Episode 89 Cracking the College Code: Real Talk on Testing Changes, Application Hacks, and Keeping Your Sanity in 2025 with Kerry Roberts

Feeling overwhelmed by the college application maze? Join us as we chat with expert Kerry Roberts about taming the college admissions beast in 2025! We dive into all the juicy details about why schools are bringing back those pesky SAT/ACT requirements and what's changing with the tests themselves (hello, digital ACT!).

Kerry shares insider tips on crafting essays that won't make admissions officers yawn, why applying to 20 schools is actually a terrible idea, and how to handle those nerve-wracking waitlists. Whether your teen is freaking out about "Trauma-lympics" essays or you're just trying to figure out why everyone's suddenly applying to schools in the South, this episode is your survival guide to keeping your sanity through application season!

Episode recorded March 27, 2025 at the LMC Media studio.

Contact Kerry Roberts at Thrive Education Group

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The Balance Dilemma Episodes discussing college admissions

Episode 71 College Admissions: How to Work the System [Legally] With Kerry Roberts

Episode 17 Advice on Finding Balance in the College Admissions Process and Fatherhood with Dave Marcus

Episode 53 Poison Ivy and College Admissions with Evan Mandery

Book References

Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions by Jeffrey Selingo (2020)

Fiske Guide to Colleges 2024 by Edward B. Fiske (2023)

Other Reading

Moscatello, Caitlin (2024, January 29) Inventing the Perfect College Applicant. nymag.com

Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges--and Find Themselves by David L. Marcus (2009)

Poison Ivy: How Elite Colleges Divide Us by Evan Mandery (2022)