What Families Get Wrong About College Admissions with Jeff Selingo

Families obsess over “dream schools.” Colleges obsess over rankings and yield. Somewhere in between, the real truth about admissions gets lost.

In this episode of The VineDown, I sit down (again!) with bestselling author and higher ed strategist Jeff Selingo to cut through the myths and talk candidly about what really drives admissions decisions today.

Jeff has spent decades reporting on higher education, embedding inside admissions offices for his book Who Gets In and Why, and now challenging families to rethink what “a good college” actually means in his newest work Dream School.

We get into:

• Why admissions isn’t the pure meritocracy most families assume.
• The outsized role of “hooks” like legacy, athletics, and full-pay admits.
• Why prestige is more fluid than people think (remember when Northeastern, NYU, and USC weren’t “powerhouses”?)
• How institutions can invest in the “knitting” that really matters: great teaching and faculty mentorship.
• Why the first weeks on campus are make-or-break for student retention.
• What colleges need to change about campus tours to show, not just tell, families what they’ll experience.
• Why fit (not rankings) is the most reliable predictor of student success.

If you’re a parent, an enrollment leader, or just curious about the future of higher education, this conversation will help you see admissions with fresh eyes: less about chasing the top 25, and more about finding the schools that will actually deliver on growth, opportunity, and long-term success.

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