The College Solutions Blog

September 23, 2009

I can’t devote much time to my college blog today because I’m heading to Baltimore for the annual meeting of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. (It’s hard to imagine a clunkier name and the organization’s acronym NACAC rhymes with the name of the supplemental insurance company that runs those irritating ads with the duck.) Anyway, there are going...

September 22, 2009

Tell me if this makes sense: When private lenders got into the federal student loan business years ago, the federal government guaranteed that it would step in when student borrowers defaulted on their federal loans. The  government (us taxpayers) also gave the student loan lenders a fat subsidy to participate in this virtually risk-free business. You have no idea how...

September 21, 2009

Yesterday I promised to share a great resource to help your teenager during a college interview. Before I share it, I want to stress that there aren’t necessarily right or wrong answers in a college interview. My own daughter, who is now a college junior, certainly experienced this during an interview at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. The admission dean...

September 20, 2009

On Thursday evening, I asked my son Ben what he knew about Drew University. “It’s got lots of squirrels,” he shot back. When we visited Drew during a college tour last year we did notice the squirrels on the New Jersey campus that is nestled in a lovely forest. I wanted to be sure, however, that Ben remembered more pertinent...

September 19, 2009

Here’s my weekend round up of college blog posts that I wrote this week for CBSMoneyWatch.com. Why Your Teen Needs a “B” Average This was my favorite post of the week. Not every high school student can earn a 4.0 GPA — even in this age of inflated grades — but eking out at least a 3.0 GPA is definitely...

September 17, 2009

I’ve been helping the college counselor at my son’s San Diego high school with an overwhelming task that he faces every fall:  getting all the seniors ready to apply for college. Herding cats is the image that comes to mind when I contemplate how difficult his responsibility is. A lot of the teenagers who have asked me for advice have...

September 16, 2009

Instead of spending much time blogging today (Thursday), I’m going to be talking about college instead.  I’m a speaker at an online event put together by College Week Live, which is an organization that sponsors virtual college fairs. During my 45-minutes presentation, I’m going to be talking about SAT and ACT  test-optional policies. Thanks to the test-optional trend, students who...

September 16, 2009

  In my last post, I mentioned educational practices that can enrich students’ college years and boost their chances for  success. So how do you find schools that do a bang-up job of embracing these practices? One of my readers suggested yesterday that I share a resource that will make your job easier. It was a great idea which is...

September 15, 2009

What are the best colleges in America? Not so fast with your answer. The best colleges aren’t always the ones that enjoy the biggest, shiniest name brands and monopolize the rankings. So how do you find the colleges and universities that do a fantastic — if unheralded — job of educating students? You’re going to have to dig a little...

September 14, 2009

My son Ben’s best friend just returned from a tour of some liberal arts colleges that I suggested he visit in the Midwest. Nathan visited Carleton, Grinnell and Macalester colleges and I’m sure that any one of these schools would be thrilled to welcome him as a freshman next fall. Nathan is slated to be his high school’s valadictorian, his...