UC's Test-Free Experiment Isn't Going Well
An argument that the University of California's test-free admissions policy has not delivered what was promised, written as a response in Inside Higher Ed's Views section.
By Nick Standlea
Press
Nick Standlea in the press
Reporters call about college cost, admissions and testing data, and about AI, learning and performance. Below is every published piece, newest first, with the substance of what was said.
Articles by Nick
Pieces Nick wrote and published under his own name.
Don't Tell Your Kids They're Smart
On how to praise children, and how not to — why telling a child they are smart undercuts the effort that actually produces learning.
By Nick Standlea
What is Positive Psychology? An Animation
A short animation explaining positive psychology for people who have struggled to describe the field to a friend or colleague.
By Nick Standlea
Nick quoted in the media
Reporting by other outlets that quotes Nick. The publication is the author; Nick is a source.
'Bigger Was Never the Point': Six Companies on Why They Switched to Smaller AI Models
Tiering models saved money, but the bigger saving was work that needed no model at all. Crawling, parsing and keyword routing moved to scheduled scripts; models now only see what a rule cannot settle. Measured on one monitoring pipeline: roughly 10.1 million tokens a day down to about 765,000.
Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus and High School Reach
'The House Is on Fire Right Now': Why 'The Social Reckoning' and Its Meta Warning Could Succeed Where Congress Hasn't
A dramatized warning about social media can still move public debate, because art is one of the few forces that still can. Meta alone spent $13.07 million lobbying the federal government in the first half of 2026, and in June it was reported to be seeking a liability shield inside the Kids Online Safety Act.
Nick Standlea, host of The Nick Standlea Show, has covered social media's effects on children and the prospects for regulation
Republished by Yahoo, AOL, MSN and NewsBreak
US colleges slash tuition by tens of thousands as families balk at sky-high sticker prices
Private colleges cutting published tuition are mostly formalizing discounts families already received. The high sticker price existed partly to make large scholarships feel valuable, and as families turn price-conscious that model stops working.
Nick Standlea, founder of High School Reach, which helps families compare college costs and financial-aid offers
Skip the SAT?: Tackling the Changing Testing Requirements for College Admissions
Standardized tests give colleges a common measure for comparing students from different schools and backgrounds, and colleges can reverse testing policy quickly.
Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus, an SAT and ACT prep company committed to supporting students throughout their testing process
Interviews about the show
Conversations where Nick is the subject.
Nick Standlea: 5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Very Successful Podcast
On building a long-form interview show, and on six years as a research associate at the Quality of Life Research Center under Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote Flow.
Nick Standlea, host of The Nick Standlea Show
Nick Standlea of Test Prep Gurus: How To Take Your Company From Good To Great
Great companies do not focus on making money. They focus on being better than anyone at the one thing they do, and profitability follows from the expertise.
Nick Standlea, Chief Executive Officer of Test Prep Gurus
Press kit
For editorial use. Sponsorship rates and ad formats are in the media kit.
The show, in 50 words
The Nick Standlea Show is a long-form interview podcast hosted by Nick Standlea. Guests include cognitive scientists, economists, authors and founders — among them Donald Hoffman, Seth Godin, Howard Gardner, Jeffrey Sachs and Michael Osterholm. Conversations run about an hour and centre on artificial intelligence, consciousness, learning and human performance.
The show, in 150 words
The Nick Standlea Show is a long-form interview podcast hosted by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus and High School Reach. Each episode is a single conversation, usually around an hour, with someone who has spent years on one question — cognitive scientists, economists, epidemiologists, novelists, founders and researchers. Recent guests include Donald Hoffman on perception and evolution, Seth Godin on strategy, Howard Gardner on intelligence and education, Jeffrey Sachs on AI and geopolitics, Michael Osterholm on pandemic preparedness and Justin Wolfers on the economics of AI. The show runs on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and every episode has a page on nickstandlea.com carrying the full transcript, key takeaways with their sources, and timestamped chapters. Nick is also quoted on education and technology in outlets including the New York Post, Inside Higher Ed, Techopedia and OK! Magazine.
Host
Host of The Nick Standlea Show; founder of Test Prep Gurus and High School Reach. He is a former Research Associate at the Quality of Life Research Center at Claremont Graduate University, under Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow. He holds an MBA from the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, with concentrations in finance and entrepreneurship, and taught business and communications courses at Golden West College as adjunct faculty. Full biography.
Areas of editorial expertise
- Artificial intelligence and its effect on work and learning
- College admissions, testing policy and the cost of college
- Consciousness, perception and cognitive science
- Learning science and human performance
Selected guests
- Seth Godin — Author and marketing teacher
- Donald Hoffman — Cognitive scientist
- Howard Gardner — Cognitive and developmental psychologist
- Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi — Hungarian-American psychologist (1934–2021)
- Anil Seth — Cognitive and computational neuroscientist
- Jeffrey Sachs — Economist
- Dr. Michael Osterholm — Epidemiologist
- Colin Hanks — American actor and documentary director
Representative episodes
- Colin Hanks: "I'll be acting until I die"
- Donald Hoffman: Consciousness, the true nature of reality, and the interconnectedness of everything
- Seth Godin: "What They Don't Teach You About Strategy"
- Howard Gardner: Rethinking College in the Age of AI
- Dr. Michael Osterholm: “The Pandemic Clock Is Ticking”
- The Detective Who Took Down 'Dirty John' Meehan
Audience
- 250,000+ followers and subscribers across platforms
- 135,000 YouTube subscribers
- 5,162,052 lifetime YouTube views
Figures as of November 10, 2026.
Images
Free to use in coverage of the show or of Nick, with credit to The Nick Standlea Show. Click any image to download the full-resolution file.
Interview requests
Through the contact form. Promoting a book, series or film? See how a launch episode works.
For interview requests: get in touch.