The College Solutions Blog

October 7, 2010

How do you select an independent college counselor? A parent posted that question on my college blog a couple of weeks ago and I promised that I’d provide the answer. I had the good fortune to interview three prominent independent college counselors on this subject when I was at a national college conference last week in St. Louis. I interviewed...

October 6, 2010

For high school seniors, it’s crunch time. Deadlines for college applications are looming, so it’s time to get focused. Here are 8 things seniors  need to be doing now. 1. Meet college reps. This is the time of year when admission officers are racking up frequent flyer miles as they meet with prospective students throughout the country. Contact colleges on...

October 5, 2010

When I’ve talked to students about their college choices, I’ve never made a teenager cry. At least until tonight. A teenage girl tried to hold back the tears when I told her that she would probably have to attend a community college before transferring to a four-year school. She’s a high school senior and her GPA is 2.0. Of course,...

October 4, 2010

How do you maximize potential financial aid awards? Today I want to share with you a wonderful resource – TuitionCoach — that may be able to help you do just that. Until last week, you had to pay to use TuitionCoach, but not anymore. The site contains college funding videos, a library of financial aid resources and software that can...

October 4, 2010

Should parents help pay for college? For a lot of people who visit my college blog this is going to seem like a no brainer. There are, however, parents who are determined to foist the whole cost of college onto their kids. I can certainly understand why a mom or dad, who makes little money, couldn’t help. But you can...

October 1, 2010

Do you use Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity when you book a flight or find a rental car? Have you used Zillow when you’re searching for a house or Carfax when looking for a used Honda? Using these website and others like it has made buying all sorts of stuff easier. One big ticket item, however, that’s resisted this kind of...

October 1, 2010

Before I left for St. Louis, my hometown, to attend the annual conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, I asked my college blog readers to pose questions that I could ask to college experts here. Here was one of my reader’s questions: Why do schools ask applicants where else they are applying? Are students obligated to answer?...

September 30, 2010

What is the best way to support your college students when they head off to college? I began exploring this question in my last post: Staying in Touch With College Students Today I’m going to share some examples of what parents can do for their children besides writing those big tuition checks.  These ideas come from the authors of The...

September 28, 2010

When children head off to college how much contact should parents have with them? This question has generated a lot of angst over the years and maybe it’s because nobody knows how much communication is appropriate. Is one call a week enough? How about a dozen? Do text messages and E-mails count? And what about Skype, instant messaging, Google Voice...

September 27, 2010

During my last two posts, I have focused on picking college majors. This is the last post that I’m going to devote to majors for awhile. Here are my previous posts: Chosing a College Major College Majors: 5 Things You Need To Know Is getting a head start on a college major a good thing? Not according to a study...