The College Solutions Blog

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

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The Dangers of Perfect Parenting

Could you be too good of a parent? It’s not a strange question. A fascinating cover piece in The Atlantic suggests that perfect parenting is prompting young adults to seek therapy. I wrote a post about this for my college blog over at CBS MoneyWatch. Here’s an excerpt from that post: According to The Atlantic article, perfect parenting is driving...

Grandparents: Doing More Harm Than Good

It’s great when grandparents can help with college costs, but you don’t want their generosity to backfire. At a 4th of July party this weekend, I talked with a couple whose children’s college choices have, strangely enough, been diminished by grandparents money. Here’s what happened: Years ago the grandparents gave each of the three children a significant amount of money...

Should You Really Go to Graduate School?

I’ve met a lot of college students who assume that they must slog their way through graduate school to enjoy a successful and lucrative career. What is troubling, however, is how little information young adults know about what is involved in earning a graduate degree that can be expensive and a huge time commitment. No one should pursue a graduate...

Don’t Believe the Sticker Price: The Most Expensive Colleges in the Country

This week the U.S. Department of Education released lists of the most expensive state and private colleges and universities in America. The goal of pointing fingers, which was mandated by Congress, was to shine the spotlight on schools which don’t seem at all ashamed of their high prices. Here’s where you can find all the college lists. I wasn’t surprised...

8 Ways to Boost Your ACT and SAT Scores

Summer is a great time to get ready for the SAT and ACT, which will kick off the 2011-2012 season in September. Here are eight ways for teenagers to improve their SAT and ACT scores or limit the damage of mediocre results: 1. Select the test that plays to your strengths. Teenagers who tend to earn high ACT scores have...

Getting Into Great Schools With Poor SAT and ACT Scores

I don’t have to tell you that one of the biggest stresses of the entire college process is the standardized testing. The prospects of taking the SAT and/or ACT is daunting, particularly since so much can ride on the results. I resented the amount of time and money spent in my house on these darn tests for my own two...

Should Professors Work As Hard As We Do?

Should professors work as hard as many of the rest of us? If you compare the sort of work week and vacation time that many professors enjoy with other highly educated professionals, you could conclude that there are a lot of slackers hanging out in the Ivory Towers. I hope that professor productivity becomes a big issue with the published...

Parents: Take a Chill Pill

I was at a preschool reunion on Sunday that reminded me about how nuts the college admission process is for a fraction of high school students and their families. The families I am talking about are the kind that you can find featured in the over-hyped documentary Race to Nowhere. Here, by the way, is what I think of that...

The Perfect Class: What Are Colleges Looking For?

Today I’m sharing a guest post written by Daesun Yim, a student at MIT, who earned a perfect 2400 on his SAT test. Yim has served as president of MIT’s Class of 2014 and has won a slew of math contests at Harvard, MIT and Princeton and elsewhere. Yim somehow found time to co-found Uncommon App, a firm that helps...

The Nuts and Bolts of Stafford Loans

This is the time of year when colleges start sending their bills out to new and returning students. And that’s why this is also the time of year when parents and students begin inquiring about college loans. This is as good a time as any then to answer some questions about Stafford Loans, which are the most popular federal college...