Author: Admissions Uncovered

Test prep tutoring is very expensive and a lot of people don’t have those resources. This week, I’m joined by Kathryn Zheng, the founder of Sparky Prep. Sparky Prep is an online peer tutoring program where high school students tutor other high school students on the SAT, ACT, APs, and other academic subjects. I talk about why Kathryn started the organization, how it works, and what she thinks about the value of standardized tests.

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Sparky Prep

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On Reddit, former admissions officer WilliamTheReader made some harsh accusations against his former bosses. On this episode, I talk with my friend Sean Cai about these accusations and how we as students should react. Among the topics discussed are how school treat private school applicants, low income students, and Asian American students.

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Reddit thread from WilliamTheReader

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College admissions is a great time to reflect on your future. That means that not everyone is suited for a traditional, 4-year education. On this episode, I’m joined by incoming Stanford freshman Ashley Chen to talk about alternatives to a traditional education from 2-year community colleges to service academies to colleges with just plain wacky admissions processes and educations (anyone up for cow manure and manual labor?).

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Make School – Great 2 Year Program w/ No Up-Front Cost

Deep Spring College

Olin College of Engineering

Alice Lloyd College – Free College

Berea College – Free College

Thiel Fellowship

Applying to Service Academies

Find a Community College

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Your college isn’t just a school; it’s also a home. On this episode, I talk to high school senior Carolyn G. on how she’s learning more about the soft-side of a school: its community, culture, and friendliness. We talk about what questions to ask, who to ask, and when to ask. Then, we finish up with some final tips on how to make the most out of a college visit.

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Thanks to Redaf for the Guitar Sound Effect licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Jeffrey Wang is the founder of the r/UTAustinAdmissions subreddit. Today, he joins the podcast to talk about UT has essentially computerized half of the admissions process. UT gives each applicant an Academic Index and a Personal Achievement Index. Jeffrey explains how UT calculates these scores and how it uses them to evaluate applications. Turn out that UT’s admissions process isn’t so holistic after all. Stay tuned till the end for the wackiest part – applicants are literally given a coordinate pair that is supposed to encompass their entire application and placed on a 2D Cartesian grid. Wack!

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FERPA

How to FERPA UT Austin

Academic Index Calculator

Thanks to Redaf for the Guitar Sound Effect licensed under CC BY 3.0.