The College Solutions Blog

August 28, 2017

It’s only natural that many talented students aim for the most selective school that they can gain into. It’s not always a smart idea, however, for applicants to attend the most selective college or university that admits them. Today I am sharing the observations on this topic from Scott White, the head guidance counselor at Morris High School in New...

February 28, 2012

At this time of year, lots of families are realizing that their high school seniors can’t attend their dream schools. Seniors are receiving their financial aid packages in the mail and for some of them the numbers don’t look good.  Among those who are struggling are upper middle-class families that you might assume would be in better shape to pay...

October 7, 2011

I’ve been running into more and more parents, who are curious about sending their children to community colleges. I can understand the attraction. Community colleges are often much cheaper than four-year schools and they can offer a more personalized education than big state universities. Out here in California, for instance, a freshman can take introductory courses with 30 to 40...

October 3, 2011

NOTE: I will be giving an all-day college workshop for parents of teenagers on Saturday Oct. 15 at the University of California, San Diego, that will focus on empowering parents and teenagers to make smart decisions on selecting colleges and making them more affordable. You can learn much more by visiting my landing page devoted to The Ultimate College Workshop....

June 11, 2011

Most of the attention during every admission season is on high school seniors, which means transfer students often get lost in the shuffle. That’s a shame since a sizable number of college students end up transferring every year. According to special transfer student report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, a third of students end up transferring 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...

November 23, 2010

Most of the attention during this admission season is on high school seniors, which means transfer students often get lost in the shuffle. That’s a shame since a sizable number of college students end up transferring every year. According to special transfer student report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, a third of students end up transferring to...

October 5, 2010

When I’ve talked to students about their college choices, I’ve never made a teenager cry. At least until tonight. A teenage girl tried to hold back the tears when I told her that she would probably have to attend a community college before transferring to a four-year school. She’s a high school senior and her GPA is 2.0. Of course,...

September 24, 2010

Last spring I bumped into a dad I know whose daughter had attended the same middle school as my son. I asked him where his daughter would be attending college in the fall and he said: She’s going to a community college. I was surprised because Rachel is a very bright girl. The dad explained, however, that his daughter didn’t...

July 13, 2010

What do the University of Notre Dame and Raritan Valley Community College have in common? They both made the short list of great colleges that are doing an exceptionally good jobs.  The list was complied by Andrew Hacker, a professor at Queens College and Claudia Dreifus, a New York Times writer, who are the authors of How Colleges are Wasting...