The College Solutions Blog

June 9, 2009

With the admission season over for the newest crop of college freshmen, preliminary figures are now in that reveal what choices these teenagers made during these tough economic times. Here are some of the latest college admission findings from the National Association of College Admission Counseling: More students will be attending community colleges this fall. Sixty three percent of public...

April 21, 2009

Just thinking about what it takes to get into college today can be exhausting.  High school kids are supposed to take challenging classes, study for the dreaded SAT/ACT, round up teacher recommendation, complete applications, nag their parents to fill out financial aid forms ….it never seems to end. But today was a triumph for the two seniors who ride in...

April 5, 2009

Some high schools prepare teenagers for college better than others. Duh. But here’s something that many parents in California don’t realize. Sending your child to a top high school could reduce their chances of getting into UCLA or Berkeley. During the past couple of weeks, I’ve run into parents who are mystified and angry that their teenagers didn’t get into...

March 15, 2009

No student wants to be rejected by a college. And guess what? Colleges don’t like rejection either. Consequently, teenagers can boost their chances of gaining admission to the colleges high on their list by showing “demonstrated interest.” Demonstrated interest has become a hot buzz word in higher ed today as an increasing number of teenagers apply to a ridiculously large...

March 11, 2009

We’re in the thick of the college acceptance season. If your child is a high school senior, the mail carrier might have already delivered acceptance packages to your house. Being wanted is fun, but it’s anything but fun when schools start bullying applicants. I read an interesting post today written by a guy in the admissions office at George Mason...

March 7, 2009

If you want your child to snag an athletic scholarship, there’s no better sport than women’s rowing. Last year The New York Times completed an exhaustive research on the odds of winning an athletic scholarship and women’s rowing topped the list. According to the newspaper, 2,359 teenage girls row in high school and 2,295 girls receive rowing scholarships. EXCELLENT ODDS!...

February 5, 2009

The University of California Board of Regents is expected today to approve the most sweeping admission changes to admissions in at least a decade at the nine UC campuses for undergraduates. The new requirements will allow 40% more high school graduates to be eligible for admission to the UC system. Many high school students are going to be relieved to...

January 13, 2009

Between my daughter’s sophomore and junior year in high school about 40 of her classmates disappeared. The students ditched the private girls’ school for one chief reason:  It was going to be impossible to gain admission to UCLA, the UC Berkeley or another top UC campus. The girls, and more likely their parents, decided that their best hope to earn...

November 20, 2008

It was my morning to drive the carpool and since there was one high school senior slumped in the back seat of my aging Volvo station wagon, the topic of college applications arose. Shannon began stressing out loud about the essay she had to write for her application to a University of California campus. Like all other teenagers that I’ve...

October 31, 2008

Here’s a news bulletin that’s certainly appropriate for Halloweeen: The cost of a bachelor’s degree has climbed again. According to the College Board, tuition and fees for the 2008-09 school year jumped anywhere from 4.5% to 6.5%, depending on the type of institution. Here are today’s typical tuition costs: Four-year public institution: $6,585. Four-year private college: $25,143. Community college: $2,300....