What You Need to Know About Applying to College with a Learning Disability

Three students reclining on grass, engaging with a laptop together, with an educational caption about applying to college with a learning disability.

Learn GraphicFortunately, when my son was applying to college he didn’t have to deal with a learning disability on top of everything else although I do know quite a few homeschoolers who did have to deal with both issues. It seems to me that the approach one takes in applying to college as a homeschooler isn’t all that different from that of someone applying to college with a learning disability. Ultimately, students have to be prepared to address the issue as appropriate throughout the admissions process.

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Are TAs Going to be Teaching Your Classes?

college students sitting in a circle representing TAs teaching classesIf you attend an institution with non-professional graduate students, the answer in most cases is yes. And they don’t have to be large schools. There are 37 schools with less than 5,000 full-time undergraduates that have at least 50 or more graduate teaching assistants. You’ll even have TAs teaching classes at Harvard and Yale.

How can this be?

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5 Reasons Why College Confidential is Slowly Killing You

Teen visiting college confidential(The following is a guest post by JJ Shaw, an incoming freshman at Columbia College, and pretty much sums up why you should never visit the “chance me” forums at College Confidential.)

College Confidential is “the world’s largest college forum.” Except in this world, 2400s aren’t merely enough.

It has a long history of feeding the egocentric tendencies of high achieving seniors. It inflates the self-worth of some, all while crushing the confidence of otherwise perfectly capable college-bound students.

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50-50 Highlights: Colleges with the Highest Percentage of International Students

group of international students at colllegeWhat does it mean if a college or university has a relatively high percentage of international students? Does it indicate better tuition deals for foreign students either in terms of financial aid or lower out-of-state tuition? Or does it mean that the school is better at recruiting international students for full pay students?

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Yes, It is Harder to Get Into the Top Ranked Colleges

Racing boat representing college rankingsAre your chances of becoming president better today than they were in 1990? Given that the population in 1990 was 248,709,873 and increased by 24% to 308,745,538 in 2010, your chances are worse. While the general population has increased, there is still only one president. Despite population growth, we still have 435 members in the House of Representatives, the same number as in 1911. If the proportion of the number of representatives kept pace with the population since then, we would be looking at a House of Representatives approaching 1,500.

What does this have to with college admissions? There are still only eight Ivy League Universities and their class size certainly hasn’t been keeping up with population growth.

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What You Need to Know About College Confidential

Student at computer representing what you need to know about college confidential

Woman on computer on college confidentialCollege Confidential seems to be a lot like the US News College Rankings. Either people use it blindly as the final word on college admissions or they see it as simply the manifestation of all that is wrong with the college admissions process. The reality is that College Confidential, like US News College Rankings, can be a useful tool in your college search toolbox if used properly.

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11 Colleges Frugal with Financial Aid

picture of locked money representing expensive collegesSometime ago, I listed 15 schools to avoid if you’re making a list of affordable colleges. After all, just as there are colleges that are known for their generosity, there are expensive colleges that you should avoid if you’re looking for significant help in cutting the cost of college. Since I’ve just recently updated the DIY College Rankings Spreadsheet, I’ve decided to revisit the list and see if the composition has changed much. And yes, there have been some changes.

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Best and Worst Colleges by State

A child in an orange shirt scratches their head, looking confused. A text banner at the bottom asks, "What are the Best and Worst Colleges by State?.

Boy wondering about best and worst colleges by stateWhich state has the public research university with the higher 5-year graduation rate, Florida or Wisconsin?

What are the most expensive private colleges in each state?

Which state’s public university had 20% of undergraduates with PLUS loans, Michigan or Mississippi?

Which private colleges had the highest 4-year graduation rates in Massachusetts and New York?

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50-50 Highlights: Liberal Arts Colleges Ranked by Median Earnings

Stacks of money representing liberal arts colleges ranked by salaryEvaluating Liberal Arts Colleges by how much graduates make is antithetical to the concept of a liberal arts education in so many ways. But given the fact that 100 Liberal Arts Colleges now cost more than $50,000, I don’t care how much aid the students are receiving, families have every right to know what kind of pay-off the student can expect. This doesn’t mean that families don’t appreciate the value of a liberal arts education. It’s just recognition that there will bills and loans to repay after graduation.

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