The College Solutions Blog

August 14, 2017

How do you know if the colleges that interest your teenager would provide him or her with an excellent education? You won’t. College pricing is inching closer to transparency thanks to net price calculators and other tools,  but it’s difficult to form an educated opinion about the strength of a school’s learning environment. Evaluating an Institution’s Professors To get a...

June 14, 2016

How do you know if the colleges or universities that your child is looking at would provide him or her with an excellent education? You won’t. College pricing is inching closer to transparency thanks to net price calculators and other tools,  but it’s difficult to form an educated opinion about the strength of a school’s learning environment. Evaluating an Institution’s...

March 28, 2016

I’ve been getting emails from parents, who are bitter that their bright teenagers have been getting rejection letters from elite colleges and universities. What follows are two email excerpts. From a dad named Jeff: My son is his high school’s valedictorian. He scored 35 on the ACT and had straight A’s all four years at an academically competitive school. He...

March 27, 2015

Most students who hope to earn a bachelor’s degree will enroll at a university. The schools that students dream of attending are almost always research universities. It’s far less common for teenagers to end up at a college. I find that reality unfortunate because a college can often provide a better education for undergraduates than a research university. And it’s...

November 25, 2013

The prospect of rejection is one of the most stressful aspects of the college admission process. In reality, however, most students don’t have to fear rejection. In its annual survey of college freshmen, UCLA always seems to find that at least 75% of students are accepted into their first-choice school. Today, I wanted to share a study, conducted by Inside Higher...

July 12, 2013

I wrote this post on Friday, but since then I’ve gotten some more suggestions to add to the list of liberal arts colleges in or near cities including Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.  A Trinity alum provided some fascinating history about schools that technically should no longer be considered liberal arts colleges, such as the University of Richmond, but...

June 17, 2013

I don’t have to tell you that one of the biggest stresses of the entire college process is the standardized testing. The prospects of taking the SAT and/or ACT is daunting, particularly since so much can ride on the results. I wasn’t happy about the amount of time and money spent in my house on these tests for my own...

March 10, 2013

This is a stressful time for teenagers and parents who are waiting for acceptances. Or who are trying to decide what the ultimate college choice will be. Or who are wondering how they are going to pay for a school when their financial aid package is inadequate. Today I want to share some conversations that I’ve had at my gym...

January 29, 2013

I wanted to share this note that I got today from a mother, who wonders about the fairness of merit aid scholarship policies. In my next post, I’ll comment on Rebecca’s note. I’d urge you to share your thoughts on this subject in the comment box below. — Lynn O’Shaughnessy Hi Lynn, I would love it if you would write...

December 3, 2012

Today’s post comes courtesy of a new website, LiberalArtsColleges.com, which was created by David Kochanek after he realized that there wasn’t a single online source dedicated to all liberal arts colleges. As some of you know, I’m a huge admirer of liberal arts colleges and both of my children ended up at one.  I believe liberal arts colleges represent the...