The College Solutions Blog

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

Academics

August 12, 2012

College Admissions and Learning Disablities

Does your teenager have a learning disability? If so, the whole college process might seem even more daunting. With these parents in mind, I recently talked with Joy App, a college consultant in Houston, who has worked with many teenagers with learning disabilities. I am passing along some of her advice for parents of learning disabled teenagers. To start, I’m...

Studying Abroad: What Parents Need to Know

Below you’ll find a guest blog that Bob Bessette, the father of a rising senior at Bowdoin College in Maine, wrote. This post first appeared on my college blog in December when Bessette’s daughter was finishing up her semester abroad in Ireland. I am rerunning this blog post primarily because my own son Ben, who is a rising junior at...

Researching College Majors

Today I’m sharing a wonderferul resource for students, who want to learn more about college majors and their career paths – College Majors 101. I’d urge everybody to spend some time on this website, which is stuffed with valuable information about college majors as diverse as biology, video game design, dance and biomedical engineering. . The goal of College Majors...

Tracking What a College’s Grads Really Make

I’ve been devoting this week’s posts to college accountability. Are colleges and universities doing what we are paying them to do: educating our children and preparing them for the working world? In most cases we don’t know. If you missed my two previous posts, here they are: Sharing a College’s Return on Investment College + Degree = Joke? In my...

Sharing a College’s Return on Investment

In my last post I discussed a serious dilemma facing families searching for colleges. When we send our teenagers off to college, we expect that our children will return to us smarter, wiser and employable. But it’s nearly impossible to determine which schools are in the best position to help make this happen. Here is the post: College + Degree...

Three Degrees of College Prestige

Today I am happy to share with you a thoughtful post that David Montesano, one of my favorite independent college college consultants, wrote about college rankings. Montesano is the owner of College Match Educational Consultants, which has offices in the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and elsewhere. Three Degrees of College Prestige In an era where a sour economy is...

The Advantage of Not Declaring a Major

I once bumped into a father I know whose daughter had attended the same middle school as my son. I asked him where his daughter was attending college and he told me that she was enrolled at a community college. I was surprised because Rachel is a very bright girl. The dad explained, however, that his daughter didn’t know what...

A Look at Why Colleges Are Failing Students

I wrote the following college blog post last year, but I think it’s worth repeating because I believe that more teenagers (and their parents) are focused on getting into college rather than making the most of the experience once they arrive. I’d love to know what your thoughts are on this post. If you don’t mind sharing, please use the...

Finding the Success Rates for Law, Medical, MBA and Grad Programs

I’m answering a question today from a reader, who is interested in locating MBA placement rates. The advice is also pertinent to those wondering if a particular school will give a child a boost when applying to graduate school and other professional degree programs. Is there any info out there on colleges with a good track record for MBA admissions...

Finding the Success Rates for Law, Medical, MBA and Grad Programs

I’m answering a question today from a reader, who is interested in locating MBA placement rates. The advice is also pertinent to those wondering if a particular school will give a child a boost when applying to graduate school and other professional degree programs. Is there any info out there on colleges with a good track record for MBA admissions...