126 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 … Read more

5 Financial Mistakes that Can Limit Your Chance of Playing Your Sport at the College Level

So far I’ve covered college recruiting mistakes concerning signs that you don’t understand the college athletic recruiting process and mistakes players and families make about their ability and what it means. Today, I’m going to cover mistakes related to finances when looking for athletic scholarships. If it’s really about using sports to help pay for college, you need to … Read more

5 Crucial Items Missing from Your College Comparison Spreadsheet

female using college comparison spreadsheet on a laptop

A college comparison spreadsheet is really the most effective way to narrow your list of colleges you want to actually apply to. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s pretty useful when trying to make the final decision on which to attend as well. It’s just that I think that by putting in a little … Read more

653 Colleges with No Application Fees for 2022

Student looking at computer listing of colleges with no application fees

I’ve updated the list of colleges with no application fees based on the Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and information from the Common Application. The IPEDS data is the fee charged for the previous academic year while the Common Application Data is for the 2022-23 year. Yes, it’s very possible the data reported by … Read more

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

As 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 … Read more

3 Types of Players that Don’t get Recruited by Colleges

player standing on base representing types of players that don't get recruited by colleges

There are a lot of athletes and their families that are expecting to play their sport in college. And far too many of them are actually counting on an athletic scholarship as part of their plan to pay for college. Yet, the truth is that most of these players won’t be recruited to play in college, … Read more

76 Best Bets for College Merit Scholarships

hands exchanging money representing best bets for college merit scholarships

The best bets for college merit scholarships aren’t necessarily schools you have heard of. But if you’re serious about looking for an affordable education at a good college, does it matter? Don’t think you’ll qualify for any significant need-based financial aid? Then it’s time to begin looking beyond the rankings and paying attention to the … Read more

Find Colleges with the Most Merit Scholarships in 4 Easy Steps

person on stepping stones representing easy steps to finding colleges with the most merit scholarhsips

(For those looking for colleges with the most merit scholarships, I’m updating this post. Because I’ve updated the spreadsheet several times since I wrote this post, some of the numbers in the text won’t match the results in the graphics. You can see a video demonstration at the end of the post.)     If you’re … Read more