Admissions Beat

Admissions Beat

Lee Coffin • Vice President and Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at Dartmouth College

Episodes 136
Avg. Duration 47m
Activity Highly Active
Apple Rating 4.6 (108)
Since Oct 2021
Latest Episode Jun 2026

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Publishing Details

Schedule
Weekly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
74%
Hosting
feeds.simplecast.com

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About This Podcast

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.

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Recent Episodes

S9 Odds and Ends

Jun 02, 2026 38m Bonus

In a "listener mailbag" bonus episode, Jen Simons from Bright Horizons College Coach joins AB host Lee Coffin to answer an array of listener questions. The mailbag queries spark riffs on a wide range…

S9E16 The Initial Friendship Market

May 12, 2026 50m

In the season finale, sociologist Janice McCabe offers insights on friendship from her new book Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends, as this fall's entering class makes the transition from home to…

S9E15 The Transition from Home to College

May 05, 2026 41m

Hooray, the college search is over! Now what?! As high school seniors become "pre-matrics" on the campus of their choice, a surprising swirl of checklists and emotions arise for students and their…

S9E14 The Things I Wish I'd Known...

Apr 28, 2026 59m

A live audience of high school seniors and parents at Dartmouth's accepted student open house ponder the lessons of the search they are about to complete. "What are the things you wish you'd known a…

S9E13 Guiding the Voyage of Discovery: The College Finder

Apr 21, 2026 57m

Guidebooks have been a staple of the college search process since 1982, when The Fiske Guide introduced a new resource to prospective applicants and parents. Today, over 300 titles assess and…

S9E12 Once a High School Principal, Now an Admissions Officer

Apr 14, 2026 46m

In an uncommon career pivot, former high school principal and English teacher Robin Appleby segued from her school-based tenures in the U.S. and internationally to a late-career stint as a college…

S9E11 AP or Honors, Which Looks Better for Colleges?

Apr 07, 2026 50m

The quality of an applicant's senior year program—and the grades achieved in that course of study—are foundational to the academic assessment of any application to a selective college. In an encore…

S9E10 Navigating April

Mar 31, 2026 34m

For one month each year, two admission cycles overlap as high school seniors and juniors share center stage. As seniors wrap up their searches over the next four weeks and juniors shift into active…

S9E9 State You

Mar 24, 2026 48m

A "state option" is often recommended as families wrestle with the affordability of college. But focusing on "affordability" of public institutions alone undersells the opportunity and value of a…

S9E8 March Madness Part 2: "How Do You Decide?"

Mar 17, 2026 40m

"How do you decide?" is one of the most probing questions associated with selective admissions. With so many qualified candidates competing for limited spots, decisions are often presumed to be…

S9E7 March Madness Part 1: Reading Season

Mar 10, 2026 47m

In the first of a two-part episode, AB peeks behind the opaque curtain of a selective admissions office in March. Four Dartmouth admission officers join their dean for an introspective conversation…

S9E6 Follow Me!

Mar 03, 2026 46m

Do Instagram or Reddit rival a guidance counselor as a source of admissions information and advice? Can YouTube match or beat an on-campus tour as a measure of vibe and place? Conventional wisdom…

S9E5 Crunching Numbers

Feb 24, 2026 54m

The college admissions process spits out lots of stats. Some numbers are straightforward, or they seem to be, while many data points require a nuanced interpretation from an inside source. Always, an…

S9E4 "Let's Just See What Happens..."

Feb 17, 2026 50m

By definition, a guidance or college counselor offers counsel as a search takes shape and progresses. But sometimes that advice is resisted by parents and students. A "reach" or a "likely"…

S9E3 Everything Counts!

Feb 10, 2026 45m

"What counts?!" is the perennial question asked by parents and students as they wonder what makes a strong application. The answer, it turns out, is complicated. In a re-broadcast of a popular…

S9E2 Discovery Starts With Program

Feb 03, 2026 54m

An effective college search starts with discovery. “Start your discovery with the fundamental thing about college,” AB host and Dartmouth Dean Lee Coffin advises. “You are going to college to study,…

S9E1 Junior Kickoff!

Jan 27, 2026 49m

It's time for the high school class of 2027 to step into the college search spotlight. As juniors kick off their college search, AB resets its narrative spotlight to the discovery phase. In the ninth…

S9 A Primer on Financial Aid

Jan 20, 2026 21m Bonus

In a preseason bonus episode, Admissions Beat cross-shares a YouTube conversation about financial aid from the parenting website Grown & Flown featuring AB host and Dartmouth Dean of Admissions…

S8E14 After Early

Dec 09, 2025 55m

For the high school Class of ’26, the first college admissions milestone is at hand as early decisions—some binding, some not—land. In AB's season finale, a trio of deans and a college counselor…

S8E13 Channel Your Main Character Energy

Dec 02, 2025 40m

From Grey's Anatomy to Bridgerton, Shonda Rhimes is television's storyteller extraordinaire. The Emmy winner visits AB for a lesson on how to channel main-character energy in an essay or interview.…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Admissions Beat have?

Admissions Beat has published 136 episodes since October 2021, covering topics in Education, How To.

Is Admissions Beat still active?

Admissions Beat is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 47m.

How do I contact Admissions Beat for sponsorship or guest appearances?

Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Admissions Beat, including email and social media links.

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