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February 13, 2022February 14, 2022

The College that Just Sent an Acceptance Letter WANTS You to Ask for a Better Price

“Wait, what?! People negotiate college prices???” Yep. All the time. In fact, most colleges wish that more accepted applicants would ask for a lower price. Now pick yourself up off the floor and keep reading. Because knowing this simple college cost hack may well save you thousands of dollars. You Say Negotiate, They Say Appeal…

January 4, 2022January 6, 2022

When a College Says their Offer is “Just Between Us”

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…

September 21, 2021

College ROI report drills down to individual majors at individual colleges? NOT SO FAST

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…

July 27, 2021July 28, 2021

Why “Safety, Target, Reach” Doesn’t Make Sense Anymore

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 –…

June 28, 2021June 28, 2021

How Should Students Define “Success” When it Comes to the College Search?

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…

June 10, 2021June 10, 2021

How Demonstrating Interest in a College can Actually Hurt You

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…

3 students huddle around a laptop at a comfortable cafe and point at elements of a college finder quiz

May 25, 2021May 25, 2021

3 Reasons to Never Trust a College Finder Quiz

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…