In this episode you will hear: Mark shares two special events coming up no 6/1 and 10/6 for YCBK listeners and then Hilary takes a question from a listener about the activity section of the application Mark interviews Andy Strickler about the challenges college admission leaders faced in 2026. Part 1-Preview o Mark and Andy have a discussion about what made 2026 so challenging for so many colleges o Andy tells us some of the reasons why so many colleges felt blindsided by how difficult it was to attract and yield students in 2026, what made 2026 so different o Mark and Andy talk about things like: o The job market for recent grads, o Return on investment o The power of brand name o The focus on grad school o The difficulty of meeting families' financial expectations o We talk about how some colleges have a veneer of selectivity but behind closed doors, they are very worried about feeling fully enrolled, very worried about meeting their class Andy explains why Conn College is adding Early Action when they already have Early Decision1, Early Decision2, and Regular Decision, and we talk about the challenges adding EA is going to add when they already have Early Decision 1, Early Decision 2 and Regular Decision Jed Applerouth-Trends on the ACT and SAT and answers to listener questions about the ACT/SAT - Part 3/3 Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and current college students achieve success Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. 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