The College Solution Blog by Lynn O'Shaughnessy

College Blog Post

Common Data Set 101

The Common Data Set can be a great tool for researching colleges and universities. You can learn what a Common Data Set is by reading the post that I wrote yesterday: Researching Colleges With the Common Data Set Today I’m going to explore how you can use the Common Data Set to gain insights into [...]

Lynn | September 2nd, 2010 | Continued

College Blog Post

Researching Colleges With the Common Data Set

At the beginning of yet another college admission season, I want to share one of my favorite tools that can help anyone research colleges and universities. The tool is called the Common Data Set. College and universities all over the country produce their own Common Data Set every year. The Common Data Set is a [...]

Lynn | September 1st, 2010 | Continued

About this Site

I’m Lynn O’Shaughnessy. I am an author, a college blogger, speaker and independent college consultant. I write about college strategies for TheCollegeSolutionBlog, CBSMoneyWatch and US News & World Report. As an independent college counselor, I help teenagers and their parents find the best colleges at the lowest prices possible. The college process doesn’t have to [...]

Newest College Posts

My First College Blog Video

It took me all afternoon, but I finally figured out how to record a video and post it on YouTube. You have no idea how long it took just to figure out how to insert a title. I’m hoping that I can now get the darn thing on my own college blog. It’s my first [...]

31Aug2010 | Lynn | 3 comments | Continued

Get a Free Copy of an Amazon College Bestseller

Stressed about paying for college? Then you’re the right demographic for a new book, Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents. Zac Bissonnette, who is an editor and writer at AOL Finance, wrote Debt-Free and, get this this, he’s a college student. Debt-Free U [...]

30Aug2010 | Lynn | 9 comments | Continued

Best College Rankings: No. 50 – 100

If you hadn’t already noticed, this is college rankings month. US News & World Report, the big college rankings gorilla, released its latest lists of the best liberal arts colleges and best universities earlier in August. Forbes Magazine rolled out its best college list this month too and the Washington Monthly unveiled its picks for [...]

29Aug2010 | Lynn | 1 comment | Continued

The Problem With Graduate School and Rankings

With the economy still floundering, more Americans are considering attending graduate school. But how do you shop for the best graduate school programs? Writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Thomas A. Benton, an English professor at Hope College made a stab at answering that question. He observed that the universities receiving the highest graduate [...]

27Aug2010 | Lynn | 0 comments | Continued

What Are The Most Popular Graduate Degrees?

Yesterday I wrote a blog post for CBSMoneywatch that included lists of the most popular graduate degrees. Here is the post: America’s Most Popular Graduate Degrees Not surprisingly, the MBA was the most popular master’s degree program for both men and women. What I found interesting, however, was how quickly the most popular master’s degree [...]

26Aug2010 | Lynn | 0 comments | Continued

Case Study: Applying to William and Mary College Early Decision

It’s still summer, but I’ve already gotten my first question about early decision. I thought I’d share the question posed by a mom, lets call her Susanna, whose daughter wants to apply early decision to William and Mary College in Williamsburg, VA. If you don’t know what ED is, here is the definition of early [...]

25Aug2010 | Lynn | 0 comments | Continued

A Financial Aid Crystal Ball

One of the problems with paying for college is that you don’t know how much it’s going to cost. Many students won’t receive their financial aid awards until the spring. And colleges expect families to start paying a short time later. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could know well ahead of time whether a [...]

24Aug2010 | Lynn | 0 comments | Continued

What If You’re Not a Leader?

Colleges love applicants who are leaders. This collegiate desire to find leaders doesn’t jive with the fact that most teenagers — or Americans of any other age group — just aren’t leaders. But here’s the good news: A teen doesn’t have to be the president or v.p. of his or her class to be considered [...]

23Aug2010 | Lynn | 1 comment | Continued