753. MAKING THE FIRST COACHING SESSION MATTER
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Release Date: 09/01/2026
756. GUIDANCE FOR WRITING A STRESS-FREE COLLEGE ESSAY
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Students often approach their college applications as if each essay is the most important piece of prose they’ve ever written, which leads to overthinking and anxiety. There is a better way! Amy and Mike invited essay specialist Jill Margaret Shulman to share guidance for writing a stress-free college essay. What are five things you will learn in this episode? 1. What are myths that exist in essay writing? 2. What stops students from getting started with their essay in the first place? 3. What techniques help empower students to write? 4. What are some positive steps if a student gets stuck?...
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755. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: MentoMind (Fall 2026 Updates)
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Expanding your tutoring business with MentoMind with educator Amit Jain What are five things you will learn in this episode? How are tutors using MentoMind? How is the MentoMind platform evolving? What are the users of MentoMind like? What kind of courses are tutors creating on MentoMind? What is the new video solution platform Think10x all about? ABOUT MENTOMIND is a white-label platform that helps tutoring companies, test prep businesses, and college advisors scale their SAT, ACT, and AP prep services. Your curriculum, ours, or both: use MentoMind’s expert-created...
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THROWBACK: ANXIETY AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
While all teenagers are alike in certain ways, those at the very top and very bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum share some disconcerting similarities. How are these peer groups connected, and what can be done to help them? Amy and Mike invited psychiatrist Anthony Villani to bring clarity to the topic of anxiety and socioeconomic status. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What fascinating aspects of teen life has Dr.Suniya Luthar uncovered in her research? What behaviors do teens at the highest and lowest socioeconomic levels exhibit? Does gender enter...
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754. WHAT STUDENT RESEARCH MATTERS THE MOST TO COLLEGES?
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
The apprenticeship model of academia requires more than just passive learning from students. How can applicants seeking entry to selective programs demonstrate that they have the ability and ambition to contribute to their desired fields? Amy and Mike invited professor Robert Malkin to consider what student research matters the most to colleges. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What are the different forms of research high school students have access to? Why are in-person lab experiences becoming increasingly valuable for high school students? What are the biggest...
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THROWBACK: BRINGING CRITICAL BALANCE TO HIGH SCHOOLERS' LIVES
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Many of today’s high school students somehow appear to cram 30 hours of academic, extracurricular, work, and social commitments into each of their 24-hour days. Is that frenzy of activity sustainable or even healthy? Amy and Mike invited school counselor Eric Domroes to analyze the need for bringing critical balance to high schoolers’ lives. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What does balance mean for a high school student? Where does the pressure to do too much come from? What should students consider when planning for life after high school? Is...
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753. MAKING THE FIRST COACHING SESSION MATTER
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Real improvement takes time, which is to say that a single class or lesson can only take us so far. However, getting off to a good start can go a long way towards an ideal ending. Amy and Mike invited educational entrepreneur Lisa Tran to explore the importance of making the first coaching session matter. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What does rapport mean in an educational or coaching context? What does an ideal first session structure actually look like? How can educators and coaches cultivate effective rapport? What is the role of students and parents in...
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752. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: August 2026
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
The Tests and the Rest podcast consistently focuses 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? What have Amy and Mike been up to this month? Why is Mike headed to NYC during a busy month? What big project did Amy complete? ...
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751. ARE SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS DEAD?
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Even in the Common App era, completing college applications can feel like an interminably long and complex process with far too many permutations from one school to another. But some schools are announcing what appear to be efforts to eliminate application bloat. Are they really, though? Amy and Mike invited independent education consultant Beth Kraemer to answer the question, “Are supplemental essays dead?” What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why are some colleges eliminating supplemental essays, and do their stated reasons tell the whole story? Are supplemental...
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750. TEST PREP PROFILE: Eric Rath
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 Eric Rath is the founder and president of , where he's spent the last decade building a remote test-prep and academic tutoring practice. His career in test prep goes back nearly twenty years, with senior business and instruction roles at some of the field's best-known names — Applerouth, ArborBridge, and Revolution Prep — before he struck out on his own in 2016. A UC Berkeley graduate, Eric is a frequent speaker on testing, assessment, and education, presenting...
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749. TEST PREP PROFILE: Amy Brooks
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 Amy Brooks, the founder of Amy Brooks Tutoring, an academic tutoring and test prep practice serving K–12 students and families both in person and online. With over 30 years of experience in education, Amy specializes in standardized test prep for the PSAT, SAT, ACT, and ISEE, along with academic tutoring and educational consulting for families from homeschool, private school, and public school backgrounds. Amy graduated from Baylor University with a degree in...
info_outlineReal improvement takes time, which is to say that a single class or lesson can only take us so far. However, getting off to a good start can go a long way towards an ideal ending. Amy and Mike invited educational entrepreneur Lisa Tran to explore the importance of making the first coaching session matter.
What are five things you will learn in this episode?
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What does rapport mean in an educational or coaching context?
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What does an ideal first session structure actually look like?
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How can educators and coaches cultivate effective rapport?
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What is the role of students and parents in making the first session work?
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What happens in a first session that makes students want to come back?
MEET OUR GUEST
Lisa Tran built her tutoring business, Lisa's Study Guides, from her own one-on-one students up to 35 tutors and 200+ students, and eventually sold it. She now runs Tutorboss, where she helps tutoring business owners stop being the bottleneck in their own businesses and step into being the CEO. She is an Aussie based in London.
Lisa can be reached at tutorboss.co or @imlisatran on Instagram.
LINKS
How Building Rapport Helped My Students Take Risks
RELATED EPISODES
THE ROLE OF RAPPORT IN EDUCATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
WHY YOU WANT TO WORK WITH A CAREER TUTOR
CULTIVATING AND RECOGNIZING ACADEMIC CURIOSITY
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.