The College Solutions Blog

September 19, 2009

Here’s my weekend round up of college blog posts that I wrote this week for CBSMoneyWatch.com. Why Your Teen Needs a “B” Average This was my favorite post of the week. Not every high school student can earn a 4.0 GPA — even in this age of inflated grades — but eking out at least a 3.0 GPA is definitely...

September 17, 2009

I’ve been helping the college counselor at my son’s San Diego high school with an overwhelming task that he faces every fall:  getting all the seniors ready to apply for college. Herding cats is the image that comes to mind when I contemplate how difficult his responsibility is. A lot of the teenagers who have asked me for advice have...

September 16, 2009

Instead of spending much time blogging today (Thursday), I’m going to be talking about college instead.  I’m a speaker at an online event put together by College Week Live, which is an organization that sponsors virtual college fairs. During my 45-minutes presentation, I’m going to be talking about SAT and ACT  test-optional policies. Thanks to the test-optional trend, students who...

September 16, 2009

  In my last post, I mentioned educational practices that can enrich students’ college years and boost their chances for  success. So how do you find schools that do a bang-up job of embracing these practices? One of my readers suggested yesterday that I share a resource that will make your job easier. It was a great idea which is...

September 15, 2009

What are the best colleges in America? Not so fast with your answer. The best colleges aren’t always the ones that enjoy the biggest, shiniest name brands and monopolize the rankings. So how do you find the colleges and universities that do a fantastic — if unheralded — job of educating students? You’re going to have to dig a little...

September 14, 2009

My son Ben’s best friend just returned from a tour of some liberal arts colleges that I suggested he visit in the Midwest. Nathan visited Carleton, Grinnell and Macalester colleges and I’m sure that any one of these schools would be thrilled to welcome him as a freshman next fall. Nathan is slated to be his high school’s valadictorian, his...

September 13, 2009

The biggest buzz last week in the higher-ed world was the release of a serious tome entitled, Crossing the Line: Completing College at America’s Public Universities. The book, which was co-authored by William G. Bowen, a former Princeton president, and two other academics is chock-a-block full of stats and astute observations about why many students manage to graduate from college,...

September 12, 2009

Here are this week’s round up of the posts that I wrote for CBSMoneyWatch.com. Hope you enjoy them…. The Latest Way Kids Cheat on Exams Teenagers are ingenious so I guess it’s no wonder that they are adept at high-tech cheating.  An alarming survey shows just how prevalent cheating with cell phones is in schools. Lending Money to Hot Shot...

September 10, 2009

My son is a senior at a high school that loathes Advanced Placement classes. The school administrators believe that AP classes provide students with knowledge that’s a mile wide and an inch deep. Considering that AP classes demand a lot of memorization and must be taught at a breathless pace to get through the material, I’d have to agree. Students...

September 9, 2009

I’ve always wondered why the media fixates so much Harvard and the other seven Ivy League schools. After all, the percentage of college freshmen attending these schools is a miniscule .2%. I came up with that percentage after crunching numbers that I pulled out of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Almanac. But if you’re eager to see your little darling...