The College Solutions Blog

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

Scholarships
July 20, 2012

Dirty Secrets of College Admission Officers

If you’ve got a Kindle or a Nook and you haven’t bought a copy of the second edition of my book, The College Solution yet, you are in luck! The publisher is temporarily giving away the electronic version of my new book for free!   I don’t know how long this price will last, but I’d jump on it. If...
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July 12, 2012

A Wealthy Mom’s College Questions

I am sharing an email that I got this week from a wealthy single mom, who is anticipating her college costs for her twins. I comment on her situation below and I’d love to hear from you too. If you have any advice, please share it in the comment box below. Mom’s Email: Lynn, I just finished your new book, ...
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July 2, 2012

Getting Stiffed by Colleges

When students are shopping for colleges, admission representatives typically urge them to ignore the sticker price. Here’s what these college reps routinely say:  We’ve got lots of financial aid and scholarships. Just APPLY! I was reminded of why applying blind is such a reckless strategy when a mom contacted me after her husband heard me give a college talk at...
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July 2, 2012

Getting Stiffed by Colleges

When students are shopping for colleges, admission representatives typically urge them to ignore the sticker price. Here’s what these college reps routinely say:  We’ve got lots of financial aid and scholarships. Just APPLY! I was reminded of why applying blind is such a reckless strategy when a mom contacted me after her husband heard me give a college talk at...
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11
June 14, 2012

Tuition Hogs: The Priciest Schools in America

This week the U.S. Department of Education released its second annual lists of college tuition hogs. For the record, the federal bureaucrats don’t call them them porkers. Congress mandated that the government compile and release annual lists of the five percent of colleges and universities that charge the highest and lowest tuition. The government assembles the lists based on each...
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0
June 14, 2012

Tuition Hogs: The Priciest Schools in America

This week the U.S. Department of Education released its second annual lists of college tuition hogs. For the record, the federal bureaucrats don’t call them them porkers. Congress mandated that the government compile and release annual lists of the five percent of colleges and universities that charge the highest and lowest tuition. The government assembles the lists based on each...
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0
June 8, 2012

Listen to my College Cost Webinar

  LLast week I gave a one-hour webinar on shrinking college costs for 100 college consultants. Cyndy McDonald, a friend of mine who is also college consultant and the founder of MyCCA.net, invited me to give the presentation. MyCCA (which stands for My College Consultant Assistant) provides management software for college counselors to help them assist their clients in navigating...
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May 22, 2012

Do You Really Expect Me to Pay That Much for College?

I wanted to share an email that I received over the weekend from a mom named Linda, who is questioning whether her bright son’s No. 1 college choice – Cal Tech – is out of reach financially. Mom’s Email Here is what Linda wrote: My son, a rising freshman, has dreamed of attending Cal Tech for years, which others have...
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May 17, 2012

Financial Aid Practices in the 50 States

When you take into account all the sources of college aid that are available to students in this country, roughly nine percent comes from state governments. Recently that amounted to $9.2 billion. How states dispense this aid varies significantly. While nearly all states are strapped for cash, some are far more generous than others to college students. The requirements for...
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May 11, 2012

The Odds of Getting a Sports Scholarship: Part II

Since there is so much interest in sports scholarships, I decided to devote another college blog post to the subject. If you missed yesterday’s post, here it is: The Odds of Getting an Athletic Scholarship I’ve met many parents who ask about particular sports and the odds of winning an athletic scholarship. I’m afraid a lot of families think that...
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