Book Reviews – Do It Yourself College Rankings

What to Read: The College Solution

11/07/201811/02/2018 by Michelle Kretzschmar

A person relaxes in a hammock surrounded by green foliage, reading "The College Solution" book review.

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If you only get one book for your college search, get The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price by Lynn O’Shaughnessy. Why? You mean because I said so isn’t enough?

Okay, here’s the deal about buying a book about a subject you don’t know much about. If your knowledge approaches zero then any book you buy will provide you with dramatically more information than you had and will be useful. But that doesn’t mean you are getting all the information you need.

Must Read Book on Paying for College: The Financial Aid Handbook

05/06/202211/02/2017 by Michelle Kretzschmar

dog reading a book representing reading The Financial Aid Handbook

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With the availability of more free information on the internet than we know what to do with, the suggestion of reading a book to understand a topic may seem, well, old-fashion. But it’s precisely because of the information overload spawned by the internet that books can be a great investment. A good book will present you with the information you need to know in a meaningful way without any distractions. That has value. And for those looking for such value, I want to recommend The Financial Aid Handbook by Carol Stack and Ruth Vedvik.

If you only read one book to understand the intersection of finding and paying for a college, this is it. Carol Stack and Ruth Vedvik have taken their experience as college admission directors and created an essential guide that will take families through a cost based college search. And best of all, it’s written for students.

What the College Rankings Miss

07/26/201605/31/2015 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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Did you know that UT Dallas offers a Green Fellowship that allows students to pursue research projects at the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas?

Did you know that the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures Composites Center hires undergraduate research assistants who have opportunities to become full research partners including being named authors on journal articles, named inventors on patents, and attending national and international conferences and meetings?

5 Best College Admission Blogs

10/16/201704/28/2015 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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There are so many college admission blogs out there, it’s hard to decide which ones to read. After all, you can’t read them all and you don’t want to waste your time reading posts on the same topics. And how do you know which are any good? If you do a search on “best college blogs” you’ll find things like “50 best college admission blogs,” “Top 25 College Blogs,” and “22 College Blogs You Should be Reading.” Not very helpful.

Moneyball College Admissions Rules: Ignore Peer Pressure

07/26/201607/29/2014 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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I’m always amazed at the absolute certainty people have of the superiority of one college over another. Spend a little time on College Confidential and you’ll see high school students looking for advice on which school to attend bombarded with definitive statements of the overwhelming excellence of one school compared to another. Sometimes they’ll point to rankings but more often than not, the opinions will be based on their experience with just one of the schools in question.

Moneyball College Admissions Rules: Use Your College Experience to Get What You Want

05/03/202207/22/2014 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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At first glance, Billy Beane’s fourth Moneyball rule wouldn’t seem a good fit for the college application process: “Know exactly who you want and go after him (Never mind who they say they want to trade).” After all, it doesn’t seem likely that many students will convince colleges to change admission requirements or how much financial aid offered simply based on their determination to attend a specific school.

Moneyball College Admission Rules: Know How Much You’re Paying and Why

07/26/201607/15/2014 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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I don’t know about you, but I’m always leery when the price of a good or service I’m considering purchasing isn’t readily available. The phrase, “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” starts echoing in my head. However, although most college websites don’t have their costs readily accessible, it doesn’t seem to be an issue for most people. I have to admit, I didn’t really start noticing it until I start writing this post.

Moneyball College Admission Rules: A College is not a Guarantee

07/26/201607/08/2014 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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If you’re looking for data for your own Moneyball college admission search, check out the sample spreadsheet in the DIY College Search Spreadsheet class for free.

In Moneyball, Michael Lewis lists five rules that Billy Beane uses when shopping for baseball players just before the trading deadline. It’s important to remember that these aren’t just any players.

Summer Reading List for College Bound Students

07/26/201607/02/2014 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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The following is a guest post by Scott Huntington. For those still in the looking for a college stage, check out using the DIY College Search Spreadsheet class. The introduction is free.

Before many students enter their first semester of college this year, they ask themselves a fairly common question: How should I prepare for college this summer? One of the most fun and effective ways to prepare is to read quality literature. This could be anything from brilliantly written epics, like Moby-Dick, to thought-provoking advice books, like How to Win Friends and Influence People.