In this episode you will hear: (07:40) In this week’s news segment, an article from Wall Street Journal, “Welcome to College Now Take a Year Off”, by Melissa Korn. Some colleges are offering financial aid to encourage admitted students to stay away for a year, so they can travel, volunteer, or pursue other passions before starting their college enrollment. This is best known as taking a gap year.  We discuss some of the reasons why Gap years are more popular than before. We talk about some of the recent trends when it comes to Gap years. As usual, Anika, asks great questions.     (20:08) We are in Chapter 95 of 171 Answers and we’re talking through the 5 main reasons why college costs are skyrocketing. Anika and I go through each of these reasons and we each have a comment on each of the reasons. The five reasons listed are the general consensus as being the main reasons amongst those who study this. What those who study this do not agree on is which of these reasons are the biggest culprits. Four of these reasons we discuss are actual costs and one reason is different, but some would argue that this other reason is as big a contributor as any to the high costs of college. We also share the hard, cold stats about the changes in the cost of college.   (32:33) It’s time again for some bonus content and Mark is explaining how colleges recruit your students through Student Search Service. We discussed this in episode 25, but we do a much deeper dive this time. We look at the admissions funnel. Mark shares over 20 factors colleges can choose to use as filters when they are buying lists of names. We discuss why Student Search and the ACT’s similar service is big business. We get into the numbers as we discuss why colleges rely on search and how much they actually spend on buying lists of names. This is the first of a two part discussion on Search. Next week, our article will resume this conversation. If you want to hear a thorough conversation of what serves as the core of most college’s recruitment strategy, this segment, coupled with what we will cover next week will provide that for you. (54:39) Mark continues his interview with author and college admissions expert Steven Antonoff in: Myths about College Admissions, Part 2   (01:05:15) Mark’s recommended resource of the week is Initialview.com; this is a great new innovative way to improve your interview skills. This is the website that helps students to tell their story:   (01:13:47) Instead of a College Spotlight, Mark does an overview of the College Board Forum he attended from November 6-8 in Washington, DC. Mark mentions some of the best workshops he attended but he really goes into some depth on the session he attended about Summer Melt.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! We are excited to give our listeners a chance to play a role in shaping what topics we discuss, as well as what guests we have on our podcast. You can let your voice be heard by completing this survey. Just put the following link in your browser and give us your honest feedback. We thank you in advance. Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy go to Amazon and click:    If you want to place a bulk order, you will save money by purchasing this book at 171answers.com. Every penny goes to The Atlanta Mission, a Christian organization that helps over 1000 homeless residents every day.  If you want to see what future episodes will discuss in the book chapter section,  just go to 171answers.com and then click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers"