Spinning off from two successful seasons of “The Search,” a podcast helping high school students find and enter the colleges of their choice, Lee Coffin, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid, is launching a new podcast series, “Admissions Beat.”
Listen to episode 1 of “Admissions Beat” below.
“At a time when college applications to selective schools are rising sharply, there’s a lot of news—and noise—about access to academia. But not everything you read below a headline or in a social media post is accurate, and some of it, is, frankly, gossip,” says Coffin. “With ‘Admissions Beat,’ we’ll turn down the volume, and help listeners find and analyze news they can use.”
Coffin will begin each half-hour episode by commenting on media reports about college admissions. Next comes a candid conversation with higher education experts on a timely topic affecting the choices and outcomes of college applicants. Each program ends with an “inbox” segment in which Coffin and his guests answer questions submitted by listeners.
“In our first episode, available by the end of October, I’ll be talking with a high school college counselor and a fellow dean of admissions about lessons we learned from the pandemic about how to reach and recruit as many qualified applicants as possible,” says Coffin. “Many colleges, including Dartmouth, are learning how to mix virtual and in-person programming in ways never before imagined, and that has implications for the way applicants plan and carry out their searches.”
Coffin and his guests also discuss newsworthy trends in college applications, including the thorny issue of standardized testing.
“Like many of our peers in higher education, Dartmouth is still deciding whether or not submitting test scores should continue to be optional for applicants to the class of 2027 and beyond,” says Coffin. “There are strong arguments on both sides, which we are likely to air—along with other important issues—on upcoming episodes of ‘Admissions Beat.’ ”
Coffin says he doesn’t know of another college-based podcast like the ones Dartmouth has been sponsoring, which are designed for a general audience, not just the College’s applicant pool.
“For me, this continues to be an act of admissions citizenship,” he says. “ ‘Admissions Beat’ will cut through the chatter about access to college. And based on the enthusiastic response to ‘The Search,’ I’m looking forward to another season of lively conversation and helpful feedback from subscribers around the globe.”
Like “The Search,” “Admissions Beat” is available through a variety of podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, Pandora, RadioPublic, iHeart Radio, Google Podcast, Podcasts.com, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
