In this episode of the "Parents, Is Your Teen College Ready?" podcast, host Shellee Howard interviews Dr. Andrea Maldonado, a longtime college admissions and youth‑development professional who directs the International Admissions Department at the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC). Dr. Maldonado explains that NSLC, a 34‑year‑old organization, offers short‑term (6‑ to 18‑day) immersive summer programs for middle‑ and high‑school students that combine three core purposes: (1) career‑exploration “test‑drives” across more than 30 high‑school tracks (e.g., medicine, law, engineering, business, arts), (2) a structured pre‑college experience living in university dorms, attending meals, and participating in campus‑based activities, and (3) intensive leadership development through trust‑building exercises and social‑emotional skill training. She walks through a detailed example of the medical track, describing hands‑on surgical skill workshops, simulation labs, a mock‑patient diagnosis activity, and a public‑health campaign, all facilitated by practicing physicians and a professional leadership coach. The program’s mentorship model pairs each small student cohort with a “team advisor” – a current college student (often a former NSLC participant) who serves as both academic facilitator and resident advisor, and who can provide letters of recommendation. Dr. Maldonado emphasizes the value of these experiences for college applications: they give students concrete stories for essays, interview talking points, and recommendation letters, though she cautions that such programs are not a guaranteed admission ticket. Financial accessibility is addressed through a scholarship program that requires applicants to submit essays and recommendation letters; scholarships are refundable if the family cannot afford the program, and alumni can later apply for a $20,000 college‑partner scholarship. She also guides parents on how to choose a program via the NSLC website (nslcleaders.org) and Instagram, noting that video previews and sample schedules help families match interests. Throughout, Dr. Maldonado reassures parents about safety, supervision, and the supportive community environment, highlighting that most students arrive without knowing anyone but quickly form friendships through the structured schedule.
Chapters
Parents, is your teen college ready? Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, or excited about your teen applying to college? Do you know what colleges are looking for? And if your kid gets in, do you know what you'll pay for it? College admission has never been so competitive or expensive. Shellee Howard will take you on a journey to help you and your teen get college ready. Now here's your host, Shellee.
Hello, this is Shellee Howard with College Ready and the podcast is Parents, Is Your Teen College Ready? Today I have a wonderful guest I want to share with you, Dr. Andrea Maldonado. Can you please share with the audience a little bit about yourself?
Sure, thank you so much for having me, Shellee Howard. It's wonderful to be here. My friends call me Dr. Dre, so, uh, I'm the other Dr. Dre. I, um, have 20-plus years of experience in college admissions, um, guidance, education, youth development. Um, I've been working for the National Student Leadership Conference now for almost 10 years full-time, and, uh, it's just wonderful. I actually started the International Admissions Department here, and I'm one of the co-directors of Educator Relations, and that's how we got connected.
I love it. Fantastic. So, you know, I love to bring guests on the show that can truly give parents opportunity for their student to be in the right place at the right time. Can you talk a little bit about NSLC, what it is, you know, start from the beginning because as a parent I might have not heard of it and I don't know what it is or where it is or how it works.
Of course, sure, thank you. Um, yeah, so we have been around, uh, for over 34 years and we've been providing middle and high school students from around the world opportunities to test drive their career interests. Um, that's the main reason students come to our program to actually try on a career or try on some educational interests if they're younger students, like in middle school. That is the number one reason students come. The second reason is the Pre-College experience. A lot of parents who are listening probably today are probably a little bit concerned about letting their 15-, 16-, 17-year-old off on their own. It's a great opportunity for them to really let go for 9 to 18 days. So we're not talking the whole summer, just a few days in a very safe and structured environment. I think that actually distinguishes us from some other pre-college enrichment programs, is that we have a very structured environment. And I'm happy to talk more about that. And then the third reason students come, and this is the reason why I work for NSLC, is the leadership development. This is the life-changing aspect of our programs. Students may not necessarily go for this, but this is what they remember, and this is why they refer their friends afterwards to, to come to the NSLC. We give them life skills that unfortunately, you know, schools just don't have time to teach.
Yeah, and, and that's the reality. When, you know, we send our kids off to middle and high school, they're getting educated, but they don't have time to help that student really get clear on their core values, their gifts, their talents, their advocacy, those things that are really going to help them launch into the future and beyond college. So can you maybe take an example, one particular track a student may go through and what that looks like? I'm a parent, I have a freshman or sophomore in high school, and they don't know what they want to do because that's about 75% of the population.
Yes, or they think they know. What they want to do, but they end up coming to the program and realizing, oh, forensic science isn't exactly CSI, crime scene investigation, like the TV show portrays. Or medicine. I think medicine is a great program to kind of talk to you about because that is the most popular program, probably, you know, again, post-pandemic, you know, people are interested in public health and healthcare. So students would come to the program regardless of their previous experience, knowledge. They just need to have interest in the program. And if they— if their interest stems from their TV show likings, like Grey's Anatomy, that's okay. We teach them everything they need to learn, again, in a very hands-on, interactive format. So students would be paired with a surgeon, a neurosurgeon, a plastic surgeon, dermatologist who's going to teach them how to suture, how to tie surgical knots. We're gonna take them off campus of one of the universities that hosts us. We're gonna take them off campus to simulation laboratories to utilize the same kind of equipment that medical students in the United States use. They're going to play Dr. House and diagnose, you know, work with, in a simulation activity, work with patients. And I put that in scare quotes because they're actors who are, you know, acting out different symptoms. And in a team, always working with other students, peers, they will try to figure out what, you know, what is the diagnosis and what treatment plan. And then finally, as sort of a wrap-up to this program, they're also going to work on a public health campaign because since that important, um, create on, on anything that they want to create. And then leadership development, whether it's learning how to do public speaking, learning how to resolve conflicts, learning about your personality style and how to work well with people who are different from you, that will be woven throughout the program. And all of that is taught by a professional leadership facilitator who's our job is to, to train the students in these softer or social-emotional skills. And the professors that we hire are medical doctors. That's something very important, that the, the professors that they're going to be exposed to, um, are not necessarily academics. Some may be lecturers, some may be professors at universities, but we want students to have that hands-on practical experience so that at the end of the program they can confidently say This is for me, or you know what, I'm so glad I went to this because this isn't for me. And eliminating some of those choices, as you were saying, so valuable, right?
So I have a 17-year-old, they go to camp between 9 and 19 days, something like that.
9 and 18, correct? Yeah. We have a few programs that are 6 days as well.
Okay. So anywhere from a 6-day, um, experience to a 19-day, and they're going to be working with real doctors in this particular medical one, learning real life skills as well as clinical things like a medical student would. And the goal is that they will leave with leadership and they'll have an idea of, yes, I want to continue to pursue, or maybe the Dr. in front of my name is not really a good fit.
Correct. And then the third component is that time away from mom and dad, which parents, I know that's scary, but you can do it. It's because, again, it's a structured environment. They get to sleep in university dormitories, have a roommate, eat in the cafeteria. So that's all that pre-college experience, which is so important. And especially if they're applying to highly selective universities that require their interviews with alumni, those are kind of very good, um, uh, talking points that they can use, you know, with their, uh, you know, in interviews. I love that.
So it's the test the water before you commit to the major.
Correct, correct.
So helpful. Now, when you have these experiences, I'm guessing they're on several different campuses. How does a student or a family know how or what is the interaction with people who may be able to write them letters of recommendation?
Yes, so that's a great question. So we have programs at 12 different university locations. Medicine, for example, being the most popular, is offered at, you know, maybe 7 or 8 of those locations. It's really up to the student. When they get to campus, there's going to be for every 9 students, there is an adult. The adult that they're going to have the closest contact with is what we call a team advisor. And those are usually pre-med students or pre-engineering students, pre-law students, depending on the career, at a different university. So they're really— they're not— They're in college, they're college age, but they're the counselors, they're the resident advisors, and they work directly with the students. And if I can add, 85% of our team advisors were former students. So when your high school age son or daughter goes off to college, they often come back to us to work for us. That's how, you know, that should say something, I think. So then Above those, that person, that person could obviously write a letter of recommendation. Also, the guest speakers that interact with, um, the students, those doctors, the business professionals, they're going to have a lot of personal contact with the students. Our, our programs aren't humongous, you know. There's, there's other organizations that, that value quantity over quality. I think NSLC, the asset, you know, benefit of NSLC is quality of students and the quality of interaction. So, um, we— and especially since all of our programs are hands-on, it's really important to have more of a personalized, smaller environment, we believe. Um, so there's going to be head team advisors, program directors, staff, and then professors, faculty that, that all work with the students. And when they leave the NSLC we provide them with a general letter of recommendation that can let college admissions folks know all the different activities that their son or daughter did while they participated in our program.
Okay. Yeah, that's helpful. So a couple other things came to mind. I put on my parent hat. I have 4 young adults. And I remember my firstborn, I took him to a program not quite as good as yours. And, uh, you know, it was, it was a little scary, right, for the parent, for the student. What, what can I— what can a family expect when the student shows up at camp and maybe they're not going with a friend, maybe that this is their first time? What I, I just want to reassure the the families out there of what their student would experience?
Shellee, actually, the one of the things, the nice things about NSLC is that we really don't take, you know, groups of students. Most of the students, I would say 90% of the students who come to NSLC don't know anyone. And I think again, it's because of that structured environment from 9 o'clock in the morning until 10:30 at night with lots of hands-on interactive activities and the leadership development where they're building building trust that lends itself to, you know, a collegial comp, you know, environment. And students, although they're only with us for, again, 9 days, they feel like they were with us for 3 weeks because we really do pack a lot of activities in that time. One thing that's different from us and other programs is that we don't really believe in free time. This is an investment, and free time is built around meals. So students really, again, those trust-building activities that the leadership facilitators facilitate really help the students make friends quickly. And I know it kind of sounds corny that that's sort of a benefit of NSLC, these lifelong friends, but it's that leadership component that helps build the trust needed to create those kind of strong relationships.
That's really very reassuring. And you're on college campuses. Is there somebody who stays with the students in the dorm hall, if you will?
Yes. So those team advisors, those college-age students, they serve two roles. One is to actually facilitate some of the academic experiences, the small group simulations, whether it's a Shark Tank simulation in our business program or the mock trial in our law program. They also serve at night as resident advisors who live right on the floor, and they are there to help the students 24/7. And then, of course, we have an office on the university campus during the summer as well that's open till 11:00, 11:30 at night in case parents have questions. You know, with smartphones now, everybody can get in touch with their child, you know, but we keep our students so busy. So it's really important for parents to know that if you can't reach your student right away, it's probably because they're in an activity.
Well, that's a good thing, right?
It is.
I'm out of trouble. Um, so the next thing that I, as I'm thinking as a parent, or what I hear, you know, College Ready, we help families navigate this whole process, and they're leaning on us asking what's going to help them stand out, what is going to help them in the application process once the GPA is gone through and the test scores are gone through. And that's why I thought it would be so brilliant to bring you on. But often families are now asking the question, if they pay to play, will colleges look at it as an entitlement thing or a an opportunity that not all students get, and will that actually hurt their application? Can you speak to that?
Yeah, um, you know, I think every program— well, just about every program right now has a tuition, you know, has a cost to it. Um, so a couple of things. Um, first of all, if anybody is saying that any summer enrichment program is a ticket, a straight ticket to college admissions, they're lying. Like, that's just— it's one component. Colleges like to see how students are using their free time and how are they using their summers. Working is just as valuable. If you can communicate and articulate in your personal statements, in your interviews, how you utilized your free time effectively, whether you do a program like NSLC or a college-based program organized by the university itself, that also costs money, or whether you do, you know, something else, you babysit, anything that has helped you build character in some ways, community service, whatever it is, you can write more compelling statements than if you were sitting on your couch all summer playing video games or just traveling with your family or going shopping or something like that. Those are the kind, you know, it's the activities that help build character. We believe at NSLC that, that, you know, doing a career exploration program, you know, will help you write a more compelling statement about why you chose a certain major or why you chose a certain school in a university to apply to and why you even chose a certain university to apply to. So that's— it's, it's, it just, it adds value, but it's not a straight ticket into any, you know, into any university, right?
I always say it's the differentiator, right? It's, uh, what is going to make you unique, you stand out, and it's your essay. Well, in the essay, you need something to write about, correct?
And I actually— talking about those essays, one of the things that a lot of, um, families don't know is that we offer Scholarships. We have a whole scholarship program that students can apply for to go to one of our programs. They can apply for a scholarship, and it's great practice for when they're a senior writing their college applications, because we do ask students to write 2 essays, get a letter of recommendation, really convince the, the, you know, our scholarship committee that they're— that without their participation, our program will not be the same. And I think it's great practice. And if they don't get a scholarship, or the amount that they receive, if that's not enough for the family to send them, they can cancel and get a full refund. So that's one scholarship we offer. And then once the students come, uh, once the students are alumni, they can also apply for a $20,000 college alumni scholarship to one of our partner institutions. And a lot of families, a lot of college counselors or educational consultants like yourself, they don't know that we offer this opportunity for our college alumni. So that's— I mean, for our, for our alumni. Yeah, sorry.
No, it's good. So I mean, that's great, right? So money should not be a reason. If, if they're in need of money, there's an opportunity. They have to earn it, um, which is wonderful. And then how else will this help them? So we talked about the application, we talked about the essay, maybe the letter of recommendation, helping them figure out, is this the right career or not the right career? Um, do you guys offer all careers, or how would a family know which ones you offer?
We offer 30+ careers for the high school programs, and then 4 different tracks for the middle school programs. And the best advice I give if a student, like you mentioned, 75% don't know what they want to study, but they have interests, right? They have— do they want STEM? Do they want the arts? What I recommend is just going on our website, nslcleaders.org, and take a look at the sample schedules that we offer. The trips and tours that would be included in a specific program, and the program videos. Oftentimes what I hear when I pick up the phone and speak to parents is that, oh, my, my son decided on law because they saw the video and that really drew them in. If these are 1-minute, 2-minute videos, it's worth it, especially if they're trying to decide between 2 programs and for different reasons, they can't attend two programs during one summer.
Yeah, I love that. So that's a great lead-in. That's your website. And so if families were looking to explore, can you give that website address one more time?
Sure, it's nslcleaders.org. And another venue to look at is our Instagram page. @nslcleaders. So a lot of, uh, students love our Instagram. It's very interactive. We're always asking quizzes, and, and I think that's a great resource as well.
Excellent. Well, thank you so much for being on the show. So, so excited about what you're offering. And families, I would just encourage you, what is your student's standout strategy Do they know what major they want? Do they know what career they want? Here's an opportunity to utilize the summer to figure that out. So thank you so much for being on the show.
My pleasure. It's great to always talk to you, Shellee. Thanks for the opportunity.
