The College Solutions Blog

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

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Attending a College With Lousy Weather

I am answering a question from a mom from Southern California today. Here is what she wrote: Could you comment on choosing colleges that are in different weather areas? After reading your blogs and talking to other parents, a student can get more more merit aid if she applies out of state. My daughter plans on applying to Gonzaga University,...

Cutting the Cost of College by 49%

When you are looking at colleges, don’t believe the sticker price. Why? Because college are priced like airline tickets. Everybody pays a different fare. When I give talks to families with teenagers, that’s one of the first points that I emphasize. It’s your job then to find colleges and universities that are not only great academic fits, but also financial...

Don’t Waste Your Summer!

Here is something that really irritates me about the whole college process: too many families view it as a game. Their aim is to get their child into the best school possible. Fair enough, but what’s often overlooked is making sure that teenagers are well prepared for whatever college they end up at. Too many parents assume that their children...

SAT or ACT: Which Scores Are Better

Every college and university in this country will accept either the SAT or ACT. It makes no difference whether you submit one or the other or both. With the 2010-2011 testing season winding to a close this month, I wanted to share the chart below that should help you to decide which scores to submit to colleges. Obviously, you will...

What Is the Best Student Loan?

What is the best student loan? I got an email from a dad who was hoping to get the answer to that question. His son needs to borrow for the last year of college. That was an easy question to answer. The best education loan available is the federal Stafford Loan. There are two types of Stafford loans: subsidized and...

Global College Rankings: A Really Bad Idea

As many of you know, I’m not a fan of US News & World Report’s college rankings. I write a college blog for US News, but that has never stopped me from arguing that the magazine’s rankings has prompted many colleges and universities to act badly and sometimes even behave unethically in pursuit of higher college rankings. This institutional behavior...

College Admissions and HomeSchooled Students

For those who have been following my college blog this week, I’ve been answering questions from readers. These questions came from a mom and her homeschooled teenagers. Here is what she had to say: Question No. 1: Homeschooling has been our educational choice. When my son completed various applications, sections were often dedicated to “leadership and offices held.”He had to...

Measuring a College for the Right Fit

This week I’m sharing answers to questions posed by my blog visitors that I passed along to college admission officers who attended the annual conference of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling. Here are some answers: Question No. 1: What do admission officers feel are the three most important criteria points for a student and their family to look...

Do I Dare File For Financial Aid?

A couple of days ago I asked my blog visitors to submit questions that I could direct to college admission officers at the annual conference of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling. Now I want to start sharing answers. The admission experts whom I talked to today came from such disparate schools as Colgate University, Carroll College, Chapman University,...

College Conference: Day 1

I spend a lot of time in my extremely messy office writing posts for my three college blogs. Usually the only one around during the day is Minerva, my golden retriever, who drops tennis balls at my feet. It’s easy to forget that there are people out there who regularly read what I write. And that’s why Tuesday was a...