YCBK 663: Why Are So Many Colleges Dropping Their College-Specific Essays?

In this episode you will hear: (04:23) Mark and Hillary discuss a few reasons so many colleges are dropping their custom prompts, aka supplemental college essays Update on our new website, YouTube Channel and our new Instagram Admissions Tip, Admissions Vernacular and Big Number (32:41) Christina and Mark interview Andrea Saadi on how experts evaluate whether a college's financials are stable Preview of Part 2 µ Andrea gives us some things to look for to know whether a college is really in trouble µ Andrea shares some of the factors that she looks at when she is doing an assessment of whether a college is financially stable µ Andrea explains why the bond offering data is important and what she looks for when examining a bond offering document; and Andrea lets us know when they are available and when they are not available µ Andrea lets us know what is the Gold standard for looking at financial data µ Andrea talks about whether bond ratings getting lowered is a concern µ Andrea talks about how to not be an alarmist and rule a college out because of layoffs and operating deficits 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 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