<p>It's not inexpensive (I believe $150-$200); meets four times weekly for 1 or 1.5 hours each time. I had considered myself pretty knowledgeable about admissions and financial aid but realized lately that I'm not as knowledgeable as I thought I was (neither is my DH, but he'll never admit it). </p>
<p>She has a book also about financial aid which I'll get from the library.</p>
<p>I just wondered if anyone had actually taken the course and whether it was worth the money.</p>
<p>I realize I could/should also post this on the Financial Aid forum, if I don't receive responses I'll do that.</p>
<p>I really like the book but decided the course costs too much. I think you can get most if not all of the same information by reading the book and hanging out on CC for a while. Unfortunately, CC can be very addicting!</p>
<p>I agree with @kidzncatz. The book is helpful and appealed to me because she was spouting truths I’d long believed! In retrospect, however, her strategies (and my own) did not really prove completely true, but I think that was more about our particular situation than the norm. I feel like I received more balanced (and nuanced!) advice by listening to the collective wisdom of CC parents.</p>
<p>I did not take any course. But tellng to your 5 y o kid to do her homework on time and with the best effort may result in full tuitiion / full ride Merit offer upon graduation from HS. Pretty simple and very straight forward, but also require a kid to be smart choosing your college. A really smart kid may just decide that she will do fine anywhere by using the same phylosophy as in her k - 12, just doing her homework on-time and with the best effort. No wisdom is required, no talents or special ability. Working hard will produce results in middle school, high school, UG, Grad. school and choosing the right UG will produce a great Merit award for such a kid. A 13 y o kid understands that (indicated by comment : “just doing my homework”).</p>
<p>With all due respect, @MiamiDAP, some kids can work hard all day long and still will never have the stats to get into a top-tier school or to earn significant merit money. What Lynn O’Shaugnessy specializes in is helping ALL kinds of students find excellent and affordable options by thinking out of the box. Not everyone is equipped to become an engineer or a doctor. And most families are starting the college search process in high school, not kindergarten, so even if your “pretty simple and straightforward” advice were true for all kids, it’s too late for most.</p>
<p>I really don’t understand your obsessive need to take your daughter’s situation and make sweeping generalizations about what will work for any and all kids. I know you mean well, but there is no “one shoe fits all” in this case.</p>
<p>“some kids can work hard all day long and still will never have the stats to get into a top-tier school or to earn significant merit money”
Not at all. That is if they actually texting friends every five minutes and not doing ther homework. Or a parent will tell them over and over that they cannot do it. I told my 5 y o that Ameircan school is such a low level (which is very true) that there is no reason to give it away, just do you rhomework and you will get it. She did it and hew neice and nephew just followed with the same. it works at every level, maybe not in some PhD program for a Rocket science, but k - 12 is NOT for geniuses, UG is not for geniuses either. I agree that saying it to a 12 y o maybe way too late. But if you say it to a 5 y o who is very anxious to get into ner favoirte sport practice, but cannot because her 5 min. homework is not completed, if you do that, it simply become a habit, and absolutely nothing else is required as confirmed by the comments of my 13 y o grandS: “Just doing my homework”. None in my first post was “theoretical”, it was all based on my personal experiences. And k - 12 is terribly low level, kids who do not adjust upwards in college also get derailed, no matter what kind of grades they got in k - 12.<br>
So, do not tell you kids that they are not smart enough, tell them that all As are very possible and easily obtainable with the simple rule of doing your homework on time ad very well. Frankly, my D. was not even allowed to do it all day long and she did not even have time for that, she had 3 hrs daily sport practice and several other activities that require daily commitment of time.</p>
<p>You are so out of line, @MiamiDAP, it leaves me breathless. Do you truly believe all kids have the same academic aptitude and potential? Or maybe you have some advanced degree in child development or pediatrics I’m not privy to?</p>
<p>Many of the hardest working kids I know were never able to score well on the SATs or excel in anything but basic academic classes. Some of them had learning disabilities, some had only average IQs, some were just overcome with anxiety. They ALL found the right educational setting after high school. Just because their mothers didn’t follow the MiamiDAP Guidebook for Successful Holier-Than-Thou Parenting doesn’t mean these kids are failures. Some are going the trade school route; others have found colleges that are a good match. </p>
<p>Who exactly are you trying to convince with these broad, sweeping generalizations? All of us, or yourself?</p>
<p>Also, for an immigrant to the United States, you sure like to spout off like you’re an expert on everything about the American educational system. It’s not perfect, to be sure, but I sure find it funny how someone who moved to this country to take advantage of the many opportunities available here is now an expert on parenting American children. You’re not the only successful parent out there, I hope you know. Plenty of people have different ways of parenting, and thank God we don’t have to run it by you for your approval!</p>
<p>As for the original question - I have a hard time believing that the course is worth it. I’m assuming she covers a lot of topics in the course, but it’s most likely only one or two of the topics really apply to you, e.g. merit aid, divorce situation, high asset/low income situation, athletic scholarships, etc. </p>
<p>I think you’d be better off figuring out which angles for reducing college costs apply to your situations - which may well be unique for each child - and then research those options like crazy.</p>
<p>I won’t generalize about all kids, but a kid of at least average intelligence and no emotional hangups can get in to at least a decent state school by working hard enough (and often big merit money and/or acceptance in to more prestigious schools). For all kids, though, the emphasis that hard work produces rewards (rather than intelligence produces rewards or talent produces rewards) is the proper strategy. For an average kid, hard work and focus is often enough to land big merit money because so many kids are not disciplined enough to reach their potential.</p>
<p>And the standards of American K-12 education, in general, are pretty low. Granted, there are things to like about it as well, but most immigrants moved to the US for the opportunities, which are thanks almost solely to the political-economic system, not the wonderful K-12 education system here</p>
<p>Miami. Give it a break about the homework already. Yes it’s important to do the homework. But many kids who DO their homework daily, and study as well, are not top students. Ever hear of the bell curve? </p>
<p>Count yourself lucky that in your family there were no learning issues that interfered even when homework was done…all the time.</p>
<p>@thumper1: Many kids aren’t top students, but many kids also don’t work hard (or have circumstances outside their control to deal with).</p>
<p>Your brain is also malleable, especially at young ages (part of the reason that I don’t put too much stock in the bell curve; your brain is like a muscle, but we don’t tell people that they can’t reach the top 10% in fitness among the general population through training). A kid who may be of average intelligence when young, if given a stable supportive loving environment, can certainly reach the top 10% in academic acheivement in this country through belief and hard work alone. One with a real interest in learning can go well beyond that (5% or 1%).</p>
<p>The bell curve is a statistical reality. Perhaps individuals can change their locations within it, but you can’t change the reality of the measurement of the bell curve.</p>
<p>@jym626, yes. But to use an analogy, if everyone works out hard, it would be difficult for someone with median athletic ability be in the top 10% in fitness. As we know, however, the vast majority of Americans do not work out hard, so it’s actually pretty easy for someone of median athletic ability to be in the top 10% in fitness in the US these days.
I feel that the same is true when it comes to being in the top 10% in academic acheivement in K-12.</p>
<p>You are describing individual differences. A person can push themselves to the top of their personal bell curve, which may put them in an upper percent of the group bell curve, but its hard to stay up there without the continued effort, and regression to the mean.</p>
<p>Oh, it’s plenty to me, too. But I know people paying $3K and up to $8,500 for years of college counseling. I don’t know this woman’s services, but $150 sounds like a reasonable price point compared to a full-service operation.</p>
<p>Unlikes muscles, however, our memory does not degrade nearly so quickly, and learning builds on learning. In fact, it becomes easier after a while. So an average intellect can actually become top 10% in a subject (usually with the interest being there). You see it all the time. At least I do.</p>
<p>You may be able to improve knowledge and become more facile in a field, but you dont make dramatic improvements in intelligence. And, you do have to continue to use the knowledge or it decays too.</p>
<p>If you are saying that someone with average IQ can become an expert in a subject matter, well that may be true. Someone can read and memorize facts and become an expert in history. But they are still an avg IQ person (like 68% of the world) with an expertise in one area.</p>