The College Solutions Blog

May 22, 2016

Do you feel paralyzed by your college choices? And, even more importantly, are you stressed about the crazy prices that colleges are charging for their bachelor’s degrees? I can help. I held a webinar on Memorial Day where I shared a variety of strategies that showed families how they can cut their college costs and find promising colleges and universities....

May 9, 2016

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...

April 25, 2016

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...

April 18, 2016

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...

April 5, 2016

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...

March 28, 2016

I’ve been getting emails from parents, who are bitter that their bright teenagers have been getting rejection letters from elite colleges and universities. What follows are two email excerpts. From a dad named Jeff: My son is his high school’s valedictorian. He scored 35 on the ACT and had straight A’s all four years at an academically competitive school. He...

March 21, 2016

Most families don’t look far when searching for colleges. The vast majority of students, who go to four-year schools, attend public universities within their own state. And most find schools within 100 miles of their homes. Only 14% or so of students attend institutions more than 500 miles away. Nearby state schools can represent the best option, but that won’t...

March 7, 2016

For the past two years, teenagers and their parents across the country have been dreading the new SAT test. The College Board announced back in 2014 that it would be dramatically revamping the SAT to align the new test with the Common Core. The wait for this test ended on March 5 (Saturday) when the College Board rolled out the...

February 22, 2016

If you have a child in college, do you qualify for a federal tax credit or tax deduction? These are valuable tax benefits that can help you defray the rising cost of a college degree and yet some parents have no idea that they exist or whether they would qualify. American Opportunity Tax Credit For eligible parents, the best federal...

February 4, 2016

Here is some good news: There are plenty of smart moves that you can make to reduce your college costs. This is an especially important year to know what those options are because 2016 is bringing some big changes to the admission scene. Learn the Strategies You Need to Make College Affordable You’ll discover what these changes are, along with...