The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

Parents

Can You Hide Your Home Equity From a College?

I’ve gotten a couple of questions lately about whether cashing out home equity and putting it into an annuity is a legit way of increasing a family’s chances of getting financial aid. Consequently, I decided to share a post on the topic that I wrote earlier in this year in response to an email from a dad, who was interested...

The Dangers of Perfect Parenting

Could you be too good of a parent? It’s not a strange question. A fascinating cover piece in The Atlantic suggests that perfect parenting is prompting young adults to seek therapy. I wrote a post about this for my college blog over at CBS MoneyWatch. Here’s an excerpt from that post: According to The Atlantic article, perfect parenting is driving...

Grandparents: Doing More Harm Than Good

It’s great when grandparents can help with college costs, but you don’t want their generosity to backfire. At a 4th of July party this weekend, I talked with a couple whose children’s college choices have, strangely enough, been diminished by grandparents money. Here’s what happened: Years ago the grandparents gave each of the three children a significant amount of money...

When Should You Start Visiting Colleges?

When should families start visiting colleges? A parent recently asked me that question and I’m going to respond by sharing the advice of Kris Hintz, a very smart college consultant in New Jersey, who addresses this issue in her upcoming book – the title is still not firmed up or I would share it. Kris believes that until a teenager...

Don’t Waste Your Summer!

Here is something that really irritates me about the whole college process: too many families view it as a game. Their aim is to get their child into the best school possible. Fair enough, but what’s often overlooked is making sure that teenagers are well prepared for whatever college they end up at. Too many parents assume that their children...

Caitlin Graduates From Juniata College!

My daughter Caitlin graduated from Juniata College this weekend! It just seemed like yesterday that we had arrived at this beautiful campus for freshmen orientation and now Caitlin was walking across the stage to receive her bachelor’s degree. With rain clouds threatening, workers packed up the white folding chairs set out for the outdoor ceremony and everyone was directed into...

Happy Mother’s Day

I’m not celebrating Mother’s Day today. My kids are away at college, but my husband and I will be seeing them later this week when we meet up at Juniata College for my daughter Caitlin’s big day — her college graduation! Ben and Caitlin agreed to postpone Mother’s Day until a mutually agreeable Sunday this summer when we’re all back...

Getting Into College With Learning Disabilities

Today I’m quite pleased to share some valuable and hopeful advice for high school students who possess learning disabilities and are wondering how that will impact their college search. The expert suggestions come from David Montesano, a very smart admission strategist in Bellevue, WA, who operates College Match Educational Consultants, which maintains multiple offices on the West Coast, as well...

Should You Be Worried About Your Child’s College Major?

Should you be worried about your child’s future college major? Many moms and dads are. I want to share three extreme examples of parental majoritis: Parent No. 1 After hearing my talk at a high school last week, a mom confided to me that she was worried about her daughter because she didn’t know what her major would be....

Is Your Smart Child Being Left Behind?

How many times have you read news accounts about American students lagging behind countless other countries in academic achievement? In a recent standardized test of math proficiency, we’re way behind Taiwan (No. 1), Hong Kong (No. 2) and Korea (No. 3), but wait. We can’t even compete with the likes of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic. When I’ve read the...