The College Solutions Blog

March 1, 2010

Which is better — a liberal arts college or a university? Last night I had a conversation with one of my nephews, who is torn between attending Truman State University, a wonderful public liberal arts college, or the University of Missouri in Columbia, which happens to be my alma mater. I’m proud of Tommy for being so thoughtful in trying...

January 31, 2010

6 Reasons to File the FAFSA Should you file the FAFSA? Here’s my answer for just about everybody, including myself: Absolutely yes. I admit it’s not fun to complete the FAFSA, which I am going to do today. If it’s any consolation, the FAFSA is easier to fill out than the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, which I am also tackling today....

January 9, 2010

15 Best and Worst Jobs In America In my most popular college blog post on CBSMoneyWatch this week, I wrote about a list of the 200 best and worst jobs based on much more than pay. When you see lists of the best and worst jobs in America, the creators are usually focusing on salaries. CareerCast.com developed the list based...

December 17, 2009

Want to know what college admission officers are really thinking? The Wall Street Journal and Unigo managed to get admission deans from eight prestigious schools, including Bryn Mawr College, Grinnell College,  Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Weslyan University to parpticipate in a panel discussion that touched on many issues that are relevant to collegebound teenagers. You can watch the...

December 16, 2009

My daughter Caitlin arrived home last night after studying abroad for the semester at the University of Barcelona. I am thrilled to have her home and I know it’s going to be very hard for me when she flies back to Spain at the end of January. As I discovered, a study abroad program can be a life-changing experience, but...

December 8, 2009

Graduation rates at most universities is a disgrace.  Fewer than 60% of  college  students graduate in six years. Many of the rest never do earn  a bachelor’s degree. I’ve written about low graduation rates many times (see links below) and it’s always struck me as unfair that so many educators blame this tragedy solely on the students. That’s why I...

December 4, 2009

Here’s my advice for the day:  Cut the apron strings. I have run into so many parents with talented teenagers who want their kids to stay close to home when they start college. By insisting on this, they severely limit their teenagers’ college choices. I ran into one of these mom’s today at the dentist office when I was getting...

December 2, 2009

Thousands of California high school seniors are panicking right now because they’re worried that they won’t be attending a California State University campus in the fall. The Cal State system happens to be the largest in the country. In fact, the number of students attending the 23 Cal State campuses exceeds the number of people living in Kansas City or...

November 30, 2009

With the economy in the toilet, more students think they need to major in something practical, which is one reason why business is the most popular college major. Many students also believe they need to declare their college major before they ever step foot on their campuses. Actually, more and more universities are requiring that their students select a major...

November 27, 2009

I was too busy to post on my college blog yesterday because I was struggling with a semi-broken oven as I tried to cook a 22-pound turkey, a pumpkin praline pie (my husband’s favorite), blueberry pie (my son’s favorite) and lots more with low heat. An hour after I put the turkey in the oven it was still pinkish. Oh...