<p>Nightingale,</p>
<p>You will never have an advantage in this game, any more than you will have an advantage buying a car from a car dealer. The folks on the other side of the table are pros. We are not.</p>
<p>So what is the answer? I think it is for us parents to stop viewing the process as a game to be won. Yes, it is a game, but one with unpublished rules that make it impossible for us to know how to play. Instead, let’s focus on what we do know and want. We know our kids and want the best for them. If we focus on matching our kids to the college, taking into consideration affordability (painful it may be by finaid definition) and whatever else, at least the outcome will be satisfactory.</p>