The US News and World Report Best College Rankings is considered by many high school students and their parents to be the final word on a college’s desirability. Not surprisingly, many others believe that the rankings represent everything that is wrong with college admissions today. The reality is that the rankings are made up of … Read more
When high school students start looking for colleges to apply to, they rarely consider college graduation rates. Even with the sky-rocketing costs of college, most families still don’t consider graduation rates. They may notice it when a school advertises its four-year graduation guarantee but I suspect most just dismiss it as not applying to “their” situation. ShareTweet10FlipEmailPin634644 … Read more
College Spreadsheets are all about the start of the college search. Too many people don’t really think about using spreadsheets until the end of the admissions process when they have to decide between colleges. At this point, it’s generally about preferences they have already established and are rankings as plus and minuses between five and … Read more
Parents of sophomores need to know that their students’ college financial aid awards will be calculated on the base year that starts January 1 of the student’s sophomore year. This means that the fall semester of the student’s sophomore year will be the last chance parents have to implement some financial aid strategies that could … Read more
College athletes without a scholarship that play on a team that offers scholarships are generally referred to as “walk-ons.” Over time, the term has evolved such that now some people recognize three types of walk-ons. There are preferred walk-ons, recruited walk-ons, and just plain walk-ons. If you’re going to be a walk-on, “preferred” is definitely … Read more
As the parents of college freshmen drove home from dropping their kids off at college, many had to be thinking about how they’ll do things differently next time knowing what they know now. Many were probably wishing, “if only someone had told me four years ago when we first started thinking about preparing for college … Read more
There are two major delusions/misconceptions about paying for college that too many parents have. The first is that by not saving for college, parents claim this will make their kids eligible for more financial aid. Why bother saving if it means they won’t get any financial aid? This falls into the delusional category. I generally … Read more
There are over 1,600 four-year public and private colleges in the United States. And guess what, they don’t all cost an arm and a leg to attend. With this many colleges, there have to be quality, affordable options available for families who look for them. And there are students attending college without facing the prospect … Read more
If you have kids old enough for you to be thinking about the college admissions process and how you’ll pay for it, you also need to be thinking about how you’re going to compare colleges. Because the fact is that you’re going to be comparing lots of colleges, the sooner the better. You’re going to … Read more
