The College Solutions Blog

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

Beware of Preferential Packaging

Many students who apply to college end up being disappointed at what’s wrapped up inside their financial aid packages. There is a way, however, to reduce the chances that this will happen to you. Be realistic in the schools you target. Here’s the key reason why: Colleges and universities possess a finite amount of money for financial aid. Most schools...

Beware of Preferential Packaging

Many students who apply to college end up being disappointed at what’s wrapped up inside their financial aid packages. There is a way, however, to reduce the chances that this will happen to you. Be realistic in the schools you target. Here’s the key reason why: Colleges and universities possess a finite amount of money for financial aid. Most schools...

An End to Bad Financial Aid Award Letters

Last week I wrote two college blog posts that included examples of confusing financial aid letters. If you missed them, here they are: Are These Financial Aid Letters Misleading? What’s Missing From This Financial Aid Letter? I received a couple of notes from independent college counselors saying that they were going to use the awards that I highlighted as templates...

Are These Financial Aid Letters Misleading?

If you didn’t see my college blog post from yesterday, I’d urge you to take a peek. I wrote about misleading financial aid awards, which can cause parents to think that a school is going to be more affordable than it really is. Here is the post: What’s Missing From This Financial Aid Letter? Today I want to offer three...

What’s Missing From This Financial Aid Letter?

Many financial aid letters — heck almost all of them — are confusing. I’ve always wondered why award letters are so difficult to understand. Perhaps the staffers generating these letters in the bowels of universities have been conversing in financial-aid speak for so long that they have lost their ability to communicate in standard English. Of course, the cynical explanation...

Could College Affordability Become Fashionable?

Last week my best friend was complaining to me about how expensive Mount Holyoke College is. My friend’s daughter is a sophomore at the women’s college and she makes too much money to qualify for any financial aid. My friend can afford the tuition, but for the first time she was expressing her resentment that any college should cost that...

Are the Professors Any Good?

Have you ever taken a look at RateMyProfessors.com? I’m assuming that you haven’t. It never occurred to me to head to the extremely popular site when my two kids were checking out colleges, but it might be worth a look. At RateMyProfessors, you’ll find more than 13 million student comments and ratings of professors at colleges and universities across the...

What If You Bomb on the SAT or ACT?

I recently got an email from a dad who was depressed because his son had performed poorly on the SAT test. He wondered what his son’s options are. I understand how the father felt. The ACT and SAT loom so large in the life of a college-bound student that it’s easy to assume that doing poorly on either test will...

What If You Bomb on the SAT or ACT?

I recently got an email from a dad who was depressed because his son had performed poorly on the SAT test. He wondered what his son’s options are. I understand how the father felt. The ACT and SAT loom so large in the life of a college-bound student that it’s easy to assume that doing poorly on either test will...

Where Can You Find Cheaper College Prices?

In the higher-ed world, some things are highly predictable. Every year, for instance, millions of high school students head to college and every year schools raise their prices. Colleges and universities have rightfully taken a lot of flack for their annual price hikes. Traditionally, that’s been especially true with private institutions and particularly at the institutions that are now reaching...