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Admissions Beat

72 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago - ★★★★★ - 64 ratings

On the Admissions Beat, veteran dean of admissions Lee Coffin from Dartmouth College and a range of guests provide high school students and parents, as well as their counselors and other mentors, with "news you can use" at each step on the pathway to college. With a welcoming, reassuring perspective and an approach intended to build confidence in prospective applicants, Dean Coffin offers credible information, insights, and guidance—from the earliest days of the college search, to applications, decision-making, and arrival on campus. He does so by drawing on nearly 30 years of experience as an admissions leader at some of the nation's most prestigious institutions. Season 5 launched January 30, with new episodes dropping weekly throughout the winter and spring.

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Episodes

Choosing Your Senior Year Courses and Why That Matters

April 16, 2024 08:00 - 50 minutes - 46.7 MB

“’How will this look for colleges…?’ is the most common question I get from juniors as they select senior year courses,” reports longtime college counselor Eric Monheim. For sure, the quality of an applicant’s senior year program—and the grades achieved in that course of study—is a foundational element of the academic assessment of every application to a selective college. This week, AB host Lee Coffin answers the question: “Does 12th grade count?” as high school juniors select their senior ...

A Degree In Thinking

April 09, 2024 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MB

For centuries, the liberal arts have been foundational to the mission of higher education. But trying to explain the concept of this course of study — and the multifaceted roadmap a liberal arts degree provides for one’s life and work in the 2020s and beyond—can be challenging. And so AB host Lee Coffin called in a specialist: Cecilia Gaposchkin, a Dartmouth history professor whose courses range from the fall of Rome to the Crusades to the medieval kings of France. She was also the College’s...

Navigating April: Thoughts for Seniors and Juniors

April 02, 2024 08:00 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MB

Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin considers April the “13th month” of the college admissions calendar. For many high school seniors, April brings a sense of closure, as they move from receiving their admissions decisions to weighing (and deciding) where to enroll. For many high school juniors, April represents a beginning – the official start of their college search. This week, Dean Coffin presents a grab bag of tips and other advice for both audiences, as well as parents and counselors. He’s ...

Interpreting Testing: Your Scores May Be Stronger Than You Think

March 26, 2024 08:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MB

What constitutes a strong SAT or ACT score? What do admissions officers mean when they say they consider scores in context? If a college is test-optional, should you submit your scores, or if it requires testing, are your scores strong enough to apply? The answers may surprise you. To talk through these and other questions, AB host and Dartmouth Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin is joined by Dartmouth professors Bruce Sacerdote and Michelle Tine, whose research helped inform Dartmouth’s recent d...

Learning to Read

March 19, 2024 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MB

What’s it like to read applications at a highly selective college or university for the first time? Not so long after their own college graduations, Dartmouth admissions officers Clarissa Hyde, Will Kieger, Laura Rivera-Martinez, and Jackie Pageau have spent the last few months reading and evaluating hundreds of applications. This week on AB, they join their boss, Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin, to discuss all that they’ve learned during their rookie “reading season.”

Is College Worth It?

March 05, 2024 09:00 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MB

Public opinion polls reveal a surprising shift in American views on higher education: roughly half of the parents surveyed imagine a four-year college degree as the educational goal for their child, down from near-universal support for that same goal when that question was posed a decade ago. While “college” has been a central component of the storied “American Dream” for decades, that ideal seems to be fading. This week, AB host Lee Coffin ponders the value of “college” with Jamie Merisotis...

Admissions Moms Who Know Too Much?

February 27, 2024 09:00 - 49 minutes - 45.1 MB

What would it be like to be a former admissions officer guiding your own child through a college search? While they know a lot more than most parents, the emotions they experience as parents—paired with the lessons they learned from inside an admissions committee—are likely relatable (and instructive) for any parent. Listen in as Lee Coffin of Dartmouth interviews three former colleagues who are now “admissions moms”: Ronnie Bernier Burnett, former assistant director of admissions at Connect...

Keep Calm and Carry On: Navigating the FAFSA Rollout

February 20, 2024 14:12 - 48 minutes - 44.7 MB

This week, Admissions Beat wades into the topic of college affordability. For high school seniors, we provide up-to-the-minute insight and tips on navigating the rollout of the new FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is causing delays in award calculations. For high school juniors, we introduce the topic of affordability as a “non-negotiable” factor as you and your families work toward assembling a college list. Joining host Lee Coffin, Dartmouth’s dean of admissions a...

Take an 'Existential Selfie'

February 13, 2024 09:00 - 53 minutes - 49 MB

How might a high school junior begin the journey of self-discovery that is the bedrock of the college search? In an encore episode of Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth recommends that prospective applicants point a virtual camera at themselves and snap an "existential selfie." It's an exercise that can reveal values, priorities, and guiding questions. His guests, all undergraduates at Dartmouth, provide counsel on the early steps in the college search, including advice they would...

Searching

February 06, 2024 09:00 - 56 minutes - 51.4 MB

 Throughout this winter, 11th graders will find themselves seated across from a college counselor in their high school, perhaps for the first time. The topic: kicking off a process of search and discovery intended to yield a college list by the start of senior year. But where and how to begin? To answer that question, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth is joined by two former university admissions officers and longtime “friends of the pod”: Sherri Geller, co-director of college cou...

High School Juniors: Your College Search Begins

January 30, 2024 09:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MB

For our Season 5 premiere, Admissions Beat turns its attention to high school juniors. Host Lee Coffin, dean of admissions at Dartmouth, previews what prospective applicants can expect in the months ahead. He encourages them to start with an “existential selfie” to understand what they’re seeking in a college experience. He and his guests also provide tips on building a college list and assessing a campus’s community and culture. Joining Dean Coffin are Thyra Briggs, vice president for admis...

Season 4 Finale: ‘Twas Two Weeks Til the Deadline

December 19, 2023 09:00 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MB

In the Season 4 finale, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin reaches into his holiday grab bag for a handful of end-of-year topics. First up, a visit to the Admissions Beat newsroom with journalist Charlotte Albright and Darryl Tiggle, director of college counseling at the Friends School of Baltimore, for answers to the questions students pose in various online forums as the application deadlines draw near. Then Mark Anderson, owner of MWA Fitness in Boston, has tips on stress management for appl...

Take an ‘Existential Selfie,’ Through a Rural Lens

December 12, 2023 09:00 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MB

Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin encourages applicants to periodically snap an “existential selfie,” an exercise to zoom in on their values and priorities. This week, he and his guests train that metaphorical lens on high school students from rural backgrounds. For many, that upbringing can be a powerful theme in the stories they tell in their college applications. Joining Coffin are Kim Jackson, Director of Advising and Scholar Support at Lenfest Scholars Foundation, which serves college app...

Interview Tips: Let Your Life Speak

December 05, 2023 09:00 - 50 minutes - 46 MB

Sometimes it's required, sometimes it's recommended, sometimes it's optional. Sometimes it's conducted on campus by an admissions officer or college senior, while at others it’s at a library or Starbucks with an alumnus. It’s an admissions interview. It’s also an opportunity to build life skills. This week on Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth conducts a mock interview with a high school senior from Los Angeles. They are then joined by Erica Rosales of College Match, a nonprofit, ...

One-on-One with the Nation’s ‘Chief Admissions Counselor’

November 28, 2023 09:00 - 56 minutes - 51.4 MB

If anyone could lay claim to the title of “chief admissions counselor” for the nation’s millions of college-bound students, it would probably be Angel B. Pérez. A first-generation college student from the South Bronx and longtime admissions dean, Perez currently serves as CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, or NACAC, a membership organization of more than 25,000 admissions officers, high school counselors, and other access professionals. In a one-on-one conversa...

Navigating Thanksgiving Queries from Curious Relatives

November 21, 2023 09:00 - 38 minutes - 35.2 MB

If you’re a high school senior in the United States, you may be seated around a Thanksgiving table where the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce is accompanied by a heavy dollop of questions served up by relatives curious about your college admissions process. Fear not: this week on Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth and his guests lay out a holiday buffet with an array of talking points and other strategies to help students respond (or not) to the range of probing questions comi...

Fifty Podversations! An Admissions Beat Anniversary Highlight Reel

November 14, 2023 09:00 - 58 minutes - 53.3 MB

To commemorate the 50th episode of Admissions Beat, a milestone we reached earlier this season, host Lee Coffin and producer Charlotte Albright revisit some of the podcast’s most practical and enduring advice for students, families, and counselors. Their tour guide for this auditory look back is Luke Grayson, a Dartmouth junior from Seaham, England, who highlights conversations that resonated with him—and ones he believes speak to today’s high school seniors and juniors. Among those greatest...

College Affordability? Ignore the Sticker Price!

November 07, 2023 09:00 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MB

Wellesley economist Phil Levine and Dino Koff, Dartmouth’s director of financial aid, join host Lee Coffin for insights on college affordability and the net price calculators that often guide families through that complicated but essential question. Levine advises families to ignore the sticker price: “What will this college cost me?” is a more useful framing of this essential question. The aid experts also offer guidance on navigating the sometimes-fuzzy vocabulary of financial aid, complet...

Data Dive, Part 2: Standardized Testing

October 31, 2023 08:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

In the conclusion of their two-part conversation, Yale’s Jeremiah Quinlan and Emily Roper-Doten from Clark continue their conversation with host Lee Coffin about the academic data that populates an application. This week, the group of deans focus on the role of standardized testing as part of the academic assessment. Optional or required, they ponder how does testing fits into an admission officer’s academic evaluation of each student.

Data Dive, Part 1: The High School Transcript

October 24, 2023 08:00 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MB

In the first of a two-part conversation about the academic data that populates an application, Yale’s Jeremiah Quinlan and Emily Roper-Doten from Clark join host Lee Coffin to discuss the high school transcript as “the foundational element” of an application. The trio reflects on an admission officer’s assessment of curriculum, grades, and “patterns” as key metrics of academic merit, and they offer “a way of understanding the numbers and letters that dance around a college application, what ...

Acceptance: A Conversation with Author Emi Nietfeld

October 17, 2023 08:00 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MB

Author and mental health activist Emi Nietfeld visits Admissions Beat for a thought-provoking and candid conversation with host Lee Coffin about her 2022 memoir, “Acceptance.” Named one of the Best Books of the Year by National Public Radio, “Acceptance” recounts Emi’s journey from foster care and a residential treatment center to the Ivy League, which she envisioned as her escape to safety. As high school seniors imagine college essays in the weeks ahead, the pair consider the art and chall...

Let Your Life Speak Through Your College Essay

October 10, 2023 08:00 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MB

In the 50th episode of Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin from Dartmouth College welcomes college counselors Sherri Geller from Gann Academy in Waltham, Mass., and Ronnie McKnight from Atlanta’s Paideia School for a timely conversation about the college admissions essay as an essential component of any application. The trio of veteran admission experts channels the Quaker saying “Let your life speak” as they share insights and advice for high school seniors about drafting an effective personal...

Inside the Admissions Process: A Senior Speaks

October 03, 2023 08:00 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MB

Admission Beat host Lee Coffin, Dartmouth’s dean of admissions and financial aid, meets “Matt,” a senior at a public high school in suburban New England, for a first-hand, student perspective about life inside this year’s college admissions process.

An Admissions Checklist for Jittery Seniors, Part 2

September 26, 2023 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MB

Picking up where last week’s episode left off, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin and his guests continue their conversation about the ways high school seniors (and parents, too) can address feelings of uneasiness as their college application process gets underway. Coffin, Dartmouth’s Dean of Admissions, explores the role of high school transcripts (and the patterns admissions officers discern within them), teacher recommendations (and the degree to which they matter), and the various ways pare...

Admissions Checklist for Jittery Seniors, Part 1

September 19, 2023 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MB

In the first of a two-part episode, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin turns his attention to the high school graduating class of 2024, who may be feeling uneasy about the college admissions process as their senior year gets underway. Coffin, Dartmouth’s Dean of Admissions, imagines them in this “back to school moment” as “looking forward and saying, ‘Uh-oh, I have to apply to college.’ ” Guest Kate Boyle Ramsdell, director of college counseling at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Mass., a...

A Guide to Navigating the Admissions News Beat

September 12, 2023 08:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MB

In the Season 4 premiere of Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin, dean of admissions at Dartmouth, assesses the extraordinary and ongoing college admissions news cycle in recent months. He also provides practical advice for applicants, parents, and counselors on how to understand the news and steer through it as the new admission cycle gets underway. Among the topics that he and his guests discuss: the U.S. Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions; the potential pitfalls of artificial...

Season 4 Teaser!

September 05, 2023 07:00 - 3 minutes - 3.04 MB

Admissions Beat will return for its fourth season on Sept. 12. Whether you’re new to the podcast or a past listener, our goal endures: to support applicants, as well as their parents and counselors, through the search, application, and financial aid process. Host Lee Coffin, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Dartmouth, provides a preview of what you can expect from this fall’s episodes.

Bonus Episode: The Supreme Court, Race, and Admissions

August 08, 2023 07:00 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MB

On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. In this special edition of the Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin, the Dean of Admissions at Dartmouth, explains the practical implications of the decision for students — especially those who will be applying to college this coming fall — paying particular attention to application essays and other narrative elements. Joining him for the discussion ...

Season 3 Finale: Live With Parents!

May 02, 2023 07:00 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MB

As the 2022-23 college admissions cycle draws to a close, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin is joined by an audience of parents for the recording of the Season 3 finale. Gathered together on the campus of Dartmouth College for an admitted student open house, the parents of current high school seniors share perspectives on this year’s process. They also draw on their first-hand experience to provide advice to the parents of high school juniors as they guide their children into admissions prime ...

For Seniors: It’s The Home Stretch

April 25, 2023 07:00 - 7 minutes - 6.53 MB

In this week’s episode of Admissions Beat, Dartmouth Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin speaks directly to those high school seniors who still have a college decision to make. “A big decision,” as he puts it. As the May 1 deadline draws near, Dean Coffin offers students (and parents, too) more than a dozen, gut-check questions that, when taken as a whole, comprise a checklist for the final countdown to enrollment. Some of those questions are pragmatic (To what degree will affordability be the dec...

Academic Lessons from the First Year of College

April 18, 2023 07:00 - 52 minutes - 48 MB

With May 1 looming as the deadline for applicants to make a final decision on where to enroll, three Dartmouth first-year students reflect on their academic transition from high school to college. They provide firsthand perspectives on course selection, time management, and the importance of letting go any lingering belief that the college experience can be perfect. (Spoiler alert: it never is.) Joining Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin are Dartmouth first-years Lexie Gauthier, from Ronan, Mon...

Major Minor

April 11, 2023 07:00 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MB

Whether you’re a high school senior, a high school junior, or a parent seeking to guide them, the question “So what’s your major?” can seem premature. After all, most colleges and universities don’t require a student to declare a major until the sophomore year. But reflecting on that question while still in high school can serve as a helpful exercise for students to contemplate what subjects they might like to study in college, and the extent to which that programming is offered at schools t...

The Intersection of Athletics and Admissions

April 04, 2023 07:00 - 40 minutes - 36.6 MB

For many high school juniors, the college search and application process is deeply intertwined with an interest in playing a particular sport. For some applicants, that focus may be on an NCAA Division 1 program, where there could be opportunities to recruited and to receive a scholarship. Others may have their sights set on being a scholar-athlete playing at an institution designated as Division 2 or Division 3. For still others, it’s having access to intramural sports that is of appeal. In...

Seniors: The Next Decisions are Yours

March 28, 2023 07:00 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB

Throughout their senior year of high school, but particularly in recent weeks, applicants for the college Class of 2027 have been receiving admissions decisions. Over the next four weeks, the tables will turn, as those students — in consultation with parents, counselors, and others — weigh a series of decisions of their own, based on the choices now in front of them. “In that time, you’re going to make an informed decision about where you see yourself,’’ says Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin,...

Inside the Admissions Selection Committee

March 21, 2023 07:00 - 49 minutes - 45 MB

Ever wonder how admissions officers decide which applicants to invite to join the incoming class? Jacques Steinberg, who wrote a New York Times best-seller, “The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College,” based on a year of reporting at Wesleyan two decades ago, recently spent a day behind the closed doors of Dartmouth’s undergraduate admissions selection committee. In this week’s episode, he and host Lee Coffin, Dartmouth’s dean of admissions and financial aid, discus...

Take an ‘Existential Selfie’: International Edition

March 14, 2023 07:00 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MB

The thought of pursuing a college or university education in the United States can be particularly daunting to students living in other countries. This week on Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin interviews three current undergraduates who traveled from Brazil, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom to attend Dartmouth. They provide tips on how international students can search for, apply to, and, ultimately, thrive on an American campus. They also describe challenges they’ve overcome, as well as op...

How Will We Pay For It?

March 07, 2023 08:00 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MB

As high school juniors and seniors navigate the college admissions process, they might consider that journey to be proceeding on parallel paths. The first encompasses elements like an institution's programming and sense of place. The second: how to pay for that experience. This week on Admissions Beat, in an encore episode drawn from its predecessor podcast series, The Search, host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth and his guests provide an overview of various financial aid forms and policies, as well...

Easing the Stress of the Search

February 28, 2023 08:00 - 53 minutes - 48.6 MB

Whether you’re a student in the midst of the college search, or a supportive parent or guardian, feelings of stress and anxiety can be ever-present. At each stage in the application process, and even after arriving on campus, students are faced with tough decisions and lofty expectations. This week on Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin, dean of admissions and financial aid at Dartmouth, discusses with his guests steps that applicants and their families can take to acknowledge sources of stress...

Your Campus Visit Roadmap

February 21, 2023 08:00 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MB

If you’ve not done so already, many Admissions Beat listeners will soon embark on a campus visit, whether by road, rail, or air, or perhaps via a keyboard and screen. To ensure you’re prepared to get the most from that journey, host Lee Coffin, dean of admissions and financial aid at Dartmouth, has recruited two expert tour guides. They are Elena Hicks, assistant vice president and dean of admissions at Southern Methodist University, and the former dean of admissions at Loyola University, an...

Imagining Your College List

February 14, 2023 08:00 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MB

As we continue our focus on supporting high school juniors in the early activities of a college search, Admissions Beat encourages listeners to grab a pen and pad (or open a Google Doc or spreadsheet) to begin drafting a list of colleges to explore. Host Lee Coffin, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Dartmouth,  describes that list as a document that will evolve over the coming months and continue to take shape, “place by place, for you to explore, for you to investigate.” His guests th...

Filtering Your Admissions Newsfeed

February 07, 2023 12:00 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MB

Mainstream media organizations have long covered the admissions process closely. And when those efforts are combined with observations and commentary across the digital spectrum, the results can feel dizzying and overwhelming to prospective applicants as well as parents. In this episode of Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin and his guest dean provide context and perspective on the big headlines and related issues in the current admissions news cycle — including rankings, test-optional admissio...

Take an ‘Existential Selfie’

January 31, 2023 12:00 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MB

How might a high school junior embark on the journey of self-discovery that serves as the bedrock of the college search process? Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Lee Coffin, host of the Admissions Beat, recommends that prospective applicants begin by pointing a virtual camera at themselves and snapping an “existential selfie.” It’s an exercise that can reveal values and priorities, as well as guiding questions. On this week’s podcast, he is joined by four guests, all of them first-year u...

Overture: Your College Search Begins

January 24, 2023 12:00 - 52 minutes - 48 MB

In the opening episode of the third season of “Admissions Beat,” host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth College turns his attention to high school juniors and those who support them in a college search. And just as the opening bars of an overture herald the beginning of a Broadway musical, Dean Coffin encourages students to start the college search on a note of self discovery. To look within, at what they value and prioritize, before looking outward and assembling a list of colleges that might fit the...

Final Tips for Seniors, Part 2: Making Sense of Early Decisions

November 29, 2022 12:00 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MB

In the second part of our two-part season finale, Admissions Beat lays out the decisions that applicants will soon receive in response to early applications they submitted this fall — admit, decline, or defer — as well as various strategies they might consider employing in response. Whether you are a high school senior who applied under a binding program (such as early decision) or non-binding (early action) — or the parent of someone who did so — host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth runs through a ...

Final Tips for Seniors, Part 1

November 22, 2022 12:00 - 48 minutes - 44.2 MB

With most applicants entering the final weeks of the college application season, Dean Lee Coffin of Dartmouth has assembled a “home stretch" toolkit of advice for high school seniors and their parents. In Part 1 of the two-part Admissions Beat season finale, the action items include: putting the last touches on a balanced college list; assembling the remaining pieces of an application; monitoring deadlines, and being sure that students register, typically via email, for the application porta...

Decoding Transcripts

November 15, 2022 12:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MB

How do admissions officers read and interpret high school transcripts, the official academic record of the courses an applicant has taken in high school and the grades received? And what role do “school profiles” play? They are the narrative descriptions that high school counselors prepare for admissions offices, chock full of context on a school's student body as a whole, and the wider community the school serves, among other details critical to assessing an applicant and application. In th...

What We Wish We Knew: Advice for Today’s College Applicants from Three College Students

November 08, 2022 12:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MB

This week on Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin goes deep in conversation with three Dartmouth students to elicit their  perspective on the college admissions process, as well as their advice for current high school seniors in particular. In a frank and wide-ranging conversation, the three undergrads touch on the emotional stress of their admissions process, as well as steps to mitigate it. (Each said they wished they had “chilled out” more.)They provide advice on telling your story with authe...

‘One Factor Among Many’

November 03, 2022 11:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MB

On Oct. 31, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in cases challenging the long-standing use of race as “one factor among many" in the undergraduate admissions processes of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. While the Justices’ eventual decision is not expected to affect the selection of the Class of 2027, it could have a seismic effect on the processes that admissions offices will use to choose future classes. In this special episode of Admissions Beat, hos...

Dollars and Sense: A Financial Aid Primer

November 01, 2022 11:00 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MB

For many families, the cost of a college education — as well as considering the various options for paying for it, and understanding how to apply for financial aid — is among the most stressful aspects of the college search. This week on  Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin, dean of admissions and financial aid at Dartmouth, is joined by Gordon “Dino” Koff, Dartmouth’s director of financial aid. Together, they break down and explain each step on the path to making a college education affordable...

Finding Your Place

October 25, 2022 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MB

For would-be college applicants, questions about “place” are crucial to the discovery and search process. Place may mean the geographic setting and physical attributes of a campus, and whether students can envision themselves there. But it can also encompass dorms and classrooms, and whether classes are primarily taught by faculty or assistants; the quality of support services, whether academic or social-emotional; and climate, not just the average temperature but also how welcoming and incl...