Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

As short as college application essays have to be, they still contribute heavily to holistic admissions decisions. Don’t waste a single word! Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Sheree Gravely to discuss how to make your college essays count.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. When should students start the college essay writing process?

2. How can students find great ideas to write about?

3. How are the common app essay topics different from supplemental essays?

4. Should parents participate in the writing process?

5. What topics should students avoid writing about?

MEET OUR GUEST

Sheree Gravely is the founder of Gravely Group College Advising and an IEC since 2014. Before becoming an IEC, she worked in marketing for Kraft Foods, HJ Heinz, and Arthur Anderson & Co.  Sheree has a passion for helping students discover their interests and to use that to find great college options. Years of experience in private industry, education, and as a parent make her ideal as an independent college counselor. 

A 1986 graduate of the University of Virginia, she was heavily involved in counseling undergrads as a Resident Assistant and Dorm Resident Manager in UVA's Residential Life program. She attended Northwestern University’s Evening Managers Program and holds a Certificate in College Admissions Counseling from UC - Riverside.

Sheree is co-chair of the Midwest College Advisors Virtual Group, which includes over 40 members from OH, MI, IN, KY, and Western PA. The group meets with college admissions offices throughout the year. She is a member of the premier association of college advisors, IECA (Independent Educational Consultants Association), constantly attends higher-ed training opportunities, and is always visiting college campuses to gather the most up-to-date information for her students and families.  

Sheree is passionate about education. She volunteered for Chagrin Falls Unite for Education election campaign and worked on the Chagrin Falls School District’s 5-year strategic plan, as well as was a member of the committee on Instructional Practices, Resources, Curriculum, and Professional Development. She served as a member of the local advisory board for Hackett Catholic Prep HS (MI) which consulted on matters of school governance, including curriculum, marketing, and extra-curricular programming. She worked on a project for the principal to rebuild Hackett’s college counseling curriculum.  During her children’s school years, Sheree volunteered in a variety of  capacities including instructor and coordinator for Global Reading competitions, Writing Workshops, and Junior Achievement. As a member of the American Woman’s Club of Oakville (Canada), she researched and authored a curriculum comparison between US and Canadian education standards that was used by families and companies to evaluate education decisions for ex-pat students.

She has lived in a variety of cities in the US and Canada and is married to Alan. They have a daughter and two sons. Sheree loves to play Mahjong and read as well as to travel, scuba dive, ski and be active!

Sheree previously appeared on the podcast in episode 353 for an IEC Profile.

Sheree can be reached at https://www.gravelygroupcollegeadvising.com.

LINKS

7 Steps to a Terrible College Essay

RELATED EPISODES

WHY THIS COLLEGE, WHY THIS MAJOR?

UTILIZING A REFLECTION JOURNAL TO PREPARE FOR A COLLEGE ESSAY

WRITING RHETORICALLY IN ADMISSIONS ESSAYS

TABOO ESSAY TOPICS

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Every year, the conventional wisdom about getting into college gives way to painful, new truths and exciting, new opportunities. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Rebecca Stuart-Orlowski to return to the show with admissions notes for the HS graduating class of 2025.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. How are colleges and students using AI and AI detectors in college admissions and college essays?

2. Are more colleges requiring test scores this application cycle? If so, why?

3. Why is there a dearth of SAT centers despite more colleges requiring tests, and what can students do about it? 

4. How will AP’s recalibration of scores influence admissions decisions?

5. Will the FAFSA be a disaster like it was for the Class of 2024?

MEET OUR GUEST

Rebecca Stuart-Orlowski, founder of Orlowski College Consulting, has worked in education for 35 years and has worked as an Independent Educational Consultant for 10+ years. She has a specialized Certificate in College Counseling from UCSD, a BA in Communicative Disorders from San Diego State, and two active teaching credentials. She taught deaf, LD, and 2E students for four years and was a college counselor at a small private school for 3 years. Rebecca specializes in gifted/2E, STEM, creative, homeschooled, and transfer students.

Rebecca first appeared on the podcast in episode 369 to discuss ADMISSIONS NOTES FOR THE CLASS OF 2023 and in episode 526 to discuss ADMISSIONS NOTES FOR THE HS GRADUATING CLASS OF 2024.

Rebecca can be reached at [email protected].

LINKS

U.S. Department of Education Announces Schedule and New Process to Launch 2025-26 FAFSA Form

Is next year’s FAFSA already off the rails?

Incorporating AI into the Admissions Process

Testing Policies in the Spotlight

I live in Northern California. Why do I have to travel hundreds of miles to take the SAT?

Colleges are using AI in admissions. How can they do it right?

RELATED EPISODES

HOW STUDENTS USE GENERATIVE AI

WHAT DO TRULY TEST OPTIONAL COLLEGES FOCUS ON?

BIG CHANGES TO AP TESTS IN 2025

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE BETTER FAFSA

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

California is the most populous American state with a veritable cornucopia of exceptional and reasonably well-funded high schools. Why, then, do Californian teens need to travel hundreds–and sometimes thousands–of miles to sit for the SAT or ACT? Amy and Mike invited student Sebastian Gillmore and educator David Blobaum to discuss the need for testing sites in California.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. What is the problem with SAT & ACT testing locations in California?

2. Why are testing locations so scarce?

3. Why is access to testing so critically important for students?

4. What has been done so far to address this problem?

5. What else can and should be done to expand testing access in California?

MEET OUR GUEST

David Blobaum is the director of outreach for the National Test Prep Association, which works to support the appropriate use of testing in admissions. He is a co-founder of Summit Prep, which opened its doors in 2013 to help empower students through education to succeed in life.

Sebastian Gillmore is a rising Senior at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California just North of San Francisco. He’s a hardworking student with a passion for mathematics, and he’s on a mission to make college entrance exams, like the SAT and ACT, more accessible for California high school students. He recently authored an Op-Ed in the LA Times titled, “I live in Northern California. Why do I have to travel hundreds of miles to take the SAT?”

David first appeared on the podcast in episode 79 to discuss Why The SAT And ACT Are Awesome and in episode 421 for a Sponsor Spotlight.

David can be reached at www.summitprep.com.

LINKS

I live in Northern California. Why do I have to travel hundreds of miles to take the SAT? 

It Shouldn't Be This Hard to Take the SAT and ACT

https://testaccess.org/

RELATED EPISODES

TESTING POLICIES AND EDUCATIONAL EQUITY REVISITED

WHY UC WAS WRONG TO STOP USING THE SAT

WHO LOSES WHEN WE ABOLISH ENTRANCE EXAMS?

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

The bespoke nature of homeschooling can be a great advantage for tailoring education to a student’s individual needs. However, those differentiated programs present challenges when the time comes to apply to college. Amy and Mike invited education consultants Michele Evard and Holly Ramsey to review the intricacies of college documentation for homeschoolers.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. What do stakeholders in the admission process need to know about homeschool documentation? 
2. What are some best practices for homeschool documentation?
3. How do homeschoolers show the depth & breadth of their studies? 
4. Who writes recommendations for homeschooled students, and do colleges believe them? 

5. Should homeschoolers claim credit for every potential learning experience?

MEET OUR GUESTS

Dr. Michele Evard is an independent educational consultant who assists homeschooling families with planning & documenting K-12 education as well as the college application process; she specializes in assisting families of gifted and 2E young people. 

She is an active member of multiple professional organizations including IECA, NACAC, SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) and the Digital Learning Collaborative. 

While homeschooling her three children and mentoring others, Dr. Evard co-founded Many Rivers Unschoolers and served as president of Voyagers Homeschool Cooperative and Resource Center. 

Michele can be reached at https://evardconsulting.com.

Holly Ramsey is an independent educational consultant specializing in working with homeschoolers and their parents to create clear, concise, and compelling college applications and counselor documents.

She is a professional member of Independent Educational Consultants Association, where she served in a variety of roles and is a recipient of IECA’s Making a Difference Award. Ms. Ramsey is also a member of the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling. 

In addition to homeschooling her own five children over 20+ years, Holly taught writing to hundreds of homeschoolers through Brave Writer™ and mentored new Brave Writer instructors.

Holly can be reached at https://thoughtfulhomeschooling.com. 

Dr. Michele Evard and Holly Ramsey are co-authors of College UnMazed: Your Guide to Design & Document Your Homeschool. This book provides guidance for any professionals helping homeschoolers in the college admission process.

Tests and the Rest listeners can use the coupon code HOMESCHOOL10 for 10% off this book AND anything else on the College UnMazed site.

LINKS

College UnMazed: Your Guide to Design & Document Your Homeschool

How to Create Your School Profile As A Homeschooler

RELATED EPISODES

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS FOR HOMESCHOOLERS

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION: GOOD VS. GREAT

CRAFTING YOUR COLLEGE RESUME

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

We focus so much on our teens getting through high school and into college yet spend little time looking at the space between or how everyone involved needs to change and adapt for success. Amy and Mike invited educator Dr. Andrea Malkin Brenner to discuss the parent transition from high school to college.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. What role can parents play to support their students as they become self-reliant and college-ready?

2. What are the major differences between being a high school parent and a college parent?

3. How can parents help students prepare for the academic, practical, and social responsibilities that come with independence?

4. When should conversations about college transitions ideally begin?

5. What are scenarios parents of college students might not expect but should be ready for?

MEET OUR GUEST

Dr. Andrea Malkin Brenner is the creator of the Talking College™ card decks and co-author of How to College: What to Know Before You Go (and When You’re There), a leading guide for college-bound students and their parents/guardians. Andrea brings 25 years of experience as a college professor and university administrator at American University in Washington, DC to her presentations with high school and college audiences. See her website for her articles, podcast recordings, and upcoming talks and webinars.

Find Andrea at www.talkingcollege.com.

LINKS

Talking College card decks 

How to College: What to Know Before You Go (and When You’re There)

RELATED EPISODES

THE ROLE OF PARENTS IN THE COLLEGE PROCESS

ADVOCACY FOR PARENTS OF HIGH SCHOOLERS

THE W-CURVE MODEL AND NEW COLLEGE STUDENTS

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

When the most important exams in our lives tend to be meticulously crafted instruments based research, statistics, and standards, a sloppy and spontaneous approach just won’t cut it. Amy and Mike invited educator Russ Hanush to outline a scientific approach to test-taking.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. Why is general knowledge an irreplaceable foundation for test takers? 

2. What’s the best way to create study aids?

3. What test-taking strategies do most students fail on? 

4. How can you leverage the odds on multiple choice? 

5. What physical preparation is necessary for a successful testing experience? 
   

MEET OUR GUEST

Inspired by the rings of Saturn at 8 years old, fascinated by San Francisco's Exploratorium at 14, and motivated to make a difference in education when he witnessed a mother unable to help her child with their homework, Russ Hanush has always been about learning. After a research career in nuclear physics and chemical kinetics spanning decades at America's national laboratories and inventing The Periodic Table of Dimensions, Russ opened Physics Phor Phun Tutoring in 2007. 

Over the years the name has changed, Physics Phor Phun Tutoring is now Acclaimed Tutoring, and they've grown from a single tutor driving around the dusty vineyards of Templeton and Paso Robles, CA to helping students from Beverly Hills to Portland, OR, and Honolulu to Paris, France. Acclaimed Tutoring has helped hundreds of students become successful scientists, engineers, doctors, lawyers, vets, teachers, professional athletes, and entertainers. 

Besides inventing The Periodic Table of Dimensions, Russ is also the author of over a dozen technical publications as well as two books: The Parent's Guide to Choosing the Right Tutor and Harnessing Your Seven Senses. 

Helping students navigate their education, and their life after high school is Russ' passion. With one-on-one tutoring available for most math and science classes from middle school through college, college, and career counseling, and standardized test preparation, Russ' promise is to help students become happier, more confident, and more successful, guaranteed.

Russ can be reached at 805-610-1725 or [email protected].

LINKS

Harnessing Your Seven Senses: Help Your Child Become A Happier, More Confident, More Successful Student by Harnessing Their Seven Senses (A Scientific Approach to Study Skills)

The Periodic Table of Dimensions

PhysicsPhorPhun AP Resources

RELATED EPISODES

EFFECTIVE STUDY SKILLS FOR TEST PREPARATION

MAKING LEARNING SCIENCE WORK FOR YOU

HOW TO BECOME A RIDICULOUSLY EFFECTIVE STUDENT

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

While choosing a college feels like one of the biggest decisions of your life, choosing to leave one may be even more difficult. That said, swapping the wrong school for the right one can do wonders for your grades, mental health, and future prospects. Amy and Mike invited college advisor Jaime Smith to explore what you should know about transferring.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. How common is college transfer?

2. How has the rise of credible online programs impacted transfers?

3. What are the best and worst reasons to transfer?

4. What are the main transfer pathways?

5. Can a student transfer at any time?

MEET OUR GUEST

Jaime Smith, M.A., MS.Ed., is a Certified Educational Planner with 25 years of experience in the field of education. After many years of teaching English at the middle, high school, and college levels, Jaime turned to online education and founded a virtual K-12 supplementary education program, Online G3, where she continues to teach gifted and twice-exceptional homeschooled students. As a college advisor, Jaime specializes in transfer admissions, application essays, homeschoolers, neurodiverse learners, and other non-traditional applicants. In 2023, she completed a Post-Master's Certificate in Transfer Leadership and Practice at the University of North Georgia in collaboration with the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students.

A California native, Jaime now lives in Oregon with her husband and pet bunny. She has one daughter, a former homeschooler turned transfer student who just started grad school. 

Learn more about Jaime at TransferSavvy.com and follow her on Linkedin.

LINKS

Common App for transfer

https://www.transferology.com

https://www.assist.org

RELATED EPISODES

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL COLLEGE FRESHMAN

WHAT TO DO WHEN A STUDENT STRUGGLES IN COLLEGE

THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF COLLEGE SUCCESS

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Alex Pint, the owner and founder of Pathway Prep in Kansas City! Alex attended Kansas State University, where he received a BS/MS in Architectural Engineering. To earn some extra money during college, he got a campus job tutoring math and physics, and thus the seed of being an educator was planted. After graduating in 2015, Alex started working at a KC consulting engineering firm but soon began a test prep side hustle. Alex continued working in engineering for 5 years, earning his Professional Engineer’s license along the way, before deciding to pursue test prep full-time in February 2021.

Alex works with high schoolers in the KC area, focusing almost exclusively on ACT prep through individual and small group formats. He enjoys experimenting with insights from psychology and business in his test prep process.

In his free time, Alex enjoys spending time with his wife (high school sweetheart), enjoying his season tickets for Sporting KC, and reading new books. He is also an avid runner and completes multiple half-marathons and/or marathons per year.

Find Alex at https://pathwayprepkc.com/  [email protected].

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Remy Zaken Andersen. Remy is a graduate of Columbia University, where she majored in Psychology with a focus on social cognition and emotion. A former professional actress, she serves as a strong role model for students striving for academic excellence while balancing extracurricular and career interests. She scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT and SAT, and also received perfect scores of 5 on the AP exams in Biology and US History.

Tutoring professionally since 2013, she is a skilled instructor who has found students connect well to her warm, engaging, and energetic personality. She is passionate about teaching important study and organizational skills, while working with her students to manage test anxiety so they can reach their full potential on these exams and in their future academic careers. She has tutored Lower, Middle, and Upper-level students on the SSAT and ISEE and has seen at least 100 point increases in both the verbal and math sections for SSAT and 3 stanines on the ISEE. Every single one of her SHSAT students who started tutoring in April and completed their homework has been accepted to a specialized high school. She's also had students accepted to Hunter College High School. There are many more success stories upon request!

Find Remy at https://www.and-ed.com and [email protected].

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry?

MEET OUR GUEST

Meet Jason Hankins, who graduated in the year 2000 from Milwaukee School of Engineering with a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering and a minor in Business Administration. Jason works full time as a Software Engineer and part-time as a test prep tutor. He has a love of math and teaching others how to understand it. In 2004 he started his tutoring business, J. Digital Tutoring Services. He specialized in tutoring mathematics courses, math sections of standardized tests, Business courses as well as computer programming courses. Tests that he has helped students with include the NCLEX, TEAS, CLEP, ASVAB, GMAT, ACT, and SAT. With his business minor has been able to help students with accounting, finance, microeconomics, and managerial science courses.

Jason is the founder and moderator of the SAT Exam Prep & Discussion and ACT Exam Prep & Discussion Facebook groups. 

Jason has been involved with math tutoring for a long time. His first tutoring job was in college working in the college’s Learning Resource Center. Since then, Jason has produced math instructional DVDs, worked as a math tutor at a local college (15 years), ran a tutoring program at a local church, maintained a math education YouTube channel, managed ACT and SAT Facebook groups, and is currently running his own private tutoring business. When he is not solving math problems Jason enjoys watching the stock market, looking for the next great stock, and watching professional sports.

Find Jason at http://www.j-digital.net.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.