Extracurricular Activities and College Admissions: What Every Student Should Know

February 19, 2015
Hosted by Elizabeth Heaton

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Guest Information

Episode Description

Ever wondered what activities colleges most want to see on a student's application? Curious about whether or not community service or sports are required or if a job counts? Former Georgetown admissions officer Karen Spencer will join me to talk about whether or not there are right or wrong things for students to get involved in. In our second segment, Kyra Tyler, former admissions officer at Brandeis, will offer some great suggestions about the nuts and bolts of researching colleges and putting together a list. College finance expert Shannon Vasconcelos will provide her insight on negotiating a better financial aid award. Finally, we'll wrap up the episode by answering your admissions and college finance questions.

Getting In: A College Coach Conversation

Thursday at 1 PM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel

Planning for college? Tune into Getting In: A College Coach Conversation for tips, techniques, and insider perspectives. Hosted by Elizabeth Heaton, a former admissions officer at the University of Pennsylvania, and featuring her fellow admissions and college finance experts from Bright Horizons College Coach, the show shares what colleges are really looking for and how to highlight your hard-won achievements for the best chance at success. New episodes air every Thursday at 4 PM Eastern Time, 1 PM Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica Variety channel.

Elizabeth Heaton

Elizabeth Heaton is the senior director of educational consulting and strategic marketing at College Coach, the nation’s leading provider of educational advisory services. Ms. Heaton began her admissions career at the University of Pennsylvania, where she chaired university selection committees, evaluated potential athletic recruits as one of the school’s athletics liaisons, and oversaw the university’s portfolio of admissions publications. She also served as second chair in the selection committee for the school's flagship interdisciplinary Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology. A graduate of Cornell University, Ms. Heaton brings exceptional skills to the craft of essay writing paired with experience reading and evaluating thousands of Penn admissions applications. She is featured regularly in news outlets including Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, Time, US News and World Report, Boston Globe, and ABC News, among others, and can offer expert advice on a wide range of college admissions topics, from colleges’ expectations for high school curriculum choices and standardized test scores to choosing the right extracurricular activities and essay topics. Prior to joining Penn, Ms. Heaton worked as a public relations professional and served for a decade as a member of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network.

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