The College Solutions Blog

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

Occidental College
March 26, 2012

Shortchanging a Texas Teenager?

I continue to receive a lot of  comments from last week’s post about the Texas mother, who was bitterly disappointed that her extremely accomplished daughter has been getting underwhelming merit awards or none at all from universities.  This mother was hoping for large merit scholarships because her family is too affluent to qualify for need-based aid. If you missed it,...
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March 19, 2012

An Inside Look at Financial Aid Appeals

When you appeal a college’s financial aid award what happens to your request? During the last admission season, The Chronicle of Higher Education provided an inside glimpse into how a financial aid appeal is handled internally in a fascinating article entitled: When Families Ask Colleges for More Money A Chronicle reporter observed financial aid deliberations that took place among senior...
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September 6, 2011

The Odds of Applying Early Decision

Should you apply early decision to your favorite college or university? I know fall has arrived because I’ve started receiving questions about early decision. I’ll be addressing early decision and early action issues in the coming weeks, but I wanted to answer a question that I received today from a mother, who heard me give a talk recently in Southern...
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April 28, 2011

2 Colleges: Which One Is Stingy?

How do you know if a school is going to be generous to your child? Here’s a quick answer:  Check the numbers. Or as I like to say, check the financial fingerprint of any school that’s on your teenager’s list. There are many ways to determine whether a school is generous or not, but today I’m going to focus on...
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April 27, 2011

Asking a College For More Financial Aid

When you appeal a college’s financial aid award what happens to your request? The Chronicle of Higher Education provided an inside glimpse on how a financial aid appeal is handled internally in a fascinating article today entitled: When Families Ask Colleges for More Money A Chronicle reporter observed a financial aid deliberation that took place among senior admission and financial...
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