The College Solutions Blog

October 25, 2011

I’m sharing an email that I received over the weekend from an anxious dad in North Carolina, who asked me for advice about an early decision application. I’ve changed the name of the son. Here is what he wrote: Dilemma from a Dad from North Carolina My son, Andrew, would like to go to Davidson College here in North Carolina;...

October 21, 2011

What are the latest college admission trends? Every year, the National Association for College Admission Counseling releases a survey that attempts to answer that question. Here are some of the trends that jumped out at me when I was reading the 2011 State of College Admission: College Applications on the Rise Most schools (73%) experienced an increase in applications. Not...

October 19, 2011

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...

October 17, 2011

I want to major in art. This is the college major that perhaps more than any other strikes fear in the hearts of parents, who worry that an art degree will condemn their children to a life eating Cheerio’s for dinner and driving old subcompacts with bald tires. The truth is there are a myriad of careers in a wide...

October 14, 2011

I heard from a mom this week, who is worried about some of the schools her daughter has begun applying to. I wanted to share what the mother wrote: As I watch my daughter start her college applications, I’m cringing inside because she’s wanting to apply to out of state public schools such as UCLA, Georgia Tech and Purdue. Although...

October 6, 2011

Filing for financial aid can be more complicated when the parents are divorce. A Divorced Dad From Massachusetts I thought I’d bring this up because of an email that I received from a divorced dad from Massachusetts, who has not remarried. He makes about $100,000 a year and doesn’t own a home. His ex-wife did remarry and she and her...

October 5, 2011

If you do poorly on the SAT or ACT, you can always apply to colleges and universities that are test optional. It’s been awhile since I wrote about this subject and you can find the link to a previous post below, but today I want to share with you a new twist to the trend. Getting Into Great Schools With...

October 4, 2011

A website that focuses on college issues recently asked me a few questions that parents and teenagers commonly ask or wonder about. I decided to share the questions and my answers with you today. Here goes: At what stage should you prepare for college? Teenagers can start preparing for college at the beginning of high school — really before that...

September 28, 2011

College Admissions: The Rich Kid Advantage A new ambitious survey of hundreds of senior college admission officials from across the country has revealed just what kind of high school students are in big demand:  R-I-C-H kids. It’s no surprise that admission officers at both public and private colleges and universities are salivating over wealthy teenagers. Their parents have the money...

September 20, 2011

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 is her question: My son has received approximately 10+ email/print invitations from schools to complete their priority applications....