In this episode you will hear:   YCBK PLUS is finally here and Lynda Doepker is here to explain to listeners how it works! Lynda gives an update on how you can leave a message on our website by using spikepipe.com/YCBK Mark shares 8 new Higher Ed Updates Mark interviews Vern Granger, Director of Admissions at the University of Connecticut and Chairman of the Board at NACAC   Preview-Part 1   Vern Granger gives his backstory How is U Conn different from the other Flagship schools in New England Vern talks about the role sports plays in playing a close community Vern talks about why U Conn has such a high retention rate Vern talks about U Conn’s “time to completion rate” Vern talks about U Conn’s student “indebted rate” What brought Vern to U Conn Vern shares the role of technology at U Conn Vern discusses the role of diversity, equity an inclusion at U Conn Vern lets us know what factors other than the transcript that matter in the U Conn admissions process Vern discusses how students are admitted at U Conn     Our favorite way for you to leave a question or any message for us is to put speakpipe.com/YCBK in your browser and take up to 90 seconds to leave a message. We recommend you share your first name and your state, but you can also be anonymous.   If you do not want to verbally leave a message for us by using speakpipe.com/YCBK you can send in your questions either on Twitter at @YCBKpodcast using the Messages tab  or via email at .   You can also send in questions for our interviews by using speakpipe.com/YCBK. Our interviews are confirmed for 2023 and 2024 with the following leaders at the following schools: Confirmed interviews not yet completed Bard-Mackie Siebens Rice University-Tamara Siler American University-Andrea Felder Pitzer College-Yvonne Berumen Chapman University-Marcela Meija-Martinez Connecticut College-Andy Strickler* Trinity College-Anthony Berry* College of the Atlantic-Heather Albert* Spelman College-Chelsea Holley* Scripps College-Victoria Romero* Saint Louis University-Daniel Wood-(Interview is about transfer admissions, Daniel is a transfer counselor) Colby College-Randi Arsenault* University of Georgia-David Graves* Purdue University-Mitch Warren University of Minnesota-Keri Risic Cornell University-Jonathon Burdick Akil Bello of Akilbello.com Oberlin College-Manuel Carballo UW-Madison-Andre Phillips Carleton College-Art Rodriguez Swarthmore-Jim Bok Joy St. Johns-Harvard Duke-Christoph Guttentag Florida State-John Barnhill Southern Methodist University-Elena Hicks Johns Hopkins-Calvin Wise Cornell University-Shawn Felton Haverford College-Jess Lord UAspire-Brendan Williams Yale University-Moira Poe Bard College- Baylor University Butler University California Institute of Technology Colorado School of Mines Creighton University     To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our free quarterly admissions deep-dive, delivered directly to your email four times a year, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign up on the right side of the page under “the Listen to our podcast icons”   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news,  and updates about the podcast before they go live. You can ask questions on Twitter that he will answer them on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed. Twitter message is also the preferred way to ask questions for our podcast:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from