The College Solutions Blog

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

Minority Students
November 13, 2009

College Admissions: Who Gets an Affirmative Action Bump?

I’ve been volunteering at my son Ben’s high school this semester so I’ve been sitting in on some presentations by visiting college admission reps. As they are packing up, I often ask the reps about their admission requirements for minority students since there are a significant number of these kids at Ben’s school. What I’ve discovered is that the college...
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October 10, 2009

College Blog Roundup: Green Colleges, Ivy League Discrimination, 529 Problems

Every Saturday I share the college blog posts that I wrote for the week for CBSMoneyWatch. As usual, this was an eclectic bunch. Are Elite Universities Discriminating Against Asians The post that I found most fascinating was about a book — soon to be released — that examined the admission practices of seven elite (unnamed) universities. The author, who is...
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September 30, 2009

Elite Schools Looking for Diversity

I  spent some time yesterday afternoon listening to  Peter Johnson, the dean of admissions at Columbia University, talk to a dozen or so attentive students at High Tech High in San Diego.  The visit from an Ivy League admission dean at my son’s school isn’t as unusual as you might think. During the fall, it’s common to see admission officers...
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August 3, 2009

College Scholarships for Rich Kids

Merit scholarships have always been controversial in higher-ed circles because many of these awards end up going to rich kids. A study just released by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute suggests that college scholarship practices have led to lower numbers of minority and lower-income students on campuses. This finding would refute the argument that many college administrators make that...
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