A few times over the years I have featured blogs from Lynn O’Shaughnessy. She was the founder and owner of the College Solution which helped students find the right college for them by working with them and their families. Her blogs were great and recently she sent out the below note letting her readers know she was closing up shop. She sent one final post which had some great information. I’ve shared that here and wanted to thank her for all those years of putting out fantastic information for students, their parents and of course for Counselors. Here is her final farewell and blog. Enjoy!
I’m closing up shop at The College Solution, but I’m not going to leave you empty-handed. You may have noticed that I stopped sending out my newsletter awhile ago. I simply lost interest and became passionate about other things. Since it would be lame to simply say goodbye (and of no use to anyone), I’m leaving you with some relevant tips to find your own college solution!
No. 1. Check out College ROI
Families often fixate on the brand names of colleges rather than other factors such as what a major’s return on investment (ROI) will be at a specific school. It’s untrue that getting into a prestigious institution will guarantee an enviable lifetime of earnings no matter the major. At the University of Chicago, for instance, an economics degree holder enjoys a lifetime ROI of $3.6 million versus an English literature major who earns a NEGATIVE $197,000! Wide ROI variations not only exist within any university, but also across institutions for any major whether it’s biology, business administration, psychology or something else. You can track ROI figures for tens of thousands of degrees via an invaluable tool from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. Below is a sampling of undergraduate ROIs for San Diego State University, which is about a five-minute drive from my house. Salaries aren’t everything when picking a college, but they are worth checking out.
No. 2. Make the most out of those four years
Getting into college isn’t that hard, but what is challenging is exploiting all the amazing resources and opportunities that a college offers. Research from Gallup/Purdue shows that what you do in college, including finding a mentor, studying abroad and getting involved in extracurriculars, is hugely influential in whether you ultimately end up living a fulfilling and happy life and career. I started writing posts for The College Solution in 2008 and one of my all-time favorites was about my daughter Caitlin Bigelow’s uncanny ability to squeeze every last drop out of her liberal arts education. Caitlin, who is now the global marketing director of an international modular construction company, did what Gallup/Purdue said only three percent of undergrads do – make the absolute most out of their four-year college experience. How My Daughter Made the Most Out of College
No. 3. Improve math skills
Fewer than a third of students from K-12 grades are proficient in math! Boosting math skills in grade school and beyond can not only ultimately lead to more college choices and greater awards, but a wider choice of realistic majors – and often higher paying ones. Tutoring is an obvious way to boost students math abilities, but it can also be a wise idea for children who want to advance beyond their grade level. What’s more, if your child wants to attend a highly prestigious school, taking and doing well in Calculus is often a must. And that’s true even if a school doesn’t acknowledge it. The online tutor who I’d highly recommend checking out is my son, Ben Bigelow, who graduated with a mathematics degree and a master’s in curriculum and instruction. Those credentials, however, pale in comparison to the fact that Ben is an innately gifted teacher, who is not only patient, but has the ability to draw the absolute most out of his students. Parents love him!
No. 4. Use this college software
Many parents will find that covering their college costs is a struggle if they don’t find schools that will generously discount the price through need-based aid or merit awards. To make the hunt MUCH easier, I suggest using an inexpensive and invaluable consumer software offered byCollege Aid Pro. CAP started out years ago offering college software to financial advisors and I was thrilled when CAP rolled out easy-to-navigate college software for families. Once you input information about the family, including finances and the student’s academic profile into the MyCAP software, it will instantly identify colleges that will charge you the price you are hoping to pay or close to it. If you don’t like that list, you can tweak what you are looking for in a variety of ways to find schools that will work financially and academically. This software is just $149 for the year. (By the way, I get no financial payment from CAP for this recommendation!)
No. 5. Read my blog posts
While I stopped writing blog posts a while ago, a lot of solid advice remains on The College Solutionto make you an educated college consumer. It exhausts me just thinking of the 1,489 blog posts that I wrote over the years! Spend some time poking around on my website and you’ll be smarter about your college choices.
Thank you so much and good bye!
The best part of my mission was hearing from so many parents, students, high school counselors and college consultants, who benefited from my college advice. You have no idea how much that has meant to me! I want to THANK all of you who believed in my passionate aim of guiding people to finding their own college solution. I wish all of you the very best in your college journey! Fondly,