For those of you high school seniors who haven’t applied to all your colleges yet, and for you high school juniors who are looking ahead to next fall’s application season, here’s a valuable Web site to help you with your strategizing and possible admissions chances improvement.

College Navigator falls under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences and National Center for Education Statistics, if you can remember all that.

Although you’ll find a lot of really cool features about College Navigator just by experimenting with its various features, the one aspect I’d like to emphasize here is its ability to show you which specific majors at specific schools may fall into the “underrepresented” category. These are the areas for which colleges may be seeking candidates. So why could this be important for you? More »

Here’s a fun topic for high school seniors and their parents: 2010’s (that’s next year’s) Christmas/holiday break strategies.

Fun? Maybe not.

The issue is how to bring newly free first-year college students back into the parental nest for a relatively extended period of time without driving Mom and Dad into therapy. Those all-night college dorm bull sessions and comings and goings at all hours are great on campus, but they don’t go over well at home, especially when Mom and/or Dad has to get up and go to work first thing in the morning.

Here’s a file photo of some parents waiting for the train to take them to the office during Christmas break for their kids:

Now, you aspiring college students certainly don’t want to be responsible for creating a scene like the one pictured above for your parents, do you? Likewise, you’re going to need some plans for surviving your Christmas holiday break at home.

Here are some vital tips from Jennifer Eblin. Take notes. More »

I wonder how many high school seniors and their parents know about co-ed dormitory bathrooms. Do you know about them?

In case you don’t know the scoop, here’s the deal: More »

Attention high school students: Need money for college? (Hey, who doesn’t?) Do you qualify under any of these categories?

- Female over 5′10″ tall?

- Good at calling ducks?

- Daring designer of duct tape prom outfits?

But wait.  There’s more! More »

If you’re a high school senior, you may be finished submitting all your college applications.  Some of you may be planning marathon sessions to meet that January 1 (or thereabouts) deadline.  Still others of you may have already heard good (or not so good) news about your Early Decision/Early Action apps. Whatever your situation, have you ever felt all alone out there in College App Land?

The cliche notes that misery loves company. However, if you’re miserable about your situation, happy, or even ambivalent, theirs a place where you can hang out that most times offers comfort and even entertainment: the College Confidential discussion forum. It’s kind of like a friendly club, where lots of others know your name and situation.

Here’s a typical response to a poster’s problem: More »

I’ve written about helicopter parents before. The College Confidential discussion forum has a spirited discussion about that topic, based on the topic of my post here today: Nancy Gibbs’ Time article, The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting.

Here are some key points from Gibbs’ article: More »

Do you know about Pell Grants?

No?  Here’s the scoop, then: More »

As I mentioned before here, I get lots of press releases about college-related issues. I read them but don’t consider them for posting in my blog since most are rather self-serving. However, this one deserves some attention, I believe.

PROTON ENERGY SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES
$1 MILLION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Global Hydrogen Leader to Fuel the Next Generation of Scientific Innovators among High School Seniors More »

It’s that time of year again. We’re approaching mid-December when the ED and EA application decisions come out. Now and early spring (mid-March through early April) are the two most heart-pounding times of year for the millions of high school seniors (and their parents) who have worked so hard (well, some not so hard) over the years for this moment of decision.

So what should you do (and think) if you should get the dreaded thin envelope or bad-news email before Christmas? Here are some thoughts that might help: More »

Are you a high school junior (or maybe a sophomore) who has taken the PSAT? Maybe you’re the parent of one of those students and you don’t quite understand the purpose of the PSAT (the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test). If you are, then you may be interested in the information that our friends over at IvyBound.net have just released. It will help you undestand the differences between these two important tests.

IvyBounder Mark Greenstein compares the two tests: More »