College Solution, The A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price

by O'Shaughnessy, Lynn

• ISBN13: 9780132944670
• ISBN10: 0132944677
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-23
• Publisher: FT Press

Summary

For the 99% of families whose kids aren't going to Harvard, Lynn O'Shaughnessy's The College Solutionis the #1 guide on choosing and paying for the right college. Now, O'Shaughnessy has completely updated this best-seller to reflect massive recent changes in college financing. O'Shaughnessy shows how to slash college costs today and how many students can still go to "private" for virtually the cost of "in-state public." This brand-new Second Edition reveals how to use new government-mandated online price calculators to make more intelligent cost projections than ever before. O'Shaughnessy explains dramatic changes in the student loan landscape, offering up-to-the-minute advice for getting the right loan, and avoiding the wrong one. She presents up-to-the-minute "industry secrets" about how colleges really parcel out financial aid and how even "average" students can get more of it. Families will learn how to use colleges' extensive new Facebook presences to evaluate schools more effectively… what every parent of an athlete must know about athletic scholarships… and how to make sure a college actually delivers the knowledge and skills it promises. O'Shaughnessy integrates this crucial new information into her easy-to-use, proven roadmap for getting past the ratings, and finding the right program 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!

Author Biography

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.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xii
Shrinking the Cost of College
Making College More Affordable	p. 2
Show Me the Money	p. 4
The Colleges with the Best Financial Aid	p. 9
Who Gets Financial Aid?	p. 16
Winning the Educational Lottery	p. 21
Calculating Your Expected Family Contribution	p. 25
A Revolutionary Calculator	p. 28
The Allure of Out-of-State Public Universities	p. 33
Looking Across State Lines for a Bargain	p. 40
Capturing Private Scholarships	p. 44
Will Saving for College Hurt Your Financial Aid Chances?	p. 48
Maximizing Financial Aid	p. 53
More Ways to Shrink the Cost of College	p. 58
Appealing the Verdict	p. 62
Getting Grandma to Help	p. 67
Increasing Your Admission Chances
Boosting Your Chances	p. 72
Finding the Right Match	p. 74
Ditching the Test	p. 79
Showing a College Some Love	p. 85
When Talent Is the Hook	p. 89
The Realities of Athletic Scholarships	p. 91
The Geographic Hook	p. 99
Why Being Rich Helps	p. 104
The Legacy Hook	p. 107
Playing the Gender Card	p. 110
Diversity Blueprint	p. 113
The Asian Student Dilemma	p. 120
Knowing Your Academic Choices
What's the Difference Between a College and a University?	p. 124
The Ivy League Myth	p. 127
What Is a Research University?	p. 132
What University Professors Do	p. 137
The Beauty of Liberal Arts CoUeges	p. 141
What Is a Medium-Sized University?	p. 149
Why Community Colleges Are Popular	p. 153
Nine Ways to Generate College Ideas	p. 158
Evaluating the Academics
Are Students Really Learning?	p. 162
What's Wrong with US News & World Report's College Rankings	p. 159
The Right Way to Use College Rankings	p. 175
College Rankings: An Alternative	p. 179
The Hallmarks of a Student-Centered University	p. 182
Staying in College Too Long	p. 186
Grading Academic Departments	p. 193
Kicking the Tires	p. 195
Admission Nuts and Bolts
What You Need to Know About High School Counselors	p. 202
What You Need to Know About Independent College Counselors	p. 209
Knowing What to Do When	p. 216
Writing Your Way Into College	p. 222
Visiting College Campuses	p. 226
Acing the College Interview	p. 230
Transferring to a Different College	p. 235
Getting Credit for Your Work	p. 240
Borrowing for College
The Best Student Loans	p. 244
Private College Loan Perils	p. 248
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