(upbeat rock music) i'm veronique. let's begin with our top story for this week. (upbeat music) this year, more than two million students will apply to college. but applying is actually a two-way street. amelia explains. - for many of us, college has been this goal is seems we've been working towards for years.

o get a 36 on your acts, have to take subject tests, have to do well on your ap tests, you have to have a lot of extracurriculars, you have to be super involved in every single extracurricular you're participating in, along with attending, you know, three hours of sports practice after school. basically, you're not a human. - wow. little wonder that we look at getting into college as a combination of running a marathon and being a contestant on the voice. but that doesn't mean the college you are also in the driver's seat. and it starts with weighing the pros and cons of each school you're considering. back with us again is rob franek. he's a college prep expert from the princeton review. hi, rob. - hey, good to be here. - what's the best way to learn about a college? - what we tell our students is that the easiestickest way to learn about a school and the qu is to get on to campus to take a tour, to spend the day at that school, because it allows you to answer this question.

campus culture fit, financial aid fit, career services fit, is the food good, are the beds comfortable. these are questions that you can ask about in your interview, as well as your time on campus. - isn't the official tour pretty much a very organized sales pitch? after all, don't schools pick students with the best personality to be tour guides? - it's an important question to ask, and the answer is always gonna be yes, right? schools, colleges, universities are always gonna pick their most polished students to come out in front of but, that doesn't mean that those students couldn't give you an unbiased view. remember that your role is not just to be marketed to, but to use that tour or any time on that campus as an opportunity for you to ask questions as well. - knowing that the tour guide is probably not impartial, should you take the official tour, or is it smarter to explore on your own? - yeah, it's a good question to bring up. and the way we guide students at princeton review is to always take the official tour. but know that that's not the only option that's out there.

as to what that school can offer. that student's perspective, but also all of the things that you'll be seeing on that tour. but that doesn't stop there. i would always suggest that students spend time on campus, eatood, visit some classes. the f most times, students will allow you to stay overnight with a current student after you've applied to that school, so the options are near limitless of what you can do after you make those initial "kick the tire" times at that school by taking the official tour. with the college admissions officer? - any opportunity that you are given to interview, you should always take advantage of the opportunities. the answer is always yes. if you're planning an official visit to that school, you should always ask for an interview when you're there. however, it might not be the way that you think about the interview in your head right now. it might not be with the admission counselor that's charged with reading applications from your high school specifically.

it might also be with an alumni representative in your home city or town for a school that might be across the country for you. any opportunity for your to interview is should you ask? always going to be valuable.is - what kind of quest - when i talk to students abouet using the best tim that they can during that interview, we say you should be asking three questions, or three different kinds of questions. the first should always be about the acxperienceademic e on campus. are classes traditionally taught be faculty? are they be teacher assistants? ds? what is the typical experience gonna be like for you at that school in the classroom. second question, and the bucket of tions there,ques is gonna be about campus culture. what is the typical student like at that school? do they lean to the left or right politically, from the political spectrum? are they religious students or are they not religious students? things that are going to make up the campus communi, i thintyk, are incredible important for students. and the third bucket of questions are gonna be about financial aid.

students and parents, so you should understand that you can use that interview to talk about college costs, return on your academic investment, and many parents' investments in you through tuition dollars. - speaking of questions, rob, i've got a few more. but they'll have to wait until after our break. teen kids news will be right back.

- we're talking with college prep expert rob franek. he's with the princeton review. rob, so we're taking a tour of a college we're interested in and we've landed an interview with the college admissions officer. what can we say or do that would impress him or her? - well there are many things that you can do and say that will impress that admissions counselor. one, that you've done your homework, and you see yourself as a great fit in that school. but number two, is a great conversation chool, what you're looking forward to in college, feel free to talk about what the academic life is going to be like for you in the classroom, as well as your life outside the classroom. this is an opportunity for you to have a real conversation about what you are bringing to the table as an applicant, as well as what your experience is gonna be for th es or do during the interview?hoy - one, i wouldn't be critical of that school

u want to be polished throughout that exchange during the interview. so no chewing gum, you know, no checking your phone. all of the things that we would know are common sense things but let's remind ourselves of them before we get into that interview setting. - i' that some students jot down notesve hd after they visit a school. good idea? - fabulous idea. to jot down notes after you visited a school, because it's going to be fresh in your head, that experience that you had with students, admissions representative, faculty that you might have met. get back onto the plane that evening. but you should always do it, because it's gonna be invaluable to you when you're thinking about crafting your real application list in a few months. - should we try to visit every school on our list? - i think most students have best intentions to get out to every school on their list. and if you can do it, without question, you should. but the second best thing that i think most students can do is gather as much information as possible about student opinion.

for a long time, it's called the best 380 colleges, and we surveyed a little over 136,000 current college students about their experiences academically or otherwise, and we write about each of those experiences for those 380 schools. there are other organizations that do similar services as well. one is unigo.com, and then the last one is ratemyprofessors.com. now that is based specifically on current college students rang their academic experience wittih faculty but the first two are about emicsacad as well as life outside the classroom. - any final advice? - final advice is this experience is gonna be some work, but it should be exciting and enjoyable to you as well. remember that you're going to be talking about where you've gone to college for the rest of your life, so your job in high school is to make sure that you are getting out there and asking these tough questions.

ents, as well as parents and counselors helpinyou along the way.g fo. - great in thanks, rob, see you again soon. - good to be here, thanks again. - deciding on which schoo is a lot like shopping for clothes. sure, you can research online and ask family and friends, but it's much better to sample the merchandise for yourself and see if it's a good fit.

- [announcer] this report is brought to you by the national road safety foundation. - it's an annual contest that helps save lives, and could win you a trip to new york city. here's what you need to know to participate. - most of us are already aware that being distr actedwhile driving is dangerous, even deadly. but how about being distracted while walking? - taking selfies or texting while you walk.

be very dangerous. - 'cause you could get hit by a car. - [katie] distracted w,alking, just like distracted driving thousands of young peopleeve, in f end up in the hospital because they were walking . that's why the theme of this year's "drive2life" psa contest is distracted walking = dangerous walking. - more than 60 children are hit by cars every day, and their injuries are often very serious, even deadly. about this very important issue. - [katie] the national road safety foundation is once again teaming up with scholastic to sponsor the annual contest. - it's our hope that through this contest, teens are more informed about the issues surrounding distracted walking, and the importance of sidewalk safy.et - [katie] if you are in grade six through 12, you can enter. all you s submit your idea for a 30 sechave to . you can send a script, or a storyboard.

video entries will not be accepted. the grand prize winner gets $1000, and a trip to new york city to work with tv professionals to produce the psa. - [director] and action. - but i know something she doesn't. it in precisely ersection?throh a car will be going three seco. - [director] stop, i think that worked perfectly. - [katie] then, the psa will make its debut the winner will also be profiled in scholastic's classroom magazines across the country. for more information about the contest, and to download an entry form, check out teenlane.org. or, follow the link on our website. - [announcer] and remember, the contest deadline is february 3rd, so get those entries in! - [katie] your idea could help save a life. for teen kids news, i'm katie. good luck.

wait 'till you see my egg dipper.

to your kitchen. here's another fun recipe from the culinary institute of america. - do you love eggs? you should. many consider the egg the almost perfect food. there were concerns years ago that eggs were bad for our hearts. but that's been pretty much disproven. fried, hard or soft boiled? poached, sunny side up? well here's a new recipe to add to your culinary collection. i call it the egg and dipper. here's what you need. bread. i have rye bread, because that's my favorite, but of course feel free to use whatever is your favorite. we have eggs, some salt, pepper, and a glass. i'll tell you what we need that for later. you need some olive oil. so before we get started, we're gonna preheat

alright, and you definitely want to ask your parents before using the stove. alrighty, here you go. and we're gonna lightly oil the pan here. we're just gonna let that sit for a little. so while that's heating up, we're gonna cut our bread. and this is where the glass comes in. we're gonna use the glass as a cutter. and wiggle it a little. and you get a perfect little circle that comes out. alright, so now that our pan is all hot, we're gonna go ahead and put our bread in. you want to be really careful, because the pan is hot. now put that in, and make sure it gets coated with the oil,

alright, so while that's in the pan, we're gonna put our egg in the hole. so i've already cracked a egg open. and i'm gonna put it right at the center like that. beautiful. and then you're gonna lightly season wither. some pepp and a little bit of salt. and you want to let the egg sit for just a minute,r e so it can set into you, and then we're gonna flip it.

you have a perfect nice golden brown color on it. and then this is the tricky one, flipping this, without cracking the yolk. alright. there we go. and we're gonna let that sit now. so we get golden color on both sides. e it in a little longer if you don't like your yolk too runny. but i'm gonna leave my yolk in tact, so that i can dip me bread in it. okay, so it should be all ready now. we're gonna turn it off. alright. and now we get to ste it.ta

you put it right onto your plate. my yolk cracked, but that's okay. alright. and so this is how i like to eat it. i open up all the yolk, and then i take my dipper, and you go ahead and just dip it right in there. mmm. it's nice and crunchy. the rye bread is really good. beenhis is perfect. never so breakfast has so much f. i mean, yum, right? at the culinary institute of america for teen kids news, i'm gene'e. mmm, so good.

- [announcer] this report is brought to you by the la auto show on fox sports. premiering monday, december 26th, at 8 pm eastern, on fs2. - kids, we're taking you behind the scene of the 201s6 los angeles auto show. let's get right to the news. alright, if mom wants to kick-start her suv, this is the right vehicle for her, right here. the first ever alfa romeo suv, and it's packed with horsepower. 505 under the hood, built with a 2.9 liter biturbo v6, but the exterior is what makes this vehicleg. absolutely stunnin also making news here at the auto show, this is the 2017 jeep compass. why is it so cool? this one's built the off-road enthusiast. for tell mom and dad "hey, on the weekend,

large sunroof so your kids can see the mountainside. just a incredible vehicle going on sale in 2017. check out the range rover svr autobiography dynamic. now we talk a lot about off-road capabilities, but this beautiful vehicle is built for the street. with fine-tune suspension, kids, check this out. paddle shifters on the steering wheel, just like f1 racecars. l pipe, so you can hear that rumble. the price, it's a little bit high. it's $173,000, but i'll tell you, what a stunning vehicle. mazda showcasing its sport utility vehicle.sover kind of a cr mazda moving into the realm of affordable luxury with this. just on the exterior, look at that beautiful candy apple red color. one of the great safety features with this,

keeping you and your family comfortable. alright, we gotta talk about ford motor company. if your parents or you dad works in the utility field, he's a contractor or a painter, is ford's echo sport, this and it's their smallest utility vehicle to date, with an eight inch touch screen, controls your apple carplay, and adroid auto, but wait, we have to get to it, do you know this sound? what' the theme? (humming) casing its all-new rogue here at the la auto show.la limited edition, it comes in bcbe made available,te.ts l 5400 uni an they will give to you, that's stormtrooper helmet righta that you can put on, an authentic one at home. let's talk autonomy, taking your hands off the steering wheel. that's right, it'she all new t. hyundai ionic and they are currently g this vehicle testin right now in las vegas.

ey removed it, and put it inside the front bumper of that vehicle with hyundai. it's all about technology here at the la auto show. alright, a little bit of lap of luxury, it's the 2018 bmx 740e. this is a plug-in hybrid. and why is it cool? because it's economical, it's good on the environment. what does that mean?cy they integrated a four linder motor into this and it has a twin turbo, so you get po wer, but you also get great mpg. everyone loves the mini brand. well mini is getting larger with the all-new mini countryman. three different versions, gonna be available here at the la auto show. they'll have the cooper, the cooper s, and of course, an electric version. size of it? size of a toyota rav4. puts it into the suv category. alright, we talk family haulers.gottay i have a nine year old, i haear old, and this is one of the vehicles i'm taking a look at here at the show.

because it's not necess alarily aboutl the entertainmen, it's about having the power to control some of your entertainment features. if you have an ipad, comes with four usb connectivity stations inside that vehicle. completely redesigned, tely newly engineered. comple ten aibags for safety on the inside or f this vehicle, and for ms at home, one quick feature.mo the doors open 90 degrees to allow easy entry into that vehicle. alright, mitsubishi showcasing it's ajust stunning.ept.this, s look at erodynamic. brand new look from mitsubishi. and by the way, mitthe past 50 years.ducingicr electr not to mention, this vehicle also doubles up as a generator. it'll power your house up to three days in the event a. of alright, we gotta talk about the har, right?mste gotta talk about the kia turbo soul exclaim. the hamster gets a turbo. putting a little bit more horsepower into that bad boy.

ose tail pipes i mentioned thright there, just beautiful little car. the mobile hamster, the hamster gets fast. so many cars, 50 world debuts, we could go on and on all day long, kids, about what you're gonna see here at the la auto show. but for now, this has been mike caudill for teen kids news. - that wraps up our show. but we'll have more teen kids news for you next week. so make sure you tune in.

male announcer: "rock the park" is sponsored by subaru. [upbeat rock music] - today on "rock the park"... whoa! [both exclaiming] ottom of colorado's black canyon. right now we are learning why not too many people dare to venture down here. it's rugged, beautiful, and wild. - we've just spotted a couple of big, big hawks. [hawk shrieking] this trip will test our patience... - oh, no. - and our skill. i already can't exactly tell where we'll go from here. and it all starts right now. - we've got our work cut out for us. - yeah, we do.