In this episode you will hear:   Mark explains the different versions of Direct Admissions. Direct Admissions had so much buzz at the NACAC conference. Rank these from 1 to 29 according to what is most important to you in a college   1.       Area Surrounding the College 2.       Campus Beauty- 3.       Campus is contained, protected, and distinct from the area outside the campus 4.       Campus Setting (large city, small city, suburban, college town, remote) 5.       Career Outcomes 6.       Class Size 7.       College Rankings 8.       Cost/Affordability 9.       Distance from home 10.    Diversity 11.    Experiential learning (Co-ops/Internships, Study-Abroad, Research 12.    Facilities 13.    Financial Resources and Financial Wealth 14.    Food Quality 15.    Friendliness 16.    Graduation and Retention Rates 17.    Housing Options 18.    Name Recognition/Prestige 19.    Nature/Green Spaces 20.    Overall Academic Excellence 21.    Political Climate 22.    Religious Affiliation and/or Religious Culture 23.    Residential vs Commuter Students 24.    Safety 25.    School Size- 26.    Sports/ School Spirit 27.    Strength in my major 28.    Student Support 29.    Weather       Mark interviews Erin Wolfe Part 4-Preview ²  I ask Erin about reason 13, preferential packaging. I ask Erin to define preferential packaging and to explain how it impacts aid awards ²  I ask Erin about reason 14, some schools give merit money and others don’t and I ask Erin to comment on this ²  I ask Erin about reason 15, some colleges match competitor awards and others don’t ²  I ask Erin about reason 16, how some colleges address the cost of living of the area that you are coming from ²  I ask Erin about reason 17, how some colleges take K-12 tuition for a sibling at a private school into consideration ²  I ask Erin about reason 18, how some colleges categorize untaxed income compared to how other colleges classify untaxed income. Erin defines what untaxed income is, and she gives several examples of untaxed income, as part of what they see as fairness       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. 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