The College Solutions Blog

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

Admission practices

August 16, 2010

Cutting the Cost of College for the Wealthy

I had a mom email me today who has been doing her homework this summer. Specifically, she’s been reading my eBook, Shrinking the Cost of College: 152 Ways to Cut the Price of a Bachelor’s Degree, in the hopes of making college more affordable for her family. After I emailed her back, I thought I’d share what I told her...

August 12, 2010

4 Ways To Win a Merit Scholarship

I am out of town the rest of this week because I’m helping my son Ben move across country to Beloit College. So I asked David Montesano, an independent college counselor at College Match, to write a guest post in my absence. At the end of the last admission cycle, David tallied up the merit awards that his clients earned...

Why It's Harder Getting Into Harvard

It’s not your imagination. It’s become even harder to get into Harvard, the rest of the Ivy League gang and the other super elite schools. In the college blog post that I wrote for CBSMoneyWatch.com today, I explain 5 reasons why it’s become even more challenging trying to storm the gates of Harvard and other schools of that ilk. Here...

Looking for Private Colleges That Use the FAFSA

Thought I’d share my response to a message that I received today from a mom, who was interested in finding private colleges that just use the Free Application for Federal Student or FAFSA. Here is Patrice’s question: Is there a way to determine which private colleges use the FAFSA method for financial aid? I would like to focus in on...

A Law Professor's Take on College Admissions

Does anybody else use Google Alert to see what other people are saying about you? I confess I do. I have Google alert me if someone mentions me or my college blogs on the Internet. And that’s how I stumbled across a post written by Tom Smith, a law professor, at a blog called, The Right Coast: Thoughts from San...

UC Admissions: 7 Facts You Need to Know

The University of California’s admission practices generated a lot of angst and speculation in recent months, which led to a lot of curiosity about how the UC schools would handle the the latest crush of college applications with money tighter than ever. Now that the most recent UC admission season is history, here are 7 facts about who got in...

College Wait Lists Run Amuck

Has it become a status symbol to end up on a college wait list? During a fundraiser at my son’s high school last night, a mother shared with me that Duke University had waitlisted her son. She appeared to be bragging when she shared this news. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Duke had also placed 3,382...

My Son's No. 1 College Choice Is ….

My son has decided where he’s going to college in the fall. After visiting 14 colleges and applying to 8 of them, Ben selected Beloit College. I wrote about why he decided to choose Beloit College on my other college blog over at CBSMoneyWatch. It was a long process, but the final result made all the hassles, including SAT prep,...

Waiting List Cry Babies: Stop the Tears

I have been reading the annual sob stories from students who are stuck on waiting lists at the nation’s snobbiest schools. These are the colleges and universities that reject almost everyone. The students on these waiting lists, which can contain 1,000 or more names, complain mightily about being stuck in limbo. They can’t psychologically get on with their lives until...

College Visit: 8 Things You Must Do

It’s college visit season. Juniors are fanning out to visit schools and seniors are on the go too as they visit colleges for the last time before making their final decisions. Too many teenagers and their families zip through college tours. It seems to become a contest of seeing how many colleges they can tour in the shortest period of...