Most higher ed folks push back hard when anyone says that college admissions is just like buying a car. After all, a college education doesn’t depreciate the moment you drive it off the lot. And any university worth its salt gets its students all the way to graduation. It doesn’t just sign them up for…
Continue Reading When a College Says their Offer is “Just Between Us”
BIG NEWS out about a new resource that examine college ROI in serious detail. You’ll almost certainly see news about it, so here’s a direct link to the main page at Third Way (the think tank that built it). In fact, it drills down to individual programs at every higher ed institution. So tempting to…
Continue Reading College ROI report drills down to individual majors at individual colleges? NOT SO FAST
What is Safety, Target, Reach Anyway? Google “build a college list.” Watch a college search webinar. Read a book about how to apply to college. Guaranteed, they’ll all tell you some version of the same thing: the list of colleges you apply to should include schools that fit into each of three categories: Safety –…
Continue Reading Why “Safety, Target, Reach” Doesn’t Make Sense Anymore
For a typical college admissions office, success comes down to a pretty simple equation. Did we enroll enough students, who are paying enough money, to hit our revenue target? Any college or university can answer that question almost as soon as the fall semester kicks in. For college-bound students and families, college admissions success is…
Continue Reading How Should Students Define “Success” When it Comes to the College Search?
For decades, students on the college hunt have been told to “show the love.” Show up early for those campus tours. Respond glowingly to those generic admissions emails. Do whatever it takes to show the colleges on your list that you like them a whole bloomin’ bunch. Why? Because putting extra effort into demonstrating interest…
Continue Reading How Demonstrating Interest in a College can Actually Hurt You
Seriously. Never depend on a college finder quiz or a college matching tool to build your college list. Why? 1. A college finder quiz assumes that students don’t change in college. Does a person change much over four years? Of course they do – likes and dislikes, emotional range and depth, even fundamental shifts in…
Continue Reading 3 Reasons to Never Trust a College Finder Quiz
The Maddening Mirage of College Pricing Shopping for college is like seeing a mirage adrift in a hall of mirrors. Most of the time, a school’s announced price is totally meaningless, tens of thousands of dollars more than what they ask you to pay. But “most of the time” doesn’t mean all of the time,…
Continue Reading A Better Way to Shop for Colleges
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