The College Solutions Blog

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

College freshmen
February 6, 2012

Surprising Facts About College Freshmen

During my college workshop at the University of California, San Diego, on Saturday, I asked the parents in attendance this question: What percentage of high school seniors do you think got accepted into their No. 1 college last year? One dad blurted out, “Six percent.” From the other side of the room, a mom provided this answer: “Two percent?” I...
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October 3, 2011

20 Surprising Statistics about College Students

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....
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January 24, 2011

When College Isn't Working

I’ve always thought that parents and teenagers spend way too much time worrying about getting into college and not enough on being prepared for college. I was thinking about that this weekend after I left a birthday party Saturday at a restaurant in downtown San Diego for an old friend. About 200 people attended the mega birthday celebration and I...
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August 11, 2010

Starting College With the Jitters

I’m getting up before dawn tomorrow. My son Ben and I are catching a 6:45 a.m. flight to Chicago. Ben will be starting college on Saturday and he’s nervous. But hey, aren’t all college freshmen nervous? Coincidentally, I found a great blog post today, written by two college professors, who shared ways that college freshmen can increase their confidence. Here...
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January 31, 2010

Why You Should File the FAFSA, Freshmen Facts and Engineering Degrees

6 Reasons to File the FAFSA Should you file the FAFSA? Here’s my answer for just about everybody, including myself: Absolutely yes. I admit it’s not fun to complete the FAFSA, which I am going to do today. If it’s any consolation, the FAFSA is easier to fill out than the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, which I am also tackling today....
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August 28, 2009

What College Freshmen Know and Don’t Know

The year that I started college, Richard Nixon resigned, pocket calculators started appearing in stores and Jethro Tull was oh, so cool — at least with the kids I hung out with. I realized how dramatically different the experiences of today’s college freshmen are after I read Beloit College’s Mindset List. Each year the liberal arts college releases an amusing...
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June 18, 2009

Blaming College Students for Not Graduating in Six Years

I know a bunch of parents who expect their teenagers to graduate from college in four years. Many of them are dreaming. Forty percent of  students can’t even graduate from college in six years! Colleges and universities often blame students for this dismal record. But if it’s the kids who are slackers, how come schools with similar academic profiles experience...
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