The College Solutions Blog

December 3, 2010

My daughter, who is a Spanish major, will be graduating from college in the spring and like many college seniors, she is stressing about finding a job. While the job market is still ailing, a new national survey of 4,600 employers suggests that jobs will be more plentiful for the graduating class of 2011. According to an annual survey conducted...

November 25, 2010

Before I head into my sister’s kitchen in Pleasanton, CA, to start cooking the Thanksgiving feast and making a terrible mess, I wanted to share some news about my blog. On this day of thanks, I am happy that my college blog has continued to grow in popularity this year.  I want to thank all of you who stop by...

November 19, 2010

When I talk to California teenagers who are interested in attending college outside of the state, their preferred destination is usually the East Coast. As a native Midwesterner it is disheartening that so many Californian teenagers dismiss so much of the country as simply real estate that makes flights from California to New York or Boston way too long. While...

November 18, 2010

I flew up to the Bay Area yesterday to give a college talk to a group of affluent families. I was told that some of the parents in the audience worked for Google, Facebook and other high-tech goliaths. Not all of their children, however, are necessarily as smart as they are. I expect that having high-achieving parents  can put even...

November 14, 2010

In my college blog post last week for US News & World Report, I wrote about students who want to major in the performing and visual arts. Here it is…. If your child wants to major in musical theater or some other performing art, go ahead and blame it on Glee, American Idol or America’s Got Talent. Television shows make...

November 11, 2010

I had lunch today with a dear friend whose son hopes to be attending the University of Chicago in the fall. This is a kid from Southern California who fell in love with the institution when he visited. Taylor, I changed his name, applied early action to the University of Chicago and he remains optimistic that he will beat the...

October 20, 2010

Ever thought about attending a Canadian university? A growing number of Americans are considering earning a college degree from up North. Actually, it’s not as far north as you might think because most Canadian universities are near the US border. There are some hidden academic jewels in Canada, which explains why you might be interested in exploring their Northern options....

October 18, 2010

I spent yesterday afternoon giving a workshop for some families about how they can increase their chances of finding wonderful schools for their teenagers while shrinking their costs at the same time. The parents, whose teenagers attend both private and public suburban schools in San Diego, were shocked that they hadn’t heard about any of the tools or advice that...

October 13, 2010

There are a couple of reasons why I’m glad that my two children, who are both in college, aren’t toddlers. One reason is obvious. I don’t think I’d have the energy today to chase toddlers around. The second reason occurred to me last week when I reading a story in The New York Times entitled, Picture Books No Longer a...

October 11, 2010

I have parents ask me variations of this question all the time: What are the best colleges and universities to attend that will ultimately generate jobs for my child? I think it’s rare that going to any particular school, by itself, will result in an automatic job for a new college graduate. I am willing to concede, however, that there...