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The Rural College Student Experience

The Rural College Student Experience is the only podcast dedicated exclusively to centering rural college student voices in broader conversations about higher education access and equity. Hosted by Dr. Matt Newlin (www.mattnewlin.com), each episode will feature a co-host who is a currently enrolled student from a rural community. Co-hosts will share their perspectives on higher education and the needs of students from rural backgrounds. Each episode will also feature a guest who will bring additional insight and perspectives to the rural college student experience. Guests are researchers, scholars, practitioners, or counselors whose work focuses primarily on rural students in college. Follow RCSE on Twitter at @rcsepod. The Rural College Student Experience is presented in partnership with Believe in Students (www.believeinstudents.org). Believe in Students is the nation’s only non-profit organization focused exclusively on helping college students to meet their basic needs.

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The Rural College Student Experience

Admissions Essays for Rural Students

April 25, 2023 • Matt Newlin • Season 2 • Episode 14

Welcome to Episode 14 of the Rural College Student Experience. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you'll know when a new episode is available. Also, please follow us on Twitter (@rcsepod) and share ideas for future episodes.

This episode we’re talking about admissions applications and essays for rural students. Dr. Matt Newlin is joined by co-host is Jay Kauffin. Jay attended McMinn County High School in Athens, Tennessee and is now a junior at Yale University studying Political and Computer Science. We talk about his transition to college and how the application process can be improved for rural students.

Our guest is Corinne Smith. Corrine is an undergraduate admissions officer at Yale University where she oversees all rural outreach and recruitment. She also grew up in a small town an hour outside of Chicago. In April 2022, Corinne Smith and Ann Merrell published the College Essay Journal: A Mindful Manual for College Applications. We discuss the book in-depth during our conversation. Corinne is currently pursuing her doctorate in Diversity and Equity in Education through the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on the intersectional identities of rural students and the college access barriers they face.