Synopses & Reviews
For the 99% of families whose kids aren’t going to Harvard, Lynn O’Shaughnessy’s The College Solution is 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!
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)
Synopsis
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!
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.