The College Solutions Blog

June 19, 2011

When students are shopping for colleges, admission representatives typically urge them to ignore the sticker price. Here’s what these college reps routinely say:  We’ve got lots of financial aid and scholarships. Just APPLY! I was reminded of why applying blind is such a reckless strategy when a mom contacted me after her husband heard me give a college talk recently...

June 16, 2011

When should families start visiting colleges? A parent recently asked me that question and I’m going to respond by sharing the advice of Kris Hintz, a very smart college consultant in New Jersey, who addresses this issue in her upcoming book – the title is still not firmed up or I would share it. Kris believes that until a teenager...

May 29, 2011

For those who have been following my college blog this week, I’ve been answering questions from readers. These questions came from a mom and her homeschooled teenagers. Here is what she had to say: Question No. 1: Homeschooling has been our educational choice. When my son completed various applications, sections were often dedicated to “leadership and offices held.”He had to...

May 27, 2011

This week I’m sharing answers to questions posed by my blog visitors that I passed along to college admission officers who attended the annual conference of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling. Here are some answers: Question No. 1: What do admission officers feel are the three most important criteria points for a student and their family to look...

May 26, 2011

A couple of days ago I asked my blog visitors to submit questions that I could direct to college admission officers at the annual conference of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling. Now I want to start sharing answers. The admission experts whom I talked to today came from such disparate schools as Colgate University, Carroll College, Chapman University,...

May 24, 2011

I’m going to be attending the annual conference of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling beginning Tuesday afternoon on the campus of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.  WACAC is a membership organization for high school counselors, college counselors and college admission officers, who work in Nevada and California. Get My College Workbook for Free! Because I expect to...

May 22, 2011

While it might not look like it, the college admission landscape is constantly changing. This month The Chronicle of Higher Education ran a fascinating article about admission trends at colleges across the country. I’m going to share the article with you and also highlight the trends that the Chronicle reporter uncovered: State universities continue to struggle. State budget cuts are...

May 19, 2011

I got an email the other day from a mom, whose son is brilliant. I assume he’s brilliant because he will be attending the California Institute of Technology in the fall as a freshman. The acceptance rate at Cal Tech is 13% and many of its student get near perfect SAT scores. This teenage boy applied to 21 schools (way...

May 11, 2011

Today I want to share a cautionary tale of a student who lost her full-ride scholarship. Her dad wrote and asked me for advice because the family can’t handle the out-of-state tuition at Louisiana State University. Frankly, this should never have been an issue for his daughter because she won a full-ride scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University. I’ll let the...

May 4, 2011

Today I’m quite pleased to share some valuable and hopeful advice for high school students who possess learning disabilities and are wondering how that will impact their college search. The expert suggestions come from David Montesano, a very smart admission strategist in Bellevue, WA, who operates College  Match Educational Consultants, which maintains multiple offices on the West Coast, as well...