The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

Admissions
Featured image for “How to Increase Your Admission Chances by 40%”
July 31, 2017

How to Increase Your Admission Chances by 40%

Should you visit a college before you apply? According to a new study, for some students there is a powerful benefit to visiting highly selective schools. According to the researchers, teenagers, who apply to highly selective colleges and visit the campuses, are up to 40% more likely to be admitted than comparable students. The study suggests that the applicants who...
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Featured image for “When College Sticker Prices Can Matter”
May 16, 2017

When College Sticker Prices Can Matter

College sticker prices are often meaningless because most students at state and private universities don’t pay it. Published prices, however, can be a helpful starting point when exploring what kind of price break, in the form of scholarship and grants, your child might get at a particular institution. Here’s an example: Your teenager receives a $15,000 annual merit award at...
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Featured image for “Success Story! Saying No to a Dream College”
May 8, 2017

Success Story! Saying No to a Dream College

Last month I heard from many parents agonizing about whether to let their teenagers attend their dream colleges. These dream colleges were inevitably highly selective to elite universities which cost $65,000 to $70,000 a year! I don’t believe any college or universities is worth paying that kind of money! My most recent blog post, which originally ran in 2014, focused...
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Featured image for “Saying No to a Dream College”
April 24, 2017

Saying No to a Dream College

Will your child end up going to his or her dream school? The odds are that your child won’t if the college or university is a rankings alpha dog. And that’s especially true if you don’t enjoy a powerful hook such as being a celebrity or a one-percenter kid, a legacy or an athlete. The story I’m sharing today is...
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Featured image for “Real Story Behind College Wait Lists”
February 27, 2017

Real Story Behind College Wait Lists

This is a previous blog post I wrote on college wait lists (with updated figures) that I’m rerunning now that students are receiving wait list offers. Lynn O’Shaughnessy This weekend I heard from old friends who wanted to share with me stories of brilliant students who got shut out of elite universities. At a party on Friday night, a dad...
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Featured image for “Getting a College Admission Deferral”
January 1, 2017

Getting a College Admission Deferral

What happens if your child recently received a college admission deferral letter? Plenty of students, who applied to schools via early action and early decision applications, have received deferral notices. Students need to understand that a deferral doesn’t mean that their hopes have been dashed. It signifies that a school has not decided whether to accept or reject the applicant...
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Featured image for “Don’t Confuse College Applications with a Lottery”
November 27, 2016

Don’t Confuse College Applications with a Lottery

High-achieving students who apply every year to the Ivies and other elites schools have heard the grim statistics about how ridiculously hard it is to get into these schools. That reality, however, doesn’t deter students from applying even though the chances for most smart students is ZERO percent. Ambitious teenagers aiming to attend the nearly impregnable schools at the top...
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Featured image for “Should I Apply Early Decision?”
October 28, 2016

Should I Apply Early Decision?

This is the time of year when high school seniors aiming for more selective to elite colleges and universities must decide if they will apply early decision. When students apply early decision, they promise that they will attend if the institution accepts them. A student accepted via early decision must withdraw all other college applications. Early Decision Gamble Students must...
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Featured image for “Don’t Pay $280,000 for a Bachelor’s Degree”
October 23, 2016

Don’t Pay $280,000 for a Bachelor’s Degree

I wrote this post last year, but wanted to share it again because the messages are equally relevant today!  Lynn O’Shaughnessy Plenty of parents, who enroll in my online course – The College Cost Lab –  are affluent and highly educated. Quite a few of these moms and dads would like to see their children attend elite schools. Not surprisingly,...
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Featured image for “Realities of National Merit Scholarships”
September 18, 2016

Realities of National Merit Scholarships

This is the time of year when parents of teenagers, who are excellent test takers,  start thinking about National Merit Scholarships. Next month, high school juniors will be taking the PSAT, which is a requirement to qualify for National Merit honors. Meanwhile, the National Merit Semifinalist score cut offs for high school seniors who took this test as juniors, was...
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