The College Solutions Blog

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

Will Saving for College Penalize My Chances for Financial Aid?

Will my chances for college financial aid be hurt if I have saved for my child’s college education? I an always running into parents (usually dads) who worry that their college savings accounts will penalize their chances for financial aid. These parents also tend to be angry at the prospect that colleges will reward families who saved nothing. My response...

Showing Demonstrated Interest in Colleges

No student wants to be rejected by a college. And guess what? Colleges don’t like rejection either. Consequently, teenagers can boost their chances of gaining admission to the colleges high on their list by showing “demonstrated interest.” Demonstrated interest has become a hot buzz word in higher ed today as an increasing number of teenagers apply to a ridiculously large...

The Pros and Cons of A Double Major

A double major in college seems like a no brainer to many students today, who want to capture a competitive advantage in the work world. Some academics, however, argue that double majoring doesn’t necessarily provide that edge. Even worse, double majoring keeps many students from graduating on time. The double major issue came up when I was talking to a...

Acceptance Letter Etiquette

We’re in the thick of the college acceptance season. If your child is a high school senior, the mail carrier might have already delivered acceptance packages to your house. Being wanted is fun, but it’s anything but fun when schools start bullying applicants. I read an interesting post today written by a guy in the admissions office at George Mason...

Why Colleges Are in Trouble

The Chronicle of Higher Education ran a fascinating story today that attempted to explain why colleges and universities are mired in a financial crisis. Of course there are the obvious culprits — a recession and stock market meltdown — but the crisis goes far beyond that. Here are a few of the reasons: 1. Yale copycats. David Swenson, who manages...

The Odds of Getting an Athletic Scholarship

If you want your child to snag an athletic scholarship, there’s no better sport than women’s rowing. Last year The New York Times completed an exhaustive research on the odds of winning an athletic scholarship and women’s rowing topped the list. According to the newspaper, 2,359 teenage girls row in high school and 2,295 girls receive rowing scholarships. EXCELLENT ODDS!...

MBA Degree: Harvard MBA Scoundrels

For many wannabe investment bankers, the key to unlocking Wall Street’s treasure chest was traditionally getting a Harvard MBA. So this shouldn’t come as a surprise: Harvard tops the list of business school that have produced the most Wall Street scoundrels in our current financial mess. Here are the top three winners: Harvard New York University Cornell University Do business...

Surviving Bad SAT or ACT Scores

What adjective would best describe your SAT or ACT scores: A) Transcendent. B) Puissant. C) Sublime. D) Dreadful. If your answer was “D,” here’s news that can chase away that funk: The number of SAT and ACT-optional schools continues to climb so even if you don’t earn a good SAT score or good ACT score, there is hope. FairTest.org, the...

Colleges & Home Equity

Before the housing bubble burst, plenty of parents worried that their home equity was going to scotch any chance of receiving college financial aid. Even in this environment, it’s still going to be a concern for families who have owned a home for a long time. Here’s what you need to know: If your teenager applies to a state school,...

February 28, 2009

Runaway GPAs

Earlier this month I wrote a blog post that shared a wild story about my son’s precalculus teacher. When the teacher said no late assignments, he meant it. A cancer patient who was taking his class nearly died from the wrong dose of chemotherapy, but the teacher still wouldn’t accept her late paper. I think there are many more teachers...