Home > Store

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

Register your product to gain access to bonus material or receive a coupon.

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

Book

  • Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
Not for Sale

About

Features

Reading this book can save families thousands, while revealing academic opportunities they never would have imagined.

  • First complete college guide for the 99% of American students who aren't headed for the Ivy League!
  • Learn how you can go to a private college for the cost of public and surprising discounts on great public colleges and universities!
  • By Lynn O'Shaughnessy, one of the nation's most respected personal finance journalists and author of Retirement Bible!

Description

  • Copyright 2008
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-236570-7
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-236570-3

The College Solution helps readers look beyond over-hyped admission rankings to discover schools that offer a quality education at affordable prices. Taking the guesswork out of saving and finding money for college, this is a practical and insightful must-have guide for every parent!”

—Jaye J. Fenderson, Seventeen’s College Columnist and Author, Seventeen’s Guide to Getting into College

“This book is a must read in an era of rising tuition and falling admission rates. O’Shaughnessy offers good advice with blessed clarity and brevity.”

—Jay Mathews, Washington Post Education Writer and Columnist

“I would recommend any parent of a college-bound student read The College Solution.”

—Kal Chany, Author, The Princeton Review’s Paying for College Without Going Broke

The College Solution goes beyond other guidebooks in providing an abundance of information about how to afford college, in addition to how to approach the selection process by putting the student first.”

—Martha “Marty” O’Connell, Executive Director, Colleges That Change Lives

“Lynn O’Shaughnessy always focuses on what’s in the consumer’s best interest, telling families how to save money and avoid making costly mistakes.”

—Mark Kantrowitz, Publisher, FinAid.org and Author, FastWeb College Gold

“An antidote to the hype and hysteria about getting in and paying for college! O’Shaughnessy has produced an excellent overview that demystifies the college planning process for students and families.”

—Barmak Nassirian, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers

For millions of families, the college planning experience has become extremely stressful. And, unless your child is an elite student in the academic top 1%, most books on the subject won’t help you.

Now, however, there’s a college guide for everyone. In The College Solution, top personal finance journalist Lynn O’Shaughnessy presents an easy-to-use roadmap to finding the right college program (not just the most hyped) and dramatically reducing the cost of college, too.

Forget the rankings! Discover what really matters: the quality and value of the programs your child wants and deserves.

O’Shaughnessy uncovers “industry secrets” on how colleges actually parcel out financial aid—and how even “average” students can maximize their share. Learn how to send your kids to expensive private schools for virtually the cost of an in-state public college...and how promising students can pay significantly less than the “sticker price” even at the best state universities.

No other book offers this much practical guidance on choosing a college...and no other book will save you as much money!

•  Secrets your school’s guidance counselor doesn’t know yet

The surprising ways colleges have changed how they do business

•  Get every dime of financial aid that’s out there for you

Be a “fly on the wall” inside the college financial aid office

•  U.S. News & World Report: clueless about your child

Beyond one-size-fits-all rankings: finding the right program for your teenager

• The best bargains in higher education

Overlooked academic choices that just might be perfect for you

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapters

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

The College Solution: Where Is the $$$?

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages

Table of Contents

Foreword xv

Introduction xix

PART I: Capturing Financial Aid 1

Chapter 1: Where Is the $$$? 2

Chapter 2: Looking for Cash in the Right Places 5

Chapter 3: Using Financial Aid Tools 9

Chapter 4: Financial Aid in the Real World 13

Chapter 5: A Peek Inside a Financial Aid Office 17

Chapter 6: Winning the Financial Aid Lottery 20

Chapter 7: Maximizing Financial Aid 25

Chapter 8: Maximizing Financial Aid, Part II 30

Chapter 9: Appealing the Verdict 34

PART II: Capturing Tuition Discounts 39

Chapter 10: The Race for Cash 40

Chapter 11: The Inside Scoop on Merit Money 44

Chapter 12: Academic Freebies 49

Chapter 13: Creating a Buzz 53

Chapter 14: Playing the Gender Card 59

PART III: Finding Great Academic Fits 63

Chapter 15: The Hidden Truth 64

Chapter 16: The Knock Against U S News & World Report 67

Chapter 17: The Rankings Antidote 71

Chapter 18: Research Made Easy 77

Chapter 19: Grading Academic Departments 83

Chapter 20: Grading Academic Departments, Part II 91

Chapter 21: The Value of Undergraduate Research 97

Chapter 22: Grading Professors 101

PART IV: Overlooked Academic Choices 105

Chapter 23: Stop Hyperventilating 106

Chapter 24: The Allure of Liberal Arts Colleges 109

Chapter 25: What Makes Public Liberal Arts

Colleges Special 114

Chapter 26: Teaching Versus Research 118

Chapter 27: Learning in a Crowd 121

PART V: Exploring Community Colleges 127

Chapter 28: Considering a Community College 128

Chapter 29: Why Community Colleges Are Popular 130

Chapter 30: Is Your Local Community College Any Good? 134

Chapter 31: Getting Credit for Your Work 139

PART VI: College Admissions Nuts & Bolts 143

Chapter 32: Knowing When to Do What 144

Chapter 33: Grading College Counselors 150

Chapter 34: Ditching the SAT 156

Chapter 35: Writing Your Way into College 162

Chapter 36: Visiting Campuses 167

Chapter 37: Acing the College Interview 170

Chapter 38: Getting In at the Last Minute 173

PART VII: College Diversity 175

Chapter 39: Diversity Blueprint 176

PART VIII: Economizing for College 183

Chapter 40: Shrinking the College Tab 184

Chapter 41: Shrinking the College Tab, Part II 188

Chapter 42: Freebies and Best Buys 191

Chapter 43: Capturing Private Scholarships 196

PART IX: Navigating the Student Loan Maze 201

Chapter 44: The Student Loan Fiasco 202

Chapter 45: Student Loan Primer 206

Chapter 46: Disappearing Discounts 211

Chapter 47: Private Loan Perils 213

Chapter 48: Default Debacles 218

PART X: Maximizing College Accounts 221

Chapter 49: A 529 Primer 222

Chapter 50: College Investing Cheat Sheet 228

Chapter 51: The Perils of Cashing Out College

Accounts 233

Chapter 52: Grading Financial Advisers 237

PART XI: The Folks Back Home 243

Chapter 53: Parents Behaving Badly 244

Chapter 54: Getting Grandma to Help 250

Appendix: The College Solution Cheat Sheet 253

Resource Guide 259

Index 267

Updates

Submit Errata

More Information

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020