than most families realize. In this episode of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget and Kyla sit down with James Eno, founder of James Eno Tutorials and a 20-year veteran of SAT and ACT prep, to discuss what test prep looks like at each stage. ✅ How to approach prep at each grade level and which resources to utilize ✅ What makes a tutor worth the investment, and what to ask before signing on ✅ The score improvement range that's realistic, and recommended number of tests taken ✅ Why some students are quietly switching from the SAT to the ACT (and how to know which test fits) Test prep doesn't have to be a year of stress. With the right plan and the right timing, the work feels manageable and the results follow. 💡 Want more? Head to scholarco.com for free guides and rising senior planning resources.

For most applicants, picking a major isn't really picking a major. It's choosing a neighborhood. In this episode of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget and Kyla break down how to think about major selection without overcommitting a 17-year-old to a career: ✅ What an academic narrative actually is, and how it differs from a declared major ✅ When going undecided is safe, and when starting in the right "neighborhood" matters more ✅ How direct-entry programs (architecture, engineering, business, nursing) change the calculus ✅ The school-versus-major question, and how to weigh both when building a college list Major selection is a series of strategic choices, not a single forever decision. The goal: applications that read as focused and genuine, built around real intellectual curiosity rather than guessed-at career commitments. 💡 Want more? Head to scholarco.com for free guides and narrative development resources.

Successfully navigating learning differences doesn’t end at the diagnosis. In this episode of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget and Kyla sit down with Elena McGahey, a special education teacher and founder of Stronger Foundations Coaching, to break down how students with learning differences (and their families) can advocate effectively. ✅ How to coach a student to write emails to teachers ✅ The accommodations available, the different processes at public and private schools, and the path to getting them for standardized tests ✅ Why neuropsychological evaluations need to be updated every three years ✅ Summer strategies that target specific skill gaps, from reading aloud to executive functioning projects Whether the diagnosis is in hand or still being explored, the path through accommodations is mostly about pacing and partnership, and starting earlier than expected. 💡 Want more? Head to scholarco.com for free guides and learning support resources.

Getting in is one milestone. Being ready is another. In this episode of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget and Kyla sit down with Mark Talaga, owner of the Center for Identity Potential and host of the Hopelessly Gifted podcast, to unpack what college readiness looks like. ✅ How to spot readiness gaps before move-in day, including academic, emotional, and life skills ✅ The "predict and prescribe" framework for matching trouble areas with campus support before challenges arise ✅ Communication exercises families can run this summer, including drafting emails for hard moments before they happen ✅ When a gap year makes sense, and what intentional use of that time looks like Readiness isn't a fixed line. It's a set of skills that can be named, practiced, and grown and why starting these conversations early matters. 💡 Want more? Head to scholarco.com for free guides and rising senior resources.

Decisions are in. The patterns are becoming apparent, with a few worth noting. In this episode of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget and Kyla break down the trends they’re seeing across this admissions cycle and how they might inform planning for the next one. ✅ Why early decision continued to be a strong strategy, and what happens when applicants overreach or opt out ✅ How highly selective majors like life sciences and engineering raise the stakes on early-round strategy ✅ Why dropped supplements and Common App adoption increase application volume, while reinstated testing requirements decrease it ✅ Which categories of schools ran hot this cycle (public flagships especially in the South, big football programs) and where applicant interest cooled Trends like these don't dictate strategy, but they can sharpen the questions families ask going into a new cycle. 💡 Want more? Head to scholarco.com for free guides and rising senior planning resources.

Two conversations many families of juniors are having right now: how to stick with foreign language and how to stay sane through the college process. In this episode of Not Your Mom's Admissions, Bridget and Kyla sit down with educator Lucy Van Horne to talk about why so many students resist foreign language, how to make it stick, and what junior-year parents gain by stepping back. ✅ Learning-style-specific strategies that make foreign language feel less overwhelming ✅ Why contextualizing a language outside the classroom—through media, sports, and conversation—can have an outsized impact ✅ Alternative paths for continuing language study when the traditional setting isn't working ✅ A parent's honest take on staying calm, stepping back, and letting a junior lead The most effective support, whether for language learning or the college journey, often looks like meeting a learner where they are instead of pushing toward where a parent thinks they should be. 💡 Want more? Head to ⁠scholarco.com⁠ for free guides and college planning resources.