The College Solutions Blog

July 23, 2009

Close to 840 colleges and universities no longer require that you submit an ACT or SAT test score for admission. That’s great news for anybody who bombs on standardized tests, but cynical reasons help explain what’s fueling the test-optional movement. In a story that I wrote for The New York Times, I share the hidden reasons why schools are dropping...

July 11, 2009

Here’s my weekend college blog roundup of the posts that I wrote during the past few days for CBSMoneyWatch.com. Hope you enjoy them. Is Harvard Going Broke? If you’ve been struggling to stay on a budget, you might appreciate what’s happening at Harvard, which is experiencing the worst financial crisis of its 373-year history. The Soaring Popularity of College Student...

May 22, 2009

Will students who take SAT prep courses increase their test scores? To me the answer is obvious. Of course, you can boost your test scores through SAT preparation. Both of my children have benefited by attending an SAT prep course, My daughter’s score jump ed by at least 120 points. And my son, who just got his SAT scores back,...

April 16, 2009

This is prime test-taking season for the SAT and ACT. My niece and nephew both took the ACT in St. Louis earlier this month. I know a bunch of teenagers, including my son, who will be taking the SAT soon. Both tests play to different strengths which is why plenty of kids end up taking the SAT and the ACT....

March 19, 2009

Want to know how your teenager can improve the score on his or her SAT essay? I learned a few tips last night when I shared the stage at a high school college event with an SAT guru from the Princeton Review. She shared with the crowd these six SAT essay tips: 1. Come prepared. Show up on test day...

February 16, 2009

More than 820 colleges and universities no longer require students to submit their SAT or ACT scores to be considered for admission.While that’s wonderful news for anybody who bombs on the SAT or ACT test, there is an ugly side to the test-optional movement that you should know about. I began wondering a few months ago about whether the published...

November 24, 2008

I hear a lot of crazy things when I drive the teenagers in my carpool to high school, but perhaps the strangest admission happened near the start of the school year. The four kids were talking about their SAT scores when Madison mumbled that his scores were low. I asked him what happened and he said he decided to see...

August 30, 2008

I thought I’d pass along today some of the statistics from the The Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual almanac, which was released this week. Unfortunately, you have to be a subscriber so you can’t take a look yourself. In no particular order, here goes: Graduation rate at four-year colleges & universities: 56.4% (Women 59.2%) (Men 53%) Where high school graduates...

August 13, 2008

In July, The New York Times ran a lengthy front-page story about teenagers’ abandonment of books. Kids would rather read online than pick up a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird or a Jane Austen novel. My son Ben shares that sentiment. He will sometimes stumble onto a book that he loves like The Life of Pi, but it’s got...

July 14, 2008

What happens when someone is caught cheating on the SAT or ACT test? Apparently not much, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. The testing services don’t notify colleges about cheating incidents and they also don’t inform the students’ high schools. The fraudulent SAT scores are simply canceled. The cheaters are welcome to take the tests again. The...