Channel Your Main Character Energy

Extracurricular interests and commitments enhance a student’s narrative in an application. The talents and engagements that animate time spent outside a classroom--activities that bring joy, that invite investments of time and energy--are essential elements of every candidacy, and not because the activity in question "looks good" to an admissions officer. Two deans and a pair of college counselors advise applicants to share why and how an activity adds joy and purpose to the non-classroom part of high school. Dartmouth’s Lee Coffin advises, “The why is as important as the what.” And as Brown's Logan Powell notes, "If there's an empty box, you don't need to fill it...more is not always better."

When an admissions dean meets a high school principal in a hotel lobby at a national admissions conference, they have a lot to discuss! John Durante of Syosset High School in New York, host of the College Admissions Process Podcast, reunites with Lee Coffin as they continue their impromptu lobby conversation on air.

In AB's third annual roundtable discussion from the annual conference of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, a lively group of deans, counselors, and CBO leaders join Lee Coffin and Jacques Steinberg in Minneapolis for a candid conversation on a range of timely topics. The cast ponders essays that work ("Just be you"), the wisdom of early applications (“Make sure you love it…”), the emergence and drawbacks of AI as a writing tool ("AI can't feel..."), navigating college affordability (“The sticker price is usually not what you pay…"), and managing admissions angst (“Better isn’t always better…”).

From Grey's Anatomy to Bridgerton, Shonda Rhimes is television's storyteller extraordinaire. In this encore broadcast from Season Eight, The Emmy winner visits AB for a lesson on how to channel main-character energy in an essay or interview. "What would you say to a teenager staring at a blank page, afraid their first draft won't be good enough?," Dartmouth's Lee Coffin asks her. "Don't overthink your story," Shonda advises. "Just be you."

With a nod to Dolly Parton's iconic song, two parents ponder their second run through the college admissions process. Is the second time a charm? Are there lessons gleaned from the first search? Can an admissions veteran stay calm as she switches into mom-mode? 

Holistic? Full demonstrated need? Optional? Admissions and financial aid officers sometimes speak a particular kind of language...but everyone navigating a college search is not always as fluent in "ed-speak." A dean, a guidance counselor, and a financial aid director offer a translation guide to the essential concepts of a college search. 

"Information" floods a college search from many spigots, not all of which are reliable or helpful. Each September, social media feeds erupt with advice and comment from various "expert" sources while parental social gatherings and pick-up lines at school are hot spots for admissions news and commentary. This week, four longtime college counselors from Fairfield County in Connecticut, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, and Denver join AB host Lee Coffin for a listener-inspired conversation that redirects the chatter and debunks some myths. "We spend so much time undoing misinformation,” one of the veteran counselors notes. Her colleague adds, "Lots of the hysteria and anxiety are rooted in outdated misinformation that is just wrong.” 

In the Season 10 premiere, Common App CEO Jenny Rickard returns to AB for a back-to-school primer on the application used by over 1,100 colleges around the world. Fifty years since it debuted, the Common App has become "the passport for entry" into most selective institutions, and its elements represent the building blocks for a student's personal narrative. "Approach the Common App with clarity and confidence," Dartmouth's dean and AB host advises.

In a "listener mailbag" bonus episode, Jen Simons from Bright Horizons College Coach joins AB host Lee Coffin to answer an array of listener questions. The mailbag queries spark riffs on a wide range of admissions topics from applying to college as a twin to the option of a state honors college to interpreting newsfeed posts about 2026 acceptance rates, the "new Ivies," and "over-rated" colleges. And the longtime friends and colleagues touch a few topics no one asked them to discuss!

In the season finale, sociologist Janice McCabe offers insights on friendship from her new book Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends, as this fall's entering class makes the transition from home to college. "Belonging is a powerful human need," Professor McCabe notes, and the post-admission period leading up to orientation and the start of classes is what McCabe calls "the initial friendship market." An expert in how people connect in social situations, she advises students to "be intentional about what, who, and where you look" for friends during this fast-moving moment, a powerful transition when everyone is eager to make new friendships.