{"podcast":{"title":"Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast","slug":"tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572","podcast_index_feed_id":563572,"rss_url":"https://testsandtherest.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://testsandtherest.com/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/2/1/f/6/21f67343a9e8c221/testsandtherestlogo2.png","author":"Amy Seeley & Mike Bergin","episode_count":743,"summary":"Welcome to THE college admissions industry podcast! Join Mike Bergin and Amy Seeley as they discuss the latest issues in testing, admissions, learning, and education with leading experts. Tests and the Rest is perfect for parents, students, counselors, educators, test prep professionals, college consultants, and just about anyone engaged in the college admissions process. You can subscribe to this podcast or stream it online via any podcast app, including iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio. YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and Leap. Between the two of us, expect over 60 years of industry insight, expertise, insider news, and a bit of sarcasm.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T20:20:35.999563+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572"},"episode":{"title":"735. BEACH READS FOR BETTER SCORES","slug":"735-beach-reads-for-better-scores","published_at":"2026-06-23T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572/735-beach-reads-for-better-scores","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572","url":"https://testsandtherest.libsyn.com/735-beach-reads-for-better-scores","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/testsandtherest/TATRBeachReads.mp3?dest-id=1349983","summary":"According to Henry Ward Beecher, there is a temperate zone in the mind, between luxurious indolence and exacting work; and it is to this region, just between laziness and labor, that summer reading belongs. Teens willing to spend time in this region will benefit from much more than just the sheer pleasure of a good book. Amy and Mike invited test prep professional Marina Yalon to dive into beach reads for better scores. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What's wrong with the \"harder is better\" reading approach? What's the benefit of contemporary fiction? What kinds of skills can students build from reading contemporary fiction? Do beach reads really have SAT vocabulary words? What are some book recommendations for summer reads? How should parents approach helping teens find the right book? MEET OUR GUEST Marina Yalon is the founder of MYPrep, a virtual tutoring company dedicated to taking the stress out of SAT and ACT prep. With deep expertise in both exams and nearly two decades spent coaching students to achieve their goal scores, she brings a highly individualized approach to test prep—meeting each student where they are and building from there. Through sessions, students build test (and life!) confidence. She's the kind of tutor students want to tell their friends about. Marina loves working with all kinds of learners, and her sessions are as likely to end with a book recommendation as a practice set. An avid reader with a soft spot for plot-twists and unreliable narrators, she's thrilled when a student gives her a new addition to her ever-growing TBR list. Her philosophy: it's all figure-out-able! Marina previously appeared on this podcast in episode 233 for a Test Prep Profile . Marina can be reached at https://www.learnwithmyprep.com. LINKS A…","meta_description":"According to Henry Ward Beecher, there is a temperate zone in the mind, between luxurious indolence and exacting work; and it is to this region, just betw…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1600,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572/episodes/735-beach-reads-for-better-scores/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572/735-beach-reads-for-better-scores.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}