The College Solutions Blog

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

ACT or SAT: Which Test Should You Take?

When deciding whether to take the SAT or ACT test keep this in mind: the ACT AND SAT require different kinds of skills. Some teens can significantly increase their scores just by picking the right standardized test to take. Here are reasons why the ACT or SAT might be better than the other: Teens who do well on the ACT...

2 Colleges: Which One Is Stingy?

How do you know if a school is going to be generous to your child? Here’s a quick answer: Check the numbers. Or as I like to say, check the financial fingerprint of any school that’s on your teenager’s list. There are many ways to determine whether a school is generous or not, but today I’m going to focus on...

Asking a College For More Financial Aid

When you appeal a college’s financial aid award what happens to your request? The Chronicle of Higher Education provided an inside glimpse on how a financial aid appeal is handled internally in a fascinating article today entitled: When Families Ask Colleges for More Money A Chronicle reporter observed a financial aid deliberation that took place among senior admission and financial...

Should You Be Worried About Your Child’s College Major?

Should you be worried about your child’s future college major? Many moms and dads are. I want to share three extreme examples of parental majoritis: Parent No. 1 After hearing my talk at a high school last week, a mom confided to me that she was worried about her daughter because she didn’t know what her major would be....

No. 1 Reason Why College Rankings Are Lame

As many of you know, I’m not a fan of US News and World Report’s college rankings. I think the methodology is dreadful and the college rankings have encouraged colleges to behave very badly. After a mom emailed me to complain about the rankings, I decided to use this as an opportunity to share one of my biggest pet peeves...

Is Your Smart Child Being Left Behind?

How many times have you read news accounts about American students lagging behind countless other countries in academic achievement? In a recent standardized test of math proficiency, we’re way behind Taiwan (No. 1), Hong Kong (No. 2) and Korea (No. 3), but wait. We can’t even compete with the likes of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic. When I’ve read the...

How Grandparents Can Safely Help With College Costs

I got a question this week from a mom about grandparent contributions to college. It’s great to have generous grandparents who want to help with college costs, but you don’t want any gifts to backfire. Here are five things to keep in mind when grandparents want to help with college: No. 1. If your family isn’t going to qualify for...

Will a Student Job Shrink Your Financial Aid Package?

I’ve been writing posts for this college blog since the summer of 2008 and I figured I’d written about every topic imaginable, but there was at least one that I had overlooked. Even though plenty of parents are worried about it, I had never addressed this issue: If a student has a job will this hurt his or her chances...

The Ugly Truth About Earning a Business Degree

Is earning a business degree a waste of time? That’s essentially what I said in a piece that The New York Times published today. Here is my post: But Can They Write? The Times asked me and some higher-ed experts, including biz school deans, to write about the value of a business degree because of a story that ran in...

Jump Start Your Search for the Right Colleges

Where do you begin a college search? When you research colleges, you’re going to want to find schools that will provide your teenagers with an excellent education and get them out the door in four years. But how do you even start such a daunting college search? Scattered around my blog, I’ve written plenty about how to conduct a college...