Race to Nowhere, a documentary about the stress that college-bound teenagers experience, has gotten a lot of attention. I first heard about Race to Nowhere a couple of weeks ago after I gave a college presentation to a group of financial advisers and their clients in Irvine, CA. An adviser, who raved about the film, […]
Archive | Applying
The Skinny on College Recommendation Letters
By Lynn O'Shaughnessy on December 15, 2010 in Admission practices, Admissions, Applying, High school counselors
I wrote this post a year ago when my son was asking for college recommendations. He’s in college now, but I thought parents and teenagers could benefit from what I wrote in 2009. This is the time of year when high school counselors and teachers are flooded with requests to write college recommendation letters. Writing […]
8 Things High School Seniors Need To Be Doing Now
For high school seniors, it’s crunch time. Deadlines for college applications are looming, so it’s time to get focused. Here are 8 things seniors need to be doing now. 1. Meet college reps. This is the time of year when admission officers are racking up frequent flyer miles as they meet with prospective students throughout […]
No. 1 Tip for Writing a Great Admission Essay
Hey, how about starting your college admission essay today? Are any parents out there already bugging their soon-to-be high school seniors to start writing their college admission essay? I realize this is going to be a hard sell with teenagers, but summer is the perfect time to write the admission essay. So here’s my No. […]
Don't Write Like a College Professor
Do you write like a college professor? If you do, rid yourself of the habit. College graduates who write like their college professors could find their job search even harder. The business world favors employees who can write simple, declarative sentences. In contrast, college professors are masters at obfuscation. They write stilted prose. They embrace […]
Writing a Winning College Essay
The seniors at my son’s high school are in a panic. They can’t procrastinate any longer. They have to write their dreaded college essay. A lot of college essays fail because students are so afraid of messing up. It’s hard for teenagers to be genuine when they worry about alienating admission officers. I had the […]
College Blog Roundup: University Crisis, High School Applications, Dumbest Generation
For all my faithful visitors, I want to let you know that I’m trying to eliminate all the kinks on my newly remodeled blog. So please be patient! As always, here is my latest weekend round up of my college blog posts that I wrote for CBSMoneyWatch.com. Guess Who the Dumbest Generation Is Are teenagers […]
Writing Your Way Out of College
One of my most vivid memories at the University of Missouri was of the strange grade that I received on an honors term paper. The English professor gave me a “B+ +” for the final paper in my existentialist literature course. When I saw that grade I was ticked off. What the heck, I wondered, […]