The College Counseling Mom Podcast: It’s Fine, I’m Fine, My Kid’s in High School.
Real talk and real guidance for parents raising college-ready teens — without the stress.
Host Lindsay Phillips, a school counselor turned college consultant (and mom who’s been there), helps families navigate high school and college prep with clarity, calm, and humor. Grab your coffee (or wine) and join Lindsay each week to make this season feel a little lighter and a lot more doable.
Episodes
36 episodes
Episode 35 | Should Your Kid Write About the Hard Stuff?
If your teenager has been through something hard, a loss, a stretch of anxiety or depression, a family rupture, a health scare, a year that left a mark on the whole house, you have probably had a quiet thought you would never say out loud. ...
Episode 34 | The Room I Wish I Had With Jake (And Am So Thankful I Have With Josh)
I came home from the IECA conference in Baltimore this month with one observation I cannot stop thinking about: almost nobody in our industry is naming the MENTAL LOAD moms are carrying through their kid's college process — and nobody is buildi...
Episode 33 | Why Liberal Arts Colleges Deserve a Closer Look (And the Myths Keeping Them Off Your List)
Fresh off the IECA conference and a campus tour day at Dickinson and Gettysburg, Lindsay walks through the four myths that keep most moms from putting liberal arts colleges on the list. The "my kid wants STEM" myth, the cost myth, the "no grad ...
Episode 32 | Three Things to Do Before Senior Year (So Your Kid Walks In Confident and You Walk In Relieved)
By the time senior year starts in August, what do you actually want for your kid? Lindsay says: a confident kid and a relieved parent. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because of three quiet things you do between now and August that ...
Episode 31 | The Sneaky Grief of Every High School Year
A mom-to-mom honest talk about the quiet grief that hits at every grade of high school, not just senior year. Lindsay walks through the unique grief of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, plus what actually helps when the milestones (or the lack o...
Episode 30 | What Your Burned-Out Junior Actually Needs From You During AP Week
This week I am talking about the thing most parents do not realize about AP exam season. Your job is almost never the thing that feels productive.If you have a junior at home and they are absolutely cooked right now, you are not alone. M...
Episode 29 | The Story Is Always in the Details
This week I am taking you behind the curtain. The curtain of what the personal statement brainstorm actually looks like from the inside. Including the part nobody talks about. The messy middle.The going-nowhere conversations. The short a...
Episode 28 | The Essays Nobody Talks About Until It's Too Late
Every year I watch the same thing happen.Families spend months focused on the personal statement. They feel ready. And then August 1 arrives, the Common App opens, and the supplemental essays appear. Multiple prompts per school. Multipli...
Episode 27 | When the Process Doesn't Look Like You Pictured It
Last week I got an email from a senior mom that stopped me in my tracks.I had sent a check-in note to senior families. She wrote back and said something I have not stopped thinking about: this process is just not what I envisioned it to ...
Episode 26 | My Kid Has Nothing to Write About (And Other Things Parents Say Before the Essay Changes Everything)
Every spring I hear the same thing from junior parents: my kid has nothing to write about.And almost every time, I find out that is not true. The story is already there. They just have not found it yet — because they are looking in the w...
Episode 25 | Spring Break, College Visits, and the Junior Year Moment Nobody Warns You
Spring break feels like a pause. But for junior families, it might be one of the most important weeks of the year — and most families do not realize it until they are standing on a campus somewhere thinking... wait. This just got real.Th...
Why I'm Leaving School Counseling (And What the Broken System Has to Do With It)
After years inside the school counseling system, I have something to say that I have been sitting with for a while.At the end of this school year I am leaving school counseling. For good.Not because I stopped caring about students...
Episode 23 | You've Done the Research. So Why Does It Still Feel Like Guessing?
It's ten o'clock at night. Your kid is asleep. You've got seventeen tabs open, a notes app full of school names and question marks, and somehow you feel more confused than when you started.Sound familiar?The problem isn't that you...
The Application That Changed Everything (And Why We Almost Didn't Send It)
We almost didn't apply to the University of Alabama.It wasn't a serious contender. It was a strategy — rolling admissions, a near-guaranteed yes based on Jake's test scores, and a confidence boost before the real applications started.
Episode 21 | From “I Want It to Feel Like Home” to a Strategic College List
What do you do when your teen says they want a college that “just feels right”?If you're a parent starting the college search process, you’ve probably heard answers like:“I just want it to feel like home.”“I want som...
Episode 20 | Finding Colleges Beyond the Rankings: Where to Actually Look
Most families build their college list using U.S. News rankings and schools they've heard of—but that's not a real search strategy. There are hundreds of incredible colleges your teen will never discover if you don't know where to look.I...
Episode 19 | The Common Data Set: Your Secret Weapon for College Research
If you've ever felt like colleges are keeping secrets about admissions—you're not wrong. But there's one document that levels the playing field, and most parents have no idea it exists.It's called the Common Data Set, and it's the closes...
Episode 18 | What Colleges Actually Look For (And What Parents Can Stop Stressing About)
If you’re a parent staring at your high schooler’s transcript and wondering, “Are we doing this right?”—this episode is for you.Between course selection pressure and conflicting advice online, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by th...
Episode 17 | How to Know If a College Is a Good Fit: The Three-Fit Framework Every Family Needs
Choosing the right college can feel overwhelming — especially when families are told to trust their gut or wait for a “feeling” on a campus tour. But what if that feeling leads you to a school that isn’t affordable, supportive, or aligned with ...
Episode 16 | Prestige vs. Fit: Why Your Student’s “Dream School” Might Not Be the Right School
Choosing a college can feel overwhelming for parents and students — especially when deciding between a prestigious college and a school that’s actually the right fit. In this episode, a college admissions expert breaks down the di...
Episode 15 | How to Find Colleges That Actually Give Merit Money (And Why It Matters More Than You Think)
What’s the point of a $2,000 scholarship on a $75,000 school? 🙃In this episode, college counselor and mom Lindsay breaks down how merit aid actually works, which schools give real money, and how families can av...
Episode 14 | College Admissions Myths Junior Parents Need to Stop Believing
If you’re a parent of a high school junior, it probably feels like everyone has an opinion on what you should be doing right now — college visits, testing, extracurriculars, essays… all at once.And the unspoken message un...
Episode 13 | The Junior Year Reset: How to Start the Second Half Without Panic
If you’re the parent of a high school junior and January feels like a wake-up call—you’re not alone.Winter break gave everyone a breather, but now the second semester of junior year is here, and suddenly college feels very real....
Episode 12 | Standing in the Doorway: Alignment, Letting Go, and Parenting Through Change
The week between Christmas and New Year’s always feels different.The rush slows. The noise softens. And there’s finally space to reflect on the year that was—what went well, what changed unexpectedly, and what still hurts.In this ...
Episode 11 | Nothing Needs to Be Fixed Right Now: A Christmas Eve Message for Parents of Teens
This episode is for parents of teens — especially parents of high school seniors navigating college admissions decisions — who are feeling emotionally stretched during seasons of uncertainty.Whether your student is facing college rejecti...