Great College Advice

Today’s New York Times includes an article about worried admissions officers across the land, especially at private colleges, who are noticing steep declines in the numbers of applications.  Conventional wisdom has it that the financial aid picture is so bad that students dare not dream of attending a private school for fear of being unable [...]

About this time of year, some of my clients are pulling their hair out because they have to answer crazy questions on their college applications.  Some colleges even ask kids to make up their own question and answer it.

One, possibly apocyrphal, story has it that an applicant to Harvard or Princeton dealt with this open-ended [...]

According to an article in today’s New York Times, Harvard announced that its endowment has lost 22%, and may lose up to 30% by the end of its fical year in June.  Harvard depends on its endowment income for 35% of its operating budget.  So it is undeniable that the financial squeeze will affect every [...]

The Denver NBC affiliate picked up my post offering Ten College Planning Tips for Tough Economic Times.  A segment on college planning and financial aid aired this morning on 9 News KUSA.

Have a look at yours truly on air.

While they billed me as a financial aid planner, those who know me think of me as [...]

Welcome to the 5th Edition of the Carnival of College Admission. As promised, and in commemoration of the America’s Holiday, we offer the “Turkey Edition.” Today you’ll learn all sorts of fun facts about turkeys that you can share with your friends around the dinner table tomorrow. So not only will you [...]

Brad Ward and his colleagues in the admissions office at Butler University put together a short, little video about what happens to your college application when it arrives in their office.

While the video is meant for students applying to Butler, it’s a great explanation of the process in place at most smaller, privat colleges.

Mark Montgomery
College [...]

I’ve received a number of questions from readers, clients, and friends about how to navigate the college admissions and financial aid process in tough economic times.  By far the biggest worry on everyone’s mind is finding the resources to pay for college.

In some ways we have a perfect storm a-brewing.  As personal savings and college [...]

The annual report from the College Board indicates that the cost of tuition went up last year.  On average, costs increased from 5-6%, depending on the type of institution.  If you want more specifics, you can see the summary of the report in today’s edition of Inside Higher Ed.

The big question is how much colleges [...]

The press is full of startling articles about the impact of the economic downturn on financial aid.  For example, George Washington University is likely to transfer a portion of its financial aid budget for next year to students currently enrolled.  The private university fears that a significant portion of its student may have to leave [...]

The Chicago Tribune ran a story on Monday about the lengths to which some parents will go to get their darlings into college.  The whole process of selecting and applying to college is certainly stresseful.  And there is no doubt that the competition is fierce.

It’s also true that in some school communities, the competition is [...]