What Happens to People Who Go To Colleges No One Has Ever Heard Of?

statue of woman of thinking about what happens to people who go to colleges no one has ever heard of

statue of woman wondering What Happens to People Who Go To Colleges No One Has Ever Heard Of?I think that there are a lot of families out there that would like to drop out of the race to get into the most prestigious college possible. They know that there are good reasons to look elsewhere. With seemingly ever decreasing admission rates among the brand name schools, the numbers are against you. And financially, it often just makes sense to go to a lesser-known school. But people can’t help but wonder if doing so means “settling” for less. They want to know what happens to people who go to colleges no one has ever heard of.

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5 Reason to Use The New York Times Build Your Own College Rankings…and 4 Things to Watch Out For

Female student using 5 Reason to Use the New York Times Build Your Own College Rankings and 4 Things to Watch Out For on laptop

Female student using New York Times Build Your Own College Rankings tool on a laptopShould you use The New York Times Build Your Own College Rankings? Let’s face it, just because it’s from The New York Times, people are going to look, right? Which I did. I have to admit that I was pleased with several aspects of their rankings which incorporate some elements that I have long been advocating. But I’m not going to retire my DIYCollegeRankings spreadsheets just yet. While the Build Your Own College Rankings gets some things right, there are other areas that definitely need improvement.

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The Truth About Rejection by Elite Colleges

body outline representing rejection by elite collegesI think that the greatest unacknowledged truth in college admissions is that if you’re good enough to get into an Ivy League school then you are good enough to handle being rejected by them.

What am I talking about? Let’s start with the joke that in order to get into the elite universities, high school students need to have discovered the cure for cancer or, at the very least, won a Nobel Prize. (Actually, we now know that even a Nobel Prize isn’t good enough if you haven’t taken an American college admissions test. Just ask Malala Yousafzai.)

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Top 3 Cheapest Colleges by Acceptance Rates

Female graduate student holding diploma representing cheapest colleges by acceptance rates

Female graduate student holding diploma representing cheapest colleges by acceptance rates(See list of cheapest colleges by acceptance rates at end of post.) Budget, affordable, bargain, best value are all different ways at getting at what are the cheapest colleges in the United States? There are multiple options you can use as the number to rank colleges to determine which is the most affordable. More on that later. And some lists will actually divide schools up by geography which can be useful. But do you know what is the most useful way to classify value colleges regardless of how you define value? Acceptance rates.

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Harvard Scholarships: No Such Thing

Acceptance letter and hand calculating Harvard Scholarships that don't exist

Hand holding letter and calculating Harvard Scholarships that don't existBy no such thing as Harvard Scholarships, I mean no such thing as Harvard Merit Scholarships. So if you’re thinking you’ll be able to pay for Harvard based on your kid’s academic qualifications (after all, they were good enough to get into Harvard) you need to think again. The reward for your student’s amazing accomplishment is the acceptance letter itself. Any scholarships Harvard hands out will be based on financial need, not academics.

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Colleges that Meet 100% of Financial Need Depending on How You Define Need

money with a chain and lock representing colleges that meet 100% of need

Chained money representing colleges that meet 100% of need(Updated for 2023) Probably the biggest shock families experience as they consider their college options is finding out how much they’re expected to pay for college. But I think a close second would be how few colleges are actually able to meet the family’s admittedly flawed calculated need. According to the Common Data Set and college websites only 75 colleges and universities claim to meet 100% of a student’s financial need.

If a family is able to show financial need, good luck in finding a school that will actually cover it.

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126 Hardest Colleges to Get Into

woman rock climbing representing hardest colleges to get into

woman rock climbing representing hardest colleges to get into(See the list for 2022 at the end of the post.) What are the hardest colleges to get into? Anyone going through the college admissions process can’t help but ask the question at least once. It’s a lot like visiting a Parade of Homes that you know you’ll never afford or maybe like rubbernecking while driving past a car wreck on the freeway-which ever analogy works for you. Of course, you can just look at US News College Rankings and get a pretty good idea. And that’s the point, everything in the media seems to reinforce the perception that exclusivity equals quality. Even if when we know better, we can’t help but feel insecure when we choose a lesser-known college.

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15 Things Parents of High School Freshmen Must Know NOW About Preparing for College!

Mother and son representing what high school freshman need to know about paying for college

Mother and son learning preparing for collegeAs the parents of college freshmen drove home from dropping their kids off at college, many had to be thinking about how they’ll do things differently next time knowing what they know now. Many were probably wishing, “if only someone had told me four years ago when we first started thinking about preparing for college that…, things would have been so much easier.” It’s a common dilemma in life, you don’t know what you don’t know. So I’ve created the following list of things that parents of high school freshmen need to know about preparing for college and how financial aid works. Let me know if you have anything to add.

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7 Key Signs of a Good College

students looking at a computer explanation of what makes a good college

student looking at what makes a good college

There are over 1,600 four-year colleges in the United States. How do you begin to choose the good colleges you should apply to? To a certain extent, the definition of “good” will vary from student to student. However, there are seven things a college should have for it to be a good college for a student to consider.

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