I had lunch today with a dear friend whose son hopes to be attending the University of Chicago in the fall. This is a kid from Southern California who fell in love with the institution when he visited.

Taylor, I changed his name, applied early action to the University of Chicago and he remains optimistic that he will beat the odds. Taylor hasn’t applied to any other schools because he thinks Chicago is a perfect fit.

I’d have to agree with Taylor, who is a nerdy, brilliant kid, but his timing is lousy. In the past, perfect match applicants had a better chance of getting into the Hyde Park institution. But that’s before the University of Chicago’s ego got the better of it.

An Institutional Ego

This week, I read a story in The Chronicle of Higher Education that focused on Chicago’s drive to become more prestigious than it already is. The artic

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Nearly one out of every three students who attends a flagship  state university is affluent.

Thirty percent of students at these top universities have parents with incomes in the top 20% of all American households.

This is just one of the findings of a study from the Education Trust, which is a nonprofit that promotes education opportunities for all.

The Education Trust has been trying to guilt premiere state universities into accepting more lower-income students for years, but it hasn’t been working. When the Education Trust released a damning report on the practices of flagship universities in 2006, the statistics were equally grim.

State university flagships are spending nearly the same amount of money on their wealthiest students as they are on the poorest ones. In 2007, the typical low-income student received about $4,900 in aid from his or her school. Th

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Do you know what a reach school is?

I’ve been surprised recently to find out that many parents and teenagers don’t understand what the term means. I discovered just how elusive a concept it is during college talks that I occasionally give at high schools and other settings.

When I ask, “Who knows what a reach school is?” I usually get only one or two people raising their hands.

I’m certainly not trying to lord it over people that I happen to know some higher-ed lingo and they don’t. Here’s why I’m bringing it up: Appreciating what reach schools are could end up saving your family thousands of dollars in college costs.

What’s a Reach School?

I’ll explain the potential savings shortly, but first the definition: A reach school is one where an applicant would usually face a remote chance of getting accepted. For instance, let u

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I spent yesterday afternoon giving a workshop for some families about how they can increase their chances of finding wonderful schools for their teenagers while shrinking their costs at the same time.

The parents, whose teenagers attend both private and public suburban schools in San Diego, were shocked that they hadn’t heard about any of the tools or advice that I shared with them from their high schools counselors.  Frankly, I get this reaction all the time from parents who assume that the counselors at their teenagers’ high schools are college experts.

Since this is the time of year when counselors are in high demand by families, I decided to rerun one of my college blog posts that explores why many high school counselors know shockingly little  about the college process. Here

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There are a couple of reasons why I’m glad that my two children, who are both in college, aren’t toddlers.

One reason is obvious. I don’t think I’d have the energy today to chase toddlers around.

The second reason occurred to me last week when I reading a story in The New York Times entitled, Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children.

The article explained that parents of young children are abandoning picture books like The Velveteen Rabbit, Madeline and The Runaway Bunny because they worry that their children won’t be able to compete in grade school — and eventually get into great colleges — if they spend too much time on books with few words. Instead, pare

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For high school seniors, it’s crunch time. Deadlines for college applications are looming, so it’s time to get focused. Here are 8 things seniors  need to be doing now.

1. Meet college reps. This is the time of year when admission officers are racking up frequent flyer miles as they meet with prospective students throughout the country. Contact colleges on your list and inquire if their admission officers will be in your area. This is a wonderful chance to make a great impression.

2. Visit schools. Many students wait until they’ve received acceptances from schools before they visit. I have never understood that. How will you know if you’d like to attend the school if you haven’t checked it out yourself?

If you can’t visit schools on your list because of distance or money, you’ll want to read a post that I wrote for US News & World Report:

9 alternatives to a college visit

3. Get organized.

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Should parents help pay for college?

For a lot of people who visit my college blog this is going to seem like a no brainer. There are, however, parents who are determined to foist the whole cost of college onto their kids.

I can certainly understand why a mom or dad, who makes little money, couldn’t help. But you can find this mentality even among affluent parents who can contribute to a child’s education.

Marketplace on American Public Radio ran a piece exploring this issue over the weekend, which included an interview with me. I’m pasting in part of the piece below:

Marketplace radio piece

Marketplace asked listeners to weigh in on whether or not parents should save for their kids’ college education. Here are some of the reasons people give for not saving.

My kids will value their education more if they pay for it.

Many parents who said this had to pay their own way through school. They be

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