Does Applying to More Highly Selective Schools Increase the Odds of Acceptance: Office Hours, Perils of Gaming the System: Understanding Loan Options

April 20, 2017
Hosted by Elizabeth Heaton

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Guest Information

Episode Description

Every year we read a handful of stories about students who are accepted to all eight Ivies and a few other highly selective schools AND hear about students who apply to all of the Ivies and get into none. Regardless of the fact that the latter is much more prevalent than the former, families seem to come away with the idea that applying to more of these selective schools will somehow increase the odds of acceptance. We’re going to look at the statistics behind that assumption. In Office Hours, we’ll explore another common—but highly flawed—strategy: attempting to game the system to gain an advantage. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we’re taking a look at education loans and helping families understand their options.

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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