Great College Advice

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 financial downturn has high school seniors and their parents running scared.  How can we reduce costs?  How can we get the best deal?

The conventional wisdom says that an in-state college is the cheapest option.  As with most conventional wisdom, this assumption is wrong.

Let’s compare costs for a Colorado student considering majoring in business at [...]

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 [...]

A parent of a senior asked me the other day about college visits.  When is the best time to visit?
The answer is, “from whose perspective?”
There are two different reasons for visiting college.  The first is the student’s need to get an idea of what life would be like on that campus.  Students often have a [...]

Actress Emma Watson is embarking on a new adventure:  the college search.  Apparently she is considering a liberal arts degree from one of the Ivies.  She was spotted this week visiting Yale University, Harvard University, and Brown University.

While it was difficult for her to maintain a low profile amid the throngs of Harry Potter fans [...]

Generally speaking, investing in yourself is a smart idea. More education usually leads to more opportunity, better jobs, and higher income. However, many students have no idea how to think about the investment in financial terms.
For example, does it make sense to spend $100,000 and take on tens of thousands in loans [...]

My clients who aspire toward a career in fine art know that they need to prepare a portfolio of their work to present to admissions officers.  These portfolios need to show off their best work, and provide a window into their creative thought processes.

Most students interested in admission to a school of art and design [...]

I spent a beautiful fall day at recently at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, located in Lakewood, Colorado.  The occasion was National Portfolio Day.  Budding young artists attend one of about 50 portfolio events around the country in order to receive some critical feedback on their portfolios before they are submitted to [...]

During my recent visit to the University of Wyoming, I met a woman from Suzhou, China, chattering away in Mandarin with a friend.  I had learned that there were significant numbers of international students on the campus.  In fact, my tour guide that day was from Zimbabwe.

But I wanted to learn a bit more about [...]

During my recent visit to the University of Wyoming, I came across two women chattering away in Mandarin Chinese.  While one was Chinese, the other was from Saipan, a small island in the South Pacific that is within the US Commonwealth (like Puerto Rico or Guam). Her name is Jennifer “J.J.” Jang, and she’s a [...]