The College Solution

Introduction xiii PART I Shrinking the Cost of College Chapter 1 Making College More Affordable 2 Chapter 2 Show Me the Money 4 Chapter 3 The Colleges with the Best Financial Aid 9 Chapter 4 Who Gets Financial Aid? 16 Chapter 5 Winning the Educational Lottery 21 Chapter 6 Calculating Your Expected Family Contribution 25 Chapter 7 A Revolutionary Calculator 28 Chapter 8 The Allure of Out-of-State Public Universities 33 Chapter 9 Looking Across State Lines for a Bargain 40 Chapter 10 Capturing Private Scholarships 44 Chapter 11 Will Saving for College Hurt Your Financial Aid Chances? 48 Chapter 12 Maximizing Financial Aid 53 Chapter 13 More Ways to Shrink the Cost of College 58 Chapter 14 Appealing the Verdict 62 Chapter 15 Getting Grandma to Help 67 PART II Increasing Your Admission Chances Chapter 16 Boosting Your Chances 72 Chapter 17 Finding the Right Match 74 Chapter 18 Ditching the Test 79 Chapter 19 Showing a College Some Love 85 Chapter 20 When Talent Is the Hook 89 Chapter 21 The Realities of Athletic Scholarships 91 Chapter 22 The Geographic Hook 99 Chapter 23 Why Being Rich Helps 104 Chapter 24 The Legacy Hook 107 Chapter 25 Playing the Gender Card 110 Chapter 26 Diversity Blueprint 113 Chapter 27 The Asian Student Dilemma 120 Part III Knowing Your Academic Choices Chapter 28 What's the Difference Between a College and a University? 124 Chapter 29 The Ivy League Myth 127 Chapter 30 What Is a Research University? 132 Chapter 31 What University Professors Do 137 Chapter 32 The Beauty of Liberal Arts Colleges 141 Chapter 33 What Is a Medium-Sized University? 149 Chapter 34 Why Community Colleges Are Popular 153 Chapter 35 Nine Ways to Generate College Ideas 158 Part IV Evaluating the Academics Chapter 36 Are Students Really Learning? 162 Chapter 37 What's Wrong with US News & World Report's College Rankings 169 Chapter 38 The Right Way to Use College Rankings 175 Chapter 39 College Rankings: An Alternative 179 Chapter 40 The Hallmarks of a Student-Centered

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.

"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)