The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Lynn O'Shaughnessy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2012 | ISBN-10: 0132944677 | ISBN-13: 978-0132944670 | Edition: 2

This bestseller has been completely updated to provide you with the answers that you need to find wonderful colleges and universities at more affordable prices. The second edition of The College Solution, which contains approximately 90% new material, is aimed at helping parents and teenagers become empowered consumers as they navigate through the college process. Billions of dollars are available to pay for college, but not everybody gets their share. It's not always the families with the brightest students or the parents who are struggling financially who receive the most money. The College Solution shares the secrets of how you can capture some of this money for your own family. The book provides advice on such topics as financial aid, merit scholarships, athletic scholarships, admission hooks, the important differences between colleges and universities, college rankings, the best student loans and the latest online tools to evaluate the generosity of schools. O’Shaughnessy presents an easy-to-use, proven road map for getting past the ratings, and finding the right schools at the right price. No other book offers this much practical guidance on choosing and paying for college now – and no other book will save you as much money!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The College Solution provides a roadmap for students and parents trying to figure out the complex path to college. At every step along the process, Lynn O’Shaughnessy provides the necessary information families need to know about admissions and financial aid in an easy-to-digest format. Students and parents are inundated with information about college these days and this is a great book to help you figure out what really matters.”

—Jeffrey J. Selingo, vice president and editorial director, The Chronicle of Higher Education

 

“Chock-full of information about college entrance and affordability, O’Shaughnessy’s second edition of The College Solution is sure to raise your admission and financial aid ‘IQ.’”

—Seth Allen, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Pomona College

 

“The College Solution is an easy-to-read conversational guide to paying for college. Lynn O’Shaughnessy is a champion for consumers and will help you pick the college that is the best fit for you and your wallet.”

—Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.com and the author of The Secrets to Winning a Scholarship

 

“Even though I’ve been labeled a ‘college admissions expert,’ this is a book that I wish I had read when my son was still in high school. Jam-packed with information about testing, college essays, interviews, financial aid, and much, much more, this highly readable guide will help parents and their children through an often confusing process.”

—Robert Schaeffer, a founder of The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest)

About the Author

Lynn O’Shaughnessy is a nationally recognized higher-ed author, journalist, and speaker. She writes frequently about college issues for CBS MoneyWatch and for her own popular college blog at TheCollegeSolution.com.

 

Lynn has written or been interviewed about college for such media outlets as Money Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Fox Business News, Huffington Post, Parade Magazine, CBS This Morning, USA Today, and US News & World Report. She is the consulting director of college planning, K-12, at the University of California, San Diego Extension. She also is a frequent speaker on how families can find and afford great schools. Lynn’s daughter is a recent college graduate and her son is a college sophomore. Lynn is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: FT Press; 2 edition (May 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0132944677
• ISBN-13: 978-0132944670
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Education & Reference > College & University > College Guides
  • #92 in Books > Education & Reference > Schools & Teaching > Counseling

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Learned A Lot From This Little Book! May 5, 2012

By Falkor The White Luck Dragon VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I learned a lot from this compact, well organized book! The volume is divided in to six basic parts: "Shrinking the Cost of College", "Increasing Your Admissions Chances", "Knowing Your Academic Choices," "Evaluating the Academics", "Admission Nuts and Bolts" and "Borrowing for College".

In the "Shrinking the Cost of College" section I discovered that parents can have an unlimited amount in retirement accounts and a very expensive home and this does not detract from the child's chance at financial aid. The Expected Family Contribution form and its importance is well explained as is how to use net price calculators. Plenty of practical advice surrounding how to maximize financial aid and shrink college costs is included.

Much can be learned from the book's second section entitled "Increasing Your Admissions Chances". I was surprised to find how many well respected schools are now making admissions tests like the ACT and SAT optional. Also interesting was how important geographic location can be in getting admitted to college. I never knew before that showing interest often and early in particular can actually help a prospective student be admitted to their dream school. And the book does not shy away from discussing when gender or race can help or hurt at certain colleges and universities.

Part three "Knowing Your Academic Choices" explores the differences between colleges and universities and further breaks this topic down in to the four main types of institutions of higher learning. There is a chapter in this section called "The Ivy League Myth" which is very interesting. The author seems to have a bit of a bias toward liberal arts colleges which she explains thoroughly and convincingly.

With chapters with titles such as "Kicking the Tires" section four discusses such things as the pitfalls of college rankings and evaluating graduation rates and time spent by students until graduation. Other suggestions are made in this section to help evaluate if a particular college is really right for a specific student's academic hopes and career aspirations. Section five takes high school and independent college counselors to task as well as providing some practical advice on writing the college admittance essay, visiting campuses, the college interview and possibly transferring colleges. The last relatively short section concerns itself with borrowing for college and does a reasonably thorough job of discussing that topic.

If buying or reading a book to help a high school student prepare for choosing and getting in to a college that is a good match for them THE COLLEGE SOLUTION by Lynn O'Shaughnessy is currently the one to purchase.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the practical, down to earth book that you need for college planning. April 30, 2012

By Two kids mom TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is it. The practical, down to earth, realistic advice you need as a parent in order to help your child to choose a college or university (which, by the way, are not the same and the difference is explained in this book). The author helps you to figure out how to get the most for your education dollar. There are tons of books helping you to decide how to buy a house, or a car. College often costs even more. This is the book you need to help you get value for your money for your child's higher education and to choose a place your child will thrive.

The sections are titled:
1. Shrinking the cost of college
2. Increasing your admissions chances
3. Knowing your academic choices
4. Evaluating the academics
5. Admissions nuts and bolts
6. Borrowing for College

My son is a current high school sophomore. He attends a private high school, with excellent college counselors. In fact, he was required to take a class this year on college counseling. I did learn quite a bit from the material he brought home from that class, but still felt like I had many questions. This book answered many of them, among them:

Is an Ivy League education worth the price tag? (probably not from a lifetime earnings point of view)

What are the advantages/disadvantages of attending a research institution?

What are some factors that affect admissions and aid?

How can you maximize merit aid (especially if you are not eligible for financial aid) ?

The author shows a decided leaning toward liberal arts colleges and is up front about her position. She bases this opinion upon the fact that these colleges are more concerned with teaching undergraduates, leading to a focus on student learning rather than research. She also points out that often students (and parents) are caught up in the "name brand" of a school and are choosing it without understanding the factors which will influence their child's experience at school. The author also explains how colleges game the system in order to improve rankings. For example, colleges will solicit applications from students that they know they will never accept in order to improve their "rejection rates". This information was also presented by my son's college counselors, and knowing about this sort of subterfuge will help us to make a more informed choice about where he applies and ultimately attends.

I sat down to start this book and ended up reading the whole thing through in one sitting. It was informative without being boring, and each chapter had eye opening information. There were many suggestions of websites to use in order to acquire more information, about colleges, rankings, graduation rates, actual cost and even test prep.

Highly recommended. I suggest you buy the book when your child is a sophomore in high school, in order to allow you to start investigating possibilities and avoid making financial mistakes that may impact your child's eligibility for financial aid.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Must-Have Book December 30, 2012

By Michael Albert

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't emphasize enough the value of this book. Although I've spent quite a bit of time reading other books on the college selection and application process and pouring over web sites, this book presents ways to evaluate schools that are important and that none of those sources even thought to address. It contains lots of references to academic studies to back up its points, and lists web sites that are useful in finding important information that's not otherwise available. It addresses college selection, getting admitted, and financial aid. If I had to rely on a single source to aid us in the college selection and application process, this would be it.