The College Solutions Blog

January 8, 2014

I wanted to share an email from a dad who is interested in his son getting an athletic scholarship. Goucher College in Maryland is looking for my son to play soccer, but it is expensive. Here is my question: How should I approach the college about an athletic scholarship? The Scoop on Athletic Scholarships There is no need to approach...

January 6, 2014

You can learn much more about how to afford college by enrolling in my upcoming online course –  Cutting the Cost of College. I designed this course to help you save money by making you a smart college shopper.    Lynn O’Shaughnessy Now that we’re officially into the 2014-2015 FAFSA season, I wanted to answer some questions on my college blog...

January 2, 2014

January 1 marks the start of the FAFSA season. If you will be applying for financial aid this year for a new or returning college student, it’s time to tackle the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Unfortunately,  it’s easy to make mistakes on the forms and these errors could cost you a ton of money. Resources exist, however, to...

December 30, 2013

Today I’m sharing a guest post from Stuart Nachbar, who is the president of EducatedQuest.com, an excellent college admissions blog and guide to some of the best values in higher education. He can be contacted at stuart@educatedquest. I thought you’d appreciate Nachbar’s advice about how to evaluate an institution’s career placement services. If you haven’t already read it, please see...

December 26, 2013

I will be launching a six-week, online course called Cutting the Cost of College beginning Feb. 12. Please scroll to the bottom of this post to learn more and email me at Lynn@TheCollegeSolution.com if you want further notifications! Lynn O’Shaughnessy Before spending an obscene amount of money on a bachelor’s degree, families want to know if their children’s job prospects...

December 20, 2013

Want to take your mind off college for the holidays? I don’t blame you. Here’s my suggestion to do just that. Sit back and listen to some fascinating lectures from some of the most intriguing people on the planet. You can find more than 1,500 lectures by visiting the website of TED, a nonprofit which originally got its name by...

December 16, 2013

I recently wrote a post that shared the colleges and universities that say that they meet 100% of financial need for the majority of their families. If you missed it, here it is: List of Colleges That Meet 100% of Financial Need The story prompted a mom to email me over the weekend with this question: Have you ever published...

December 12, 2013

Winning private college scholarships can certainly help make college more affordable, but you need to know the realities of competing for college cash. Before you start hunting for private college scholarships, here are 10 things you should know about these awards: 1. Private scholarships aren’t the biggest source of college cash. My pet peeve about private scholarships is that people...

December 10, 2013

FAFSA season is fast approaching, which always brings questions about who should complete this federal financial aid application. For the 2014-2015 school, year, the Department of Education has issued new rules impacting some parents about who should be completing the FAFSA. Here is a rundown of what you need to know: Traditional Married Couples If you are part of a...

December 6, 2013

When I talked to my son Ben yesterday, he was dreading next week when he had exams, a paper and a presentation due.  It was the same story when my nephew called to chat. With so many students taking finals in the coming days, I thought I’d rerun an old post about how students can boost their chances of doing...