Here is the correlation The simple reason: most colleges give merit aid for those with higher SAT scores than the mean of the college. Improve your SAT scores.  Pay less for college.

“I don’t want to create stress.” “These kids are stressed enough already.” “We’ll deal with college stuff later.” I get it. I really do.  As a father of three, I don’t want to create stress for my children.  I do think that some kids are stressed about important things.  And, I fully understand the desire to kick […]

“He wakes up late.  He plays X-Box.  He then hangs out with his friends.  He’ll stop back at home for dinner and then he’ll go out again.”  Judy, a mother from Old Lyme, revealed about her son.   But he’s not unusual.  Many of his friends do the same thing.  They think they worked hard […]

Financial aid versus Merit Aid Let me first distinguish merit versus financial aid by providing good and bad news.  The good news is that if you live in Connecticut you probably make a lot more money than others.  The national median household income is around $51,000.  Connecticut’s household median income is around $70,000.  In towns […]

When parents call, I tend to calm them down.  Most want to do what is BEST for their child.  Sometimes this just is not possible.  So, when I provide advice below about what is “optimal” but you are not able to follow the advice, do not needlessly fret.  We can just figure out what is […]

Summers in Connecticut – particularly near the Shoreline – are idyllic.  And, while there is a romantic vision of letting your children play away their days in wholesome recreation and care free endeavors, the reality is not quite this vision.  During a typical summer week, most teens work a few hours in part time jobs, have […]

We live in a wonderful, idyllic, Shoreline, Connecticut community.   I used to feel a bit guilty about disrupting care free summers by pointing out the reams of statistical data indicating that the correlation between student achievement and summer fun is extraordinarily high.  See Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers for an extensive discussion. Now, in the interest of […]

Good news – although I realize saying SAT and good news in the same sentence seems strange – the College Board, makers of the SAT, have created an August test date. Why is that good news?  Because junior year is really busy.  So upcoming juniors now have the option of preparing for the test in […]

At first instance, you will think this is a horribly misleading headline.  After your irritation, I hope you will get the point.  And, then as the college process unfolds, I believe you will thank me. I’m a father of three.  I mention because I’ve  planned/studied the issue of college cost both as a professional educational […]

I came across this article “Does It Matter Where You Go to College?” Years ago, I thought such a question was an answer to a straw man (a made up person who holds a position that no one really does).  While the vast majority of sensible people would not make such an argument, I have […]