
The Truth about College Admission
The college admission experience can be overwhelming and complicated. This podcast helps students and the adults who support them cut through the noise around searching for, applying to, and deciding on a college. In each episode, you can expect guests who are national experts working in the field of college admission and enrollment who will give you honest takes, helpful perspective, and in many cases some much needed levity and solace. https://www.truthaboutcollegeadmission.com/
Episodes
57 episodes
The Truth About Summer - Diane Campbell & Allison Slater Tate
Brennan and Rick are joined by returning guests Diane Campbell and Allison Slater Tate to run through their impressions of the last academic year and what the summer should look like for rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors.<...
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Season 3
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Episode 19
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44:21

The Truth About International Admission - Karen Bartlett and Sara Riggs
Brennan and Rick are joined by a fantastic duo, Karen Bartlett (Associate Director of International Admissions at Middlebury College) and Sara Riggs (Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Georgia Tech) to highlight what internationa...
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Season 3
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Episode 18
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35:17

The Truth About The Waitlist - Eva Blanco Masias
Brennan and Rick are joined by Eva Blanco Masias, the VP for Enrollment Management at Santa Clara University, for a deep dive into why schools use waitlists and their purpose on the admissions front, how schools pick from a waitlist, and what t...
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38:24

The Truth About The College Search - Sam Bernstein and Eric Menna
Brennan and Rick are joined by Sam Bernstein and Eric Menna, the cofounders of Loper, to talk through how their college admission journeys influenced the creation of Loper, how the app provides assistance during the college search process, and ...
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Season 2
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Episode 16
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45:01

The Truth About the National Landscape - Angel Perez
Brennan and Rick are joined by Angel Perez, the CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), to talk about the current landscape in Washington, D.C. amidst uncertainty with the Department of Education, who NACAC is ...
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Season 2
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Episode 15
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32:34

The Truth About Scholarships, Loans, and Financial Aid Packages - Mark Salisbury
Brennan and Rick are joined by Mark Salisbury, founder and CEO of TuitionFit, to detail for families why college sticker prices are so high, what to look for in a financial aid award, what kinds of financial aid tools are out there, and what th...
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Season 2
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Episode 14
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54:56

The Truth About Math, Equity, & Admission - Melodie Baker & Akil Bello
Brennan and Rick have an epic pod this week joined by Melodie Baker (Founder & Executive Director of ImpactSTATS Inc.) and Akil Bello (Senior Director of Advocacy and Advancement at FairTest) for a massive deep dive into Melodie's research ...
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Season 3
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Episode 13
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57:04

The Truth About Deferrals - Heath Einstein
Rick and Brennan are joined by Heath Einstein, the Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at Texas Christian University, to go over what a deferral means in the admissions process, what students should do in response to the decision and while th...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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28:44

The Truth About the College Search - Sacha Thieme
Brennan and Rick are joined by Sacha Thieme, Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director of Admissions at Indiana University, to talk about best practices for visiting colleges, the preparation that is useful before going for a campus visit, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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31:52

The Truth about Navigating the Application Process - Dr. Ramon Blakley
Rick is joined by the interim Director of Admissions at UT Austin, Dr. Ramon Blakley, to talk about UT Austin's Percentage Plan and how that impacts how they recruit + admit applicants. Then, a conversation about how juniors can best navigate t...
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34:30

2025 Preview Show
Rick and Brennan are back from holidays and are here with their hopes for 2025 in college admissions, what they're looking out for in the industry, and their timely tips for the January portion of the admissions calendar.Links:
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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30:46

The Truth About 2024: TACA's Year in Review
Rick and Brennan close out the 2024 calendar year to discuss their favorite guests and what they drew from those conversations. Then, a review of the big issues in college admission that stuck out to them in 2024 with a look ahead to what they'...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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28:43

The Truth About Leading a College - Dan Lugo
In one of our favorite episodes yet, Dan Lugo, current President of Queens University of Charlotte and future President at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, joins Brennan and Rick to talk about his unique admissions journey, how a college presid...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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45:59

The Truth About Admission at the Holidays - Dianne Campbell
Rick and Brennan are joined by Dianne Campbell, the Director of College Counseling at Liberty Common High School, where they talk about how to manage the conversations that are bound to come up for kids going through the college admissions proc...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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26:16

The Truth About Early Decision - Adam Miller
Rick is joined by Adam Miller from the beautiful Whitman College to give a rundown of the kinds of responses students may get for their early action/decision applications and what do to in each situation, whether it be admitted, deferred, or de...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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29:25

The Truth About Application Review - Liz Cheron
Brennan and Rick are joined by Liz Chreron, CEO of the Coalition for College Access and proud Boston College graduate, to go over what application review looks like, why it's done the way it's done, how it's done, and how to best approach this ...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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33:04

The Truth About Value - Dan Porterfield
Dan Porterfield, author and President + CEO of the Aspen Institute, joins Rick and Brennan to dive into the value of college from different perspectives (family, individual, societal, financial), some stories from Dan's time as a college presid...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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43:21

The Truth About Financial Aid - Jackie Copeland
Brennan and Rick are joined by the Associate Provost and Director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid at UNC, Jackie Copeland, to talk through a primer of the FAFSA (both what it is and why to fill it out), the cost of college (and wh...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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32:50

The Truth about Mission and AI - Juan Espinoza
For the first interview of season 3, Rick and Brennan are joined by Juan Espinoza, the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at Virginia Tech to discuss his admission journey from applying to schools to becoming Vice Provost, how the mission o...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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27:20

The Truth about Season 3
We're back! Season three of The Truth about College Admission is here as we recap our summers and look ahead to what this season of the podcast will bring us.Subscrib...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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19:40

The Truth About College Admissions - Season 2 Finale
To close season 2, we have a role reversal with producer Jack Purdy interviewing Rick and Brennan to talk about learnings from this season's guests, their work outside the podcast, some thoughts on AI afterApple's big WWDC announcements, and wh...
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36:31

The Truth About the College Transition - Harlan Cohen
For our final guest of season 2, Rick and Brennan are joined by Harlan Cohen, author of multiple books including WIN or LEARN: The Naked Truth About Turning Every Rejection Into Your Ultimate Success. The trio goes ove...
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Season 2
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Episode 19
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31:36

The Truth About the College Admission Landscape - Michael Horn
Rick and Brennan are joined by Michael Horn (author of multiple books, Forbes contributor, host of multiple podcasts, and writer of the Substack newsletter The Future of Education) to discuss making dual enrollment class choices, evaluating int...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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32:59

The Truth About College Admission and Wellness - Dr. Beth Cabrera
With finals season approaching at colleges across the country, Rick and Brennan are joined by Dr. Beth Cabrera, an organizational psychologist and author specializing in positive psychology and well-being, to go through her admission journey, h...
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Season 2
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Episode 17
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36:13

The Truth About College Admission and Athletics - Tony Altimore
Rick and Brennan are joined by experienced strategy consultant and master of college sports data graphics on Twitter, Tony Altimore, to discuss the landscape of college athletics in relation to admission, how the transfer portal can help or hur...
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Season 2
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Episode 16
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41:18
