Life in a Suburban Town

In the Season Six finale, Trinity College's Matthew Hyde returns to AB to reflect on his own son’s college search this year. As a veteran admissions dean and a first-time admissions parent, Matt shares advice for his fellow parents on the lessons he has absorbed as his parenting collided with his day job in a very real—and sometimes emotional—way. Following host Lee Coffin’s conversation with Matt, Dartmouth’s admission officers offer a “digital carol” as they reimagine ’Twas the Night Before Christmas with an application deadline theme.

Suburban public high schools in America are home to a significant pool of applicants to most selective colleges. The admissions chatter in those classrooms, counseling offices, hallways, and social media channels can hum at a high frequency as guidance counselors do their best to advise students and parents alike. This week, a quartet of these school counselors from suburban Connecticut join AB host Lee Coffin for a roundtable discussion on admissions life in a suburban town.

Holidays bring people together, and Thanksgiving in the U.S. comes at a particularly challenging moment for high school seniors as they apply to college. Well-meaning friends and relatives might inquire about the status of a college search, or opine about those options, or render a forecast about someone’s chances of admissions. Any and all of it can lead to some Thanksgiving indigestion, so this encore episode from 2023 offers tips and advice about navigating those conversations with poise and purpose.

The language of financial aid brings new—and sometimes confusing—vocabulary for many families. Gail Holt, Amherst’s dean of financial aid, and Dino Koff, director of financial aid at Dartmouth, join AB host Lee Coffin for a lesson in how to interpret and translate this new language. “Let’s demystify the financial process,” Koff offers.

Ever wondered how the elements of a college application came to be the elements of the college application? Today, essays, testing, recommendations, and interviews are fundamental ingredients of most selective admissions processes, but they were not always part of a college application as it evolved over the last 125 years. Dartmouth’s admissions dean Lee Coffin and Maria Morales-Kent, a former admission officer at the University of Pennsylvania and the longtime director of college counseling at Thacher School in California, draw lessons and insights from the courses they have both taught on the twists and turns of college admissions history.

“I’ve never of it is…” is a frequent reaction from students and parents as college options are introduced, but there is real opportunity when a student is open to options that aren't fully “known.” AB host Lee Coffin welcomes Clark University’s Emily Roper-Doten, Ben Baum from Saint John’s College in Annapolis and Sante Fe, and college counselor Kate Boyle Ramsdell from Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Mass., for a conversation about fit versus familiarity, honoring potential, and the intentional introductions that arrive in your inbox or mailbox. Coffin advises, “Instead of saying ‘I’ve never heard of it,’ ask ‘why haven't I heard of it?! Let’s learn about it.’ Sometimes discovery leads you someplace unexpected, and that’s where you’re supposed to be.”

For students around the world, going to college in America has been a goal of many for decades. AB host LeeCoffin and his guest Robin Appleby—who led schools in London, The Hague and Dubai—ponder the opportunities of American higher education for an international audience of prospective applicants.Appleby encourages students to explore the “why?” of applying to schools abroad and to ask questions like “what kind of learner am I?” Theydiscuss the advantages of studying a wide range of subjects versus the norm of a more structured concentration in a local university as well as the cultural and personal lessons such an American adventure offers.

AB host Lee Coffin probes the lessons learned by students and a parent from last year’s admissions process. He is joined by four first-year college students who reflect on their own admissions processes—and the lessons learned. Ashley Kim of Chandler, Arizona, Isabel Carleton of Columbus, Ohio, Romello McRae of Los Angeles, California, and Witold Ambroziak of Warsaw, Poland ponder misconceptions about acceptance rates as barriers, the perils of overthinking and over-applying, and they advise current seniors to view writing college essays as an evolving conversation with themselves. Then, “admissions mom” Ronnie Burnett from Season 5 returns to the pod to share her experience as a parent after her son saw the results of his application, made his enrollment decision, and embarked on his successful launch as a college student this fall. From its reminder for students to “preserve the opportunity to play” during senior year to its contention that “a rejection is just redirection,” these admissions veterans share valuable insights for the current crop of applicants and parents.

In Part 2 of AB’s “advising all-stars” roundtable discussion from the annual meeting of the National Association for College Admission Counseling in Los Angeles,  host Lee Coffin and recurring co-host Jacques Steinberg ponder the role (if any) of a student’s social media presence in the college admissions process. They also lead a lively discussion about “being in the essay space” as applications take shape. One guest advises “What’s your deal?” as the organizing concept of every application. Finally, the group considers the notion of honoring the ambitions of high achievers with a dose of admissions pragmatism.

What happens when 20 admissions folks gather in a meeting room at their annual conference in Los Angeles? They have lots to say! AB host Lee Coffin and his recurring co-host Jacques Steinberg convene an all-star cast of previous AB guests (and a few new voices) for a wide-ranging, two-part conversation about all things admissions. This week, they ponder the steadiness of admissions fundamentals amidst the seemingly “chaotic” landscape, and they zero in on financial aid and affordability as critical elements of a college search.