The College Solutions Blog

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

Academics
Featured image for “Saying No to a Dream College”
April 24, 2017

Saying No to a Dream College

Will your child end up going to his or her dream school? The odds are that your child won’t if the college or university is a rankings alpha dog. And that’s especially true if you don’t enjoy a powerful hook such as being a celebrity or a one-percenter kid, a legacy or an athlete. The story I’m sharing today is...
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Featured image for “My New College Column at Cappex”
March 13, 2017

My New College Column at Cappex

If you like periodically checking out my college blog, I want to alert you to another place where I share my thoughts about college issues. I recently began a college column at Cappex, which is the popular resource for students and parents researching colleges and looking for scholarships. Here is the link to the archive of my new Cappex column...
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Featured image for “What Is a Research University?”
February 13, 2017

What Is a Research University?

Most students who hope to earn a bachelor’s degree will enroll at a university. The schools that students dream of attending are almost always research universities. It’s far less common for teenagers to end up at a college. I find that reality unfortunate because a college can often provide a better education for undergraduates than a research university. And it’s...
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Featured image for “Don’t Pay $280,000 for a Bachelor’s Degree”
October 23, 2016

Don’t Pay $280,000 for a Bachelor’s Degree

I wrote this post last year, but wanted to share it again because the messages are equally relevant today!  Lynn O’Shaughnessy Plenty of parents, who enroll in my online course – The College Cost Lab –  are affluent and highly educated. Quite a few of these moms and dads would like to see their children attend elite schools. Not surprisingly,...
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Featured image for “Stop Stressing About Picking the “Right” College Major”
October 3, 2016

Stop Stressing About Picking the “Right” College Major

Are you stressing about what your teenager’s college major is going to be? If you’re worried about your child not picking the right college major, you must ABSOLUTELY watch the video and read the blog post below! In the video I interview Jane Horowitz, who is a phenomenal career-launch coach for college students and new college grads and the founder...
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Featured image for “College Majors and Graduation Odds”
August 22, 2016

College Majors and Graduation Odds

Will your children graduate from college? And will they graduate with their declared academic major? These are critically important questions that families routinely overlook. Unfortunately, families focus primarily on getting into college and not on whether their children will actually succeed and obtain a bachelor’s degree. Too often students fail to graduate. Or they fail to earn a degree in...
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Featured image for “Shocking College Graduation Rates”
May 9, 2016

Shocking College Graduation Rates

When building a college list, it’s critical to check graduation rates. Paying for college is hard enough without adding a fifth or six year to the tab! And yet most college students do not graduate in four years. Many, many parents whom I’ve talked to over the years seem shocked by this reality. In fact, when I give talks to...
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Featured image for “Digging Deeper When Researching Colleges”
April 25, 2016

Digging Deeper When Researching Colleges

When researching colleges, many families gravitate to what they call “great schools” without having any idea of whether these institutions merit their reputations. In reality, no college or university is a monolithic entity that is uniformly excellent, average or mediocre. That’s why just picking schools by relying on general impressions, U.S. News’ actual rankings or a campus tour won’t be...
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Featured image for “How To Measure College Grad Salaries”
April 18, 2016

How To Measure College Grad Salaries

When searching for schools, parents are increasingly asking admission reps this question: Will my child earn a good salary after graduating from your college? College and university admission staffs will enthusiastically answer yes (!!!) to that question, but proof is almost always flimsy at best. Schools typically brag about high job placement statistics for their graduates because they rely on job surveys of...
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Featured image for “Is a Trophy School Worth the Price?”
April 5, 2016

Is a Trophy School Worth the Price?

I’ll be launching my latest online course – The College Cost Lab – in June. If you’d like to be among the first to know when I have more details,  just email me at Lynn@TheCollegeSolution.com. Lynn O’Shaughnessy In my last post, I wrote about smart teenagers who worked hard to get into elite schools only to have their dream schools...
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