The College Solutions Blog

March 7, 2016

For the past two years, teenagers and their parents across the country have been dreading the new SAT test. The College Board announced back in 2014 that it would be dramatically revamping the SAT to align the new test with the Common Core. The wait for this test ended on March 5 (Saturday) when the College Board rolled out the...

October 13, 2015

Today I am sharing an excellent analysis of the new SAT, which makes its premiere in March, 2016.  Jed Applerouth, the founder of Applerouth Tutoring Services wrote the piece, which I found so insightful that I asked him for permission to run it on my blog. Lynn O’Shaughnessy By Jed Applerouth By our appraisal, the revised SAT is superior in...

December 5, 2012

A mother recently asked me what constitutes a good SAT scores. I told her that it depends on the caliber of the school. At some colleges a 1600 out of a 2400 score is above average while at other schools, applicants with that kind of score wouldn’t even be seriously considered. At some of the nation’s most prestigious schools, a...

August 15, 2012

As I’ve said many times, students shouldn’t be applying to colleges unless they have a good idea of what those institutions will cost them. It’s easy to obtain these formerly elusive cost figures now that schools have installed net price calculators on their web sites. Today I’m sharing the results from a mom (Lynne) who has used the net price...

February 1, 2010

This week I’m sharing ACT and SAT prep strategies to boost your teenager’s SAT and ACT scores. In case you missed them, I’m linking to my first two SAT tips and then you’ll find my newest one which answers the question of whether you should guess on the SAT. SAT Test Strategy No. 1: Improve Your SAT or ACT Scores:...

January 28, 2010

Do you want your teenager to ace the SAT test or improve on a previous SAT score? Or maybe you just want to know if you can survive bad SAT results? Or maybe you’re concerned about ACT test scores. Here’s good news: There are successful SAT and ACT test strategies that students can use to improve their scores or limit...

November 13, 2009

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...

October 30, 2009

The teenagers who took the SAT test early in October began finding out their scores yesterday. My son Ben was celebrating on Thursday because he improved his SAT scores in all three subjects and his math score was terrific. Ben’s SAT scores from May weren’t as good so it’s an easy decision for us to just send in his latest...

March 19, 2009

Want to know how your teenager can improve the score on his or her SAT essay? I learned a few tips last night when I shared the stage at a high school college event with an SAT guru from the Princeton Review. She shared with the crowd these six SAT essay tips: 1. Come prepared. Show up on test day...

February 16, 2009

More than 820 colleges and universities no longer require students to submit their SAT or ACT scores to be considered for admission.While that’s wonderful news for anybody who bombs on the SAT or ACT test, there is an ugly side to the test-optional movement that you should know about. I began wondering a few months ago about whether the published...