The College Solutions Blog

October 29, 2012

Should a student apply early decision? At some schools, the deadline for early decision applications is as soon as Nov. 1. Today I am sharing a post written by Peter Van Buskirk, a veteran admission expert, on his take on Early Decision applications. Last  week I ran Peter’s post on Early Action applications. If you missed that one, here it...

October 22, 2012

Applying early action and early decision has become an increasingly popular practice among teenagers who are aiming for highly selective colleges and universities. Today I am happy to share with you a post written on this important topic by Peter Van Buskirk, a former admission dean,  higher-ed speaker and educational advocate for families. You can learn more about Peter by...

October 15, 2012

I’m sharing an email that I received from an anxious dad in North Carolina, who asked me for advice about an early decision application.  I ran this post last year, but it will be just as helpful today for those contemplating applying to colleges via early decision. Here is what the dad wrote: Dilemma from a Dad from North Carolina...

October 12, 2012

Is your university need blind? I once saw a couple of  enthusiastic young admission reps from a pair of Catholic universities back East try to answer that question at a college conference. The reps were specifically asked whether their schools might reject some applicants if they required a lot of financial assistance. Both admission reps vigorously assured the counselor who...

September 24, 2012

Note: I wrote this post about priority applications a year ago, but it’s just as timely now. LO I received an email yesterday from a friend of mine whose son is a brilliant high school senior. She wanted to know what they should think about invitations her son has received to apply to colleges through VIP or priority applications. Here...

September 12, 2012

At midnight East Coast time, U.S. News & World Report released its 2013 college rankings. And what a shocker – Harvard and Princeton tied for first in the national university category! Yale came in third. Among liberal arts colleges, Williams got the No. 1 ranking followed by Amherst. Equally shocking. (Please note my sarcasm.) Despite the annual hoopla over these...

September 5, 2012

In my last post, I shared a question that Mike, a frequent college blog visitor, asked. Mike’s daughter is struggling with this college application question: Why do you want to attend this college? If you missed the post here it is:  A Puzzling College Application Question Today I wanted to focus on the second college application question that is perplexing...

September 3, 2012

I received an email over the Labor Day weekend from a father named Mike, whose daughter is unsure about how to handle a couple of typical questions on her college applications. I’m sharing Mike’s first question today and I’ll direct my next college blog post to his second question that involves declaring a college major. Question No. 1: Why do...

August 31, 2012

As another standardized test season kicks off, ACT test takers should know about ACT superscoring. To understand what superscoring is, here’s some background: Historically, college admission offices used a student’s composite ACT score that’s made up of four underlying categories: English Mathematics Reading Science The test maker averages the four subcores, with each ranging from 1 to 36, to create...

August 15, 2012

As I’ve said many times, students shouldn’t be applying to colleges unless they have a good idea of what those institutions will cost them. It’s easy to obtain these formerly elusive cost figures now that schools have installed net price calculators on their web sites. Today I’m sharing the results from a mom (Lynne) who has used the net price...