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680. SCHOLARSHIPS, MAJORS, AND HOW CLARITY CAN UNLOCK MORE COLLEGE AID

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Release Date: 10/21/2025

698. WHAT DOES PUBLIC EDUCATION OWE TO ADVANCED STUDENTS?  show art 698. WHAT DOES PUBLIC EDUCATION OWE TO ADVANCED STUDENTS?

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Public schools are mandated to provide educational opportunities to all students and generally work very hard to support learners with profound deficits or differences. But what about learners who require enrichment rather than accommodations? Amy and Mike invited Kenneth Shores to examine the question of what public education owes to advanced students. What are five things you will learn in this episode? In theory, what is the purpose of public education? Why has public education struggled to support advanced students? Does harm occur when enrichment is withheld from thriving students? ...

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697. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: December 2025 show art 697. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: December 2025

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: December 2025 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. Sometimes, 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? How was the NTPA Winter Workshop? What are Amy and Mike’s plans for...

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696. NEW WAYS TO USE YOUR 529 PLAN show art 696. NEW WAYS TO USE YOUR 529 PLAN

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Every dollar saved for college is a dollar you won’t have to borrow. But even if you can save, what’s the best way to put money aside for higher education? Amy and Mike invited financial expert Joanne Dashiell to explore new ways to use your 529 plan. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What exactly is a 529 plan, and how does it work? Can you talk about the two different types of 529 plans, savings and prepaid? What are some of the tax advantages associated with using a 529 plan? How have 2025 policy changes expanded 529 plan flexibility? What is the one message...

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695. TEST PREP PROFILE: Dani Fleischer & Kevin McCormick show art 695. TEST PREP PROFILE: Dani Fleischer & Kevin McCormick

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUESTS Kevin S. McCormick is a certified New Jersey English teacher who has taught middle and high school in Elizabeth, NJ since 2013. Before joining Teach for America, he worked in Institutional Equity Sales at Salomon Smith Barney, the NYSE, and the American Stock Exchange. He holds an MBA in Finance and International Business and a BA in English from NYU. Dani Fleischer is a writer and educator whose work has appeared in The Huffington Post and The Washington Post. Like...

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694. TEST PREP PROFILE: Lucy Zhang show art 694. TEST PREP PROFILE: Lucy Zhang

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Lucy Zhang is the owner of A+ Test Prep and Tutoring, a 30+ year–old company helping students boost SAT/ACT scores and academic performance. She also co-founded SetSail, an online tutoring company connecting U.S. tutors with students abroad, and now runs both organizations. Lucy is focused on growing her impact by bringing additional tutoring teams into the fold, so more students can access high-quality, one-on-one support. Find Lucy on . ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and...

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693. TEST PREP PROFILE: Roman Marchenko  show art 693. TEST PREP PROFILE: Roman Marchenko 

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Roman Marchenko. After 15 years of teaching high school social studies in public and private settings, Roman transitioned to full-time test preparation. He’s always been a big fan of standardized tests, and a large part of his practice is getting students to evolve their mindset about the ACT and SAT. So many view these tests as a necessary evil, at best, but that serves as an obstacle to performance!  Roman’s favorite part of the job is getting to glimpse...

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692. TEST PREP PROFILE: Angie Kelley show art 692. TEST PREP PROFILE: Angie Kelley

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Angie Kelley. Angie is the founder of , a test prep and tutoring company dedicated to helping high-performing students train smart, test strong, and claim their futures. A licensed Oklahoma educator and graduate of Oklahoma Christian University with a B.S.E. in Mathematics, Angie draws on twenty years of classroom experience and a passion for strategic learning to help students reach their potential on high-stakes exams. Her work bridges the gap between academic...

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691. TEST PREP PROFILE: Jonah Fishel show art 691. TEST PREP PROFILE: Jonah Fishel

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Ready to learn the history, philosophy, and practice of an experienced professional in the test prep industry? MEET OUR GUEST Meet Jonah Fishel. Jonah has spent nearly a decade helping students and families unlock confidence and mastery in learning. His journey began in an unexpected place: volunteering as a mentor inside a juvenile detention center in central Virginia. There, he worked with young people facing immense challenges, including behavioral issues, learning differences, and years of disrupted schooling. What he discovered was that the real work wasn’t just teaching math or...

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690. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: MentoMind show art 690. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: MentoMind

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Expanding your tutoring business with MentoMind with educators Amit Jain and Chris McKenna What are five things you will learn in this episode? How are tutors using MentoMind? How is MentoMind helping tutors attract more students? How is MentoMind evolving from an SAT/ACT platform to an all-learning course platform? What kind of courses are tutors creating on MentoMind? What is the new and upcoming AI-powered toolkit "TutorHub" all about? ABOUT MENTOMIND is a revolutionary SAT/ACT prep platform designed to support students and help tutoring and test prep businesses thrive....

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689. LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES 101  show art 689. LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES 101

Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast

Liberal arts colleges represent what may be the most misunderstood class of higher ed institutions. What are the hallmarks of these schools, and what kinds of students should seek them out? Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Matt Arant to provide instruction in Liberal Arts Colleges 101. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How are liberal arts colleges defined in comparison to other types of schools? Is the application process different for liberal arts college applicants compared to those applying to research universities? Can you study STEM subjects at liberal...

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More Episodes

While high schoolers don’t need to know exactly what they’ll be doing with the rest of their lives, those students who make intentional, well-informed major choices before applying to college can unlock more merit-based and private scholarship opportunities–including specific awards based on intended major. Mike moderated a conversation with Dave Peterson and Lisa Marker-Robbins to explore Scholarships & Majors: How Clarity Can Unlock More College Aid.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

  1. If scholarships aren’t just awards for past achievements, how should applicants shift their mindset when searching for scholarships?

  2. How can early career clarity help prevent missteps during the application process?

  3. How does intended major help shape a personal narrative that’s compelling to scholarship committees?

  4. How early should teens tackle each of the essential components of college and scholarship applications?

  5. What are some popular majors and special scholarships associated with those majors?

MEET OUR GUEST

Dave Peterson, The Scholarship Coach, is the father of a rising college junior who, to date, has won over $80,000 in scholarships. Because of his son’s success with scholarships, people started asking him for advice on how their children could win scholarships. These questions prompted Dave to write the book DEBT-FREE COLLEGE: Proven Strategies for Winning Scholarships and Other Tools to Help You Avoid Student Loan Debt

Dave shares a new scholarship opportunity every day on his podcast and Substack called “Your Daily Scholarship.” He provides one-on-one coaching for students and families to help them find and win scholarships to achieve their debt-free college dreams.

Dave previously appeared on this podcast in episode #496 to share 12 MUST-SEE SCHOLARSHIPS and #529 to explain HOW TO PAY FOR COLLEGE.

Find Dave at dave@nodebtcollege.com.

Lisa Marker Robbins is an entrepreneur in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her passion and purpose throughout her career has been to serve high school students and young adults on launching into their future. With that greater purpose, she has been a classroom teacher, 23 years ago started a test prep, tutoring and independent college counseling organization that has helped thousands, and in 2021, started Flourish Coaching to guide students and young adults through her 5-part framework towards getting career clarity for what comes after graduation.

Lisa first appeared on episode #119 to discuss how HOW TEST PREP PROS AND FINANCIAL PLANNERS CAN WORK TOGETHER, in episode #227 to discuss STRATEGIES FOR SELECTING A COLLEGE MAJOR ON TIME, in #363 for a SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: Launch College & Career Clarity Course., and, in #554, HOW COLLEGES ADMIT BY MAJOR.

Find Lisa at https://flourishcoachingco.com.

LINKS

Scholarships for the 6 Most Competitive Majors

"Do I Have To Fill Out the FAFSA?"

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HOW IKIGAI CAN HELP TO CHOOSE A COLLEGE MAJOR

UNLOCKING AUTOMATIC SCHOLARSHIPS WITH PSAT, SAT, & ACT SCORES

FOUR SCHOLARSHIP MYTHS

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, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. 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, get in touch through our contact page.