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Scholarships

Finding the Right Scholarships Takes More Than a Google Search

College Solutions' proprietary new scholarship tool helps students find merit aid opportunities that align with their unique qualifications and interests.

By Margaret Bolton Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Students sitting on couch studying
Student & Community

Bridging the Gap: From Summer Camp to School Success

Study & Scribe summer camp helped students build organizational, planning, and time management skills. Activities focused on journaling, hands-on problem solving, and executive functioning strategies for the new school year.

By Heather Houmis READ GUIDE →
Calculator and financial planning chart
Financial Aid & ROI

College ROI & True Cost Guide

Calculating the true cost of college means looking beyond tuition to include living expenses, inflation, and debt interest. To maximize your Return on Investment (ROI), never borrow more than your anticipated first-year salary and thoroughly research the career outcomes of your intended major.

By College Solutions Team READ GUIDE →
Margaret Baudinet advising a family on college planning
Financial Aid & ROI

The Biggest Mistake College Advisors Still Make When Evaluating ROI

To accurately evaluate college ROI, advisors and families must calculate earnings minus the actual net cost paid after merit aid, rather than relying on sticker price or prestige alone.

By Margaret Bolton Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Application Toolkit

Testing in College Admissions Guide

The college admissions testing landscape features a spectrum of policies ranging from test-required to test-blind. Students should take standardized tests to keep their options open, but must strategically evaluate their scores against a college's historical averages before deciding to submit them.

By College Solutions Team READ GUIDE →
Calculator and financial planning chart
Financial Aid & ROI

College ROI & True Cost Guide

Calculating the true cost of college means looking beyond tuition to include living expenses, inflation, and debt interest. To maximize your Return on Investment (ROI), never borrow more than your anticipated first-year salary and thoroughly research the career outcomes of your intended major.

By College Solutions Team READ GUIDE →
Financial planning documents and calculator
Financial Aid & ROI

Complete Financial Aid Overview

College financial aid consists of grants, scholarships, work-study programs, and student loans. Most federal aid is determined by the FAFSA, but many private colleges also require the CSS Profile to award institutional funds based on a deeper assessment of a family's finances.

By College Solutions Team READ GUIDE →
High school student athlete
Admissions Strategy

The Year-by-Year Recruiting Timeline for High School Student-Athletes

The college athletic recruiting process should begin as early as freshman year with academic planning and foundational training. By junior year, student-athletes must actively engage in coach outreach, attend ID camps, and register with the NCAA Eligibility Center to secure recruitment offers.

By Katie Andersen READ GUIDE →
Admissions Strategy

How College Admissions Really Works

College admissions decisions prioritize high school grades and curriculum rigor above all else. However, through holistic review, selective colleges also heavily weigh character attributes, extracurricular depth, and demonstrated interest to determine how a student will contribute to their campus community.

By College Solutions Team READ GUIDE →
Technology and AI concept visualization
Admissions Strategy

ChatGPT: What It Is, How It Could Change College Admissions, and How to Talk to Your Kids About It

ChatGPT is a powerful AI language model that presents both learning opportunities and academic integrity risks for students. Using ChatGPT to write college essays is considered cheating and can result in application disqualification, making it critical for parents to discuss responsible AI use with their children.

By College Solutions Team READ GUIDE →
Frustrated law student reviewing documents
Admissions Strategy

TL;DR – A Harder Year, Plain and Simple

The current law school admissions cycle is significantly more competitive due to a massive surge in applications over the last two years. Applicants must rely on clear narratives, strategic timing, and excellent judgment rather than just strong numbers to secure admission.

By College Solutions Team READ GUIDE →
Cordel Faulk
Admissions Strategy

TL; DR — AI in Law School Admissions

AI is becoming a permanent fixture in law school admissions. While applicants can ethically use AI for proofreading and brainstorming, they should never use it to generate personal statements, as authenticity and human judgment remain critical to admissions decisions.

By Cordel Faulk READ GUIDE →
Pierce Coughter
Admissions Strategy

AI in College Admissions - Tips for Students

Colleges are increasingly using AI to sort applications and review essays, while also deploying AI detection tools. Students should use AI for brainstorming and proofreading, but never to write their essays, as losing their authentic voice is the biggest risk to their application.

By Pierce Coughter READ GUIDE →
Getting good recommendation letters in a virtual world
Application Toolkit

How to Get Good Recommendation Letters in A Virtual World

Securing strong college recommendation letters during virtual or hybrid learning requires proactive student engagement, active participation in online classes, professional email communication, and detailed brag sheets provided well in advance.

By Sarah Dohl READ GUIDE →
How many college applications should you submit
Admissions Strategy

How Many College Applications?

Determining the ideal number of college applications requires balancing reach, match, and likely schools to ensure a diverse, manageable list without overwhelming the student with supplemental essay fatigue.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Handling college rejections with grace
College Fit & Decisions

How to Handle College Rejections with Grace

College rejections are an inevitable and painful part of the admissions journey, but they do not define a student's worth or future potential. Families can process disappointment constructively by allowing space for emotions, reframing rejections as redirection, exploring exciting alternative options, and maintaining perspective.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →
The importance of extracurricular activities in college admissions
Application Toolkit

The Importance of Extracurricular Activities (and How to Choose Them)

Extracurricular activities allow colleges to evaluate a student's character, leadership trajectory, and community impact outside the classroom. Rather than accumulating a superficial list of clubs, students should pursue deep, sustained engagement and authentic passion projects.

By Sarah Dohl READ GUIDE →
After college admissions decisions
College Fit & Decisions

After the Decision, Now What?

Once college admission decisions arrive, students must navigate making deposits, declining alternative offers gracefully, managing waitlist strategies, preparing housing preferences, and sending final transcripts while maintaining academic momentum.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Year-by-year athletic recruiting timeline for student-athletes
Admissions Strategy

The Year-by-Year Recruiting Timeline for High School Student-Athletes

Navigating the college athletic recruiting process requires a structured year-by-year approach starting in freshman year with academics and athletic foundations, moving through sophomore outreach and junior ID camps, and culminating in senior year commitments and eligibility clearance.

By Katie Andersen READ GUIDE →
How early should you start preparing for college admissions
Admissions Strategy

How Early Should You Start Preparing for College Admissions?

College admissions preparation is a gradual, multi-year process that begins in middle school with study habits, evolves in early high school with academic rigor and deep extracurricular exploration, and culminates in junior and senior year with testing, list building, and essay craftsmanship.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Decoding demonstrated interest in college admissions
Admissions Strategy

Decoding Demonstrated Interest: How to Make Colleges Notice (Without Going Overboard)

Demonstrated Interest (DI) is tracked by many selective colleges to predict enrollment yield. Students can effectively signal genuine interest by opening college emails, attending virtual information sessions, visiting campus, connecting with regional admissions representatives, and writing detailed, school-specific supplemental essays.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Navigating the Common Application dashboard
Application Toolkit

How to Navigate the Common App

Navigating the Common App efficiently requires setting up your account early, rolling data over smoothly between grade levels, detailing extracurricular impact in the 150-character limit, managing school-specific supplemental essays, and tracking recommender deadlines systematically.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Avoiding the high school senior slump
Application Toolkit

5 Tips to Avoid the Senior Slump

High school seniors must maintain their academic momentum through graduation because colleges review final transcripts and can rescind admission offers. Avoid the senior slump by working efficiently with structured breaks, studying in collaborative groups, taking engaging electives, prioritizing midterms, and balancing workload with healthy social downtime.

By Sarah Dohl READ GUIDE →
Building a strong college application resume
Application Toolkit

How to Build a Strong College Application Resume

A strong college application resume serves as a clear, organized executive summary of a student's extracurricular depth, leadership, and honors. Focus on measurable impact using decisive action verbs, maintain clean one-page formatting, tailor content when applying to specialized programs, and submit only when invited by admissions.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Preparing for a college admissions interview
Application Toolkit

How to Ace a College Interview

College interviews provide applicants a valuable opportunity to demonstrate interest, expand on their character, and assess institutional fit. Students can succeed by researching specific academic programs, practicing open-ended questions aloud, preparing thoughtful inquiries for the interviewer, and following up promptly with a tailored thank-you note.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →
Engaging a reluctant student in the college search process
Admissions Strategy

10 Suggestions to Engage Your Reluctant Student

When high schoolers seem disengaged from the college search, it usually stems from fear, overwhelm, or uncertainty rather than a lack of motivation. Parents can re-engage them by pinpointing underlying anxieties, keeping conversations casual, visiting local campuses, using tangible incentives, and letting external counselors share the guidance burden.

By Sarah Dohl READ GUIDE →
Top 10 Mistakes Parents Make During the College Search Process
Admissions Strategy

Top 10 Mistakes Parents Make During the College Search Process

Parents navigating the college search can best support their student by prioritizing institutional fit and financial reality over prestige, avoiding taking over the process, ensuring a balanced list with genuine likely schools, and celebrating small milestones along the way.

By Margaret Baudinet READ GUIDE →

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