The College Solutions Blog

August 28, 2017

It’s only natural that many talented students aim for the most selective school that they can gain into. It’s not always a smart idea, however, for applicants to attend the most selective college or university that admits them. Today I am sharing the observations on this topic from Scott White, the head guidance counselor at Morris High School in New...

October 7, 2011

I’ve been running into more and more parents, who are curious about sending their children to community colleges. I can understand the attraction. Community colleges are often much cheaper than four-year schools and they can offer a more personalized education than big state universities. Out here in California, for instance, a freshman can take introductory courses with 30 to 40...

October 3, 2011

NOTE: I will be giving an all-day college workshop for parents of teenagers on Saturday Oct. 15 at the University of California, San Diego, that will focus on empowering parents and teenagers to make smart decisions on selecting colleges and making them more affordable. You can learn much more by visiting my landing page devoted to The Ultimate College Workshop....

November 23, 2010

Most of the attention during this admission season is on high school seniors, which means transfer students often get lost in the shuffle. That’s a shame since a sizable number of college students end up transferring every year. According to special transfer student report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, a third of students end up transferring to...

October 5, 2010

When I’ve talked to students about their college choices, I’ve never made a teenager cry. At least until tonight. A teenage girl tried to hold back the tears when I told her that she would probably have to attend a community college before transferring to a four-year school. She’s a high school senior and her GPA is 2.0. Of course,...

March 30, 2010

Today I’m running a guest column by Lan Ngo and Chris Goodmacher, who wrote the The Transfer Book that focuses on advice for college transfer students. Both started at community colleges, but they transferred to Stanford University and Dartmouth College where they graduated. They also received graduates degrees from prestigious institutions including Oxford University and Columbia University. Yes, there are...

November 20, 2009

Most families do not pay the sticker price for college.  In fact, most parents pay far below the published tuition. About two out of three full-time college students receive grants, otherwise known as scholarships, to attend school. If you just look at private institutions, the number who receive college scholarships is a whopping 80%. I obtained those figures by reading...

November 9, 2009

Do transfer students do well in college? I hear this question a lot from parents who are stressed about the high cost  of a bachelor’s degree. They naturally wonder if starting at a cheaper community college and then transferring is a smart move. The transfer student question is also relevant for teenagers who begin at four-year universities and then end...

July 10, 2009

Want your high school student to be prepared for college? You can find some of the best training wheels at community colleges. For a high school student, taking a community college class is equivalent to enrolling in an Advanced Placement class. A friend of mine, who is a top dog at a community college district in Southern California, argues that...

June 23, 2009

With state universities overflowing with students and applicants maybe this will be the wave of the future…. The president-elect of the Arizona Board of Regents, just released a report that urges the state’s three public universities — University of Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona University — to launch programs that would allow its students to spend three years at...