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587. SHOULD I APPLY EARLY DECISION OR EARLY ACTION?

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

Release Date: 08/13/2024

607. THE DIFFERENT ROLES OF SCHOOL AND PRIVATE COUNSELORS  show art 607. THE DIFFERENT ROLES OF SCHOOL AND PRIVATE COUNSELORS

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

Teens on the road to college tend to encounter a variety of counselors positioned to support them on their journeys. However, not every one of these counselors has the same job. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Margaret Rothe to define the different roles of school and private counselors. What are five things you will learn in this episode? In what ways are school and private college counselors the same? Do you have to be a high school counselor to be a private college counselor? What is something high school counselors do that IECs don’t or can’t do? What is something...

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606. HOW GRADING POLICIES INFLUENCE GRADE INFLATION show art 606. HOW GRADING POLICIES INFLUENCE GRADE INFLATION

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

The fact that students are earning higher grades than ever without any appreciable increase in other assessments of academic ability should be well-known by now. Less understood are the root causes of this increasing phenomenon. Amy and Mike invited researchers Maia Goodman Young and Dan Goldhaber to dig into the data on how grading policies influence grade inflation. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the purpose of grading? How did state policy around grading in Washington change during the pandemic? What does the research show about changes in grades...

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605. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: November 2024 show art 605. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: November 2024

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

The Tests and the Rest podcast has always been relentlessly focused on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Once in a while, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. Catch up with us in the latest episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What new piece of curriculum did Mike create recently?  What is Mike’s background in birding? What were...

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Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

The ACT has been remarkably stable since the last time the exam was “enhanced” in 1989. However, significant changes are coming more quickly than you might think to this influential college admissions exam. Amy and Mike invited ACT representative Catherine Hofmann to share all the details about the ACT Test Enhancements. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How is the ACT changing? What aspects of the ACT are staying the same? What is the motivation for these enhancements? Will the Enhanced ACT be linear or adaptive? What is the timeline for the Enhanced...

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Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

You don’t need to be a future business major to bring some marketing acumen to your application to higher education. Amy and Mike invited marketing professional Stacey Ross Cohen to review how to build a winning brand to ace college admissions. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How are college admissions and personal branding related? Why is personal branding/digital leadership critical for college-bound students? What are essential steps teens should take to build a strong personal brand? How can college-bound students use social media to their advantage? What...

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602. HOW ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR MORALE IS CHANGING ADMISSIONS show art 602. HOW ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR MORALE IS CHANGING ADMISSIONS

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

The current college admissions dynamic where selective schools routinely receive 10, 15, or even 20 times as many applications as they have available seats has been a tremendous source of stress for applicants and their families. But how are the professionals who have to manage these applications holding up? Amy and Mike invited author Teege Mettille to explore how admissions counselor morale is changing admissions. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What exactly is admissions counselor malaise? How have changes on college campuses impacted the admissions process? What...

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601. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: October 2024 show art 601. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: October 2024

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

The Tests and the Rest podcast has always been relentlessly focused on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Once in a while, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. We hope you enjoy this first episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What massive step did Amy take in her test prep business?  How many educational projects exactly has Mike been...

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600. CELEBRATING OUR 600TH EPISODE with educator Susan Powers show art 600. CELEBRATING OUR 600TH EPISODE with educator Susan Powers

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

After 599 episodes devoted to amazing conversations about testing, admissions, education, and learning, it’s time for something completely different. Amy and Mike invited educator Susan Powers to help celebrate our 600th episode. Get ready to hear from the ghosts of podcasts past, present, and future along with a modified Colbert questionnaire!  What are five things you will learn in this episode? What are the biggest things Amy and Mike learned since the beginning of the podcast? What were some of our favorite episodes? What will our podcast tombstones say? What are Mike, Amy,...

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Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Industry Podcast

    Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Sara Kohn, who was raised in South Florida and attended Florida State University, where she obtained a degree in marketing. She later pursued a master's degree in exercise science. About two decades ago, She began tutoring about 20 years ago and eventually established her own company, Ready Set Prep - now called Advanced Test Prep, focusing on high level preparation, particularly for National Merit and the PSAT/NMSQT. She has conducted successful...

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Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Reema Chitalia, a dedicated test prep expert passionate about shaping the futures of students pursuing education abroad. After earning her Master's degree in the United States and working as a consultant at Deloitte, she recognized gaps in global education systems and utilized technology to tackle these challenges. Before long, she established Edufit, an innovative online test prep platform that offers bite-sized lessons designed for Gen Z, ensuring thorough...

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More Episodes

SHOULD I APPLY EARLY DECISION OR EARLY ACTION?

When applying to highly selective schools, every advantage makes a difference. Why, then, would a student pass up one of the biggest multipliers in acceptance rate? Amy and Mike invited education consultant David Parker to explore the existential college admissions question: should I apply Early Decision or Early Action?

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

  1. What are all of the ways to apply early and why do colleges offer so many options?

  2. What are the differences between early decision and early action?

  3. What are the benefits and drawbacks to applying early?

  4. How should a student know what is right for them?

  5. By when should students have their target test scores for ED/EA applications?

MEET OUR GUEST

David Parker received his BA degree at Furman University and finished his MA and PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, all in English.

With twenty years of teaching in the English Department at Gardner-Webb University and ending as a department chair, he learned volumes about the college admissions process by visiting and talking to prospective students and their parents. 

David served for years on scholarship committees where he combed through applicants’ files, read their essays, and eventually interviewed the highest-ranking applicants.  He attended “behind closed doors” meetings where decisions were made about six-figure scholarship packages. After all those years of sitting on scholarship committees, he knows what makes one student stand out from the crowd.

Most importantly, year after year, David got to know first-year students. Some had chosen the perfect school for themselves and spent four marvelous years at Gardner-Webb. Some chose poorly, or hastily, or out of convenience, and were deeply unhappy at a school that didn’t fit. These students usually left: some went to other schools, and some, frustrated, never finished college.

In 2017, David left Gardner-Webb and in 2019 established Parker Educational Consulting. After many years in academia, it was the students, much more than the subject matter, that became his passion. He cares about their intellectual and emotional development and their preparation for the world beyond graduation.

Parker Education Consulting’s purpose is to introduce the right schools to students and then present those students in the best light to schools. The goal is to find that "good fit match" that David saw throughout his teaching career. 

David has a wife, Emily, and one son in college at SCAD and another who is a rising high school senior. He is not a bad guitar player and occasionally opens for traveling acts that come through Shelby, and plays at farmers' markets and private events

Find David at [email protected].

LINKS

Early Decision and Early Action – Counselors | College Board

Parker Educational Consulting

RELATED EPISODES

EARLY DECISION AND EARLY ACTION

POWER DYNAMICS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

LETTERS OF CONTINUED INTEREST

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.