This is the time of year when high school teachers and counselors are flooded with requests to write college recommendation letters. Writing a college recommendation letter is a thankless job and I’m glad that I’ll never have to write one. But that doesn’t mean that I’m off the hook. My role in the college recommendation […]
Archive | Admission practices
A Clever Way to Get Into Harvard
Want to get into Harvard? Consider taking a gap year. It’s not easy getting into Havard or other elite schools, but some high school seniors manage to get into their dream schools by taking the year off and pursuing other interests through a gap year program here or overseas. I wrote about gap years experiences […]
Admission Jitters at Cal State University Campuses
By Lynn O'Shaughnessy on December 2, 2009 in Academic majors, Academic quality, Admission practices, California universities, Universities
Thousands of California high school seniors are panicking right now because they’re worried that they won’t be attending a California State University campus in the fall. The Cal State system happens to be the largest in the country. In fact, the number of students attending the 23 Cal State campuses exceeds the number of people […]
Why You Might Not Get a College Scholarship This Year
By Lynn O'Shaughnessy on December 1, 2009 in Admission practices, Admissions, Financial aid, Liberal Arts Colleges, Money, Universities
Will colleges hand out more college scholarships and financial aid for the latest crop of high school seniors? Last year private colleges and universities, in particular, dug deeper and increased the amount of money they awarded through college financial aid and merit scholarships. Last time I checked, the financial misery index is still alarming, but […]
Early Admission: Getting a Jump on College Applications
This year a lot more high school students seem to be seeking early college admission decisions. According to anecdotal numbers gathered by Inside Higher Ed, the number of students applying early decision to elite and selective colleges and universities has risen. Early decision applications at Duke University, for instance, jumped 32% from last year and […]
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 […]
College Applications: Should You Apply Early Action?
A friend of mine called me last week to ask whether her daughter should apply early action to Boston College. For a lot of high school seniors, applying to a college early action is a great idea. But early action isn’t for everyone including my friend’s daughter Julia. I’ll explain why momentarily. First of all, […]
College Advice: Why High School Counselors Can't Always Help
By Lynn O'Shaughnessy on October 22, 2009 in Admission practices, College Costs, College readiness, Financial aid, High school counselors
For many families, college will be the second biggest expense they will ever face — right behind buying a house. Choosing colleges and figuring out how to pay for them is complicated, which is why students and parents often seek college advice from high school counselors. It’s typically difficult, however, for families who want meaningful […]