How to Begin Your New Path (Collection)

Farnoosh Torabi is a personal finance expert, author, speaker, and TV personality. The New York Times calls her advice “perfectly practical.” Her first book, You’re So Money, was widely acclaimed for its candid, tell-all advice for young adults seeking financial independence. ¿ Farnoosh’s latest television work includes SOAPnet’s Bank of Mom & Dad, where she coaches young women struggling with debt. She was also the resident finance expert on TLC’s REAL SIMPLE. REAL LIFE. ¿ You’ve seen Farnoosh on Larry King Live, The View, Today, Good Morning America, The Early Show, Tyra, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. She was formerly a Senior Financial Correspondent and host of Wall Street Confidential with Jim Cramer for TheStreet.com TV. Farnoosh’s work and advice have been profiled in The New York Times, The New York Post, Real Simple, Glamour, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Money Magazine, AOL, People, and Entrepreneur Magazine. ¿ Farnoosh attended Pennsylvania State University, graduating with honors in finance and international business. She also holds an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University. ¿ ¿ Lynn O’Shaughnessy is a nationally recognized higher-ed author, journalist, and speaker. She writes frequently about college issues for CBS MoneyWatch and for her own popular college blog at TheCollegeSolution.com. ¿ Lynn has written or been interviewed about college for such media outlets as Money Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Fox Business News, Huffington Post, Parade Magazine, CBS This Morning, USA Today, and US News & World Report. She is the consulting director of college planning, K-12, at the University of California, San Diego Extension. She also is a frequent speaker on how families can find and afford great schools. Lynn’s daughter is a recent college graduate and her son is a college sophomore. Lynn is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

Be Money Smart

 

Preface     xii
Introduction     1
PART I Draft Your Financial Blueprint
Chapter 1 Personalize Rich     13
Chapter 2 Establish Goals     23
Chapter 3 Craft Your Money Philosophy     39
Chapter 4 Embrace Your Relationship with Money     51
PART II Psych It Up
Chapter 5 Organize. Don’t Agonize     77
Chapter 6 Be Your Biggest Advocate     95
Chapter 7 Make Your Money Count     111
Chapter 8 Think Five Years Ahead     135
PART III Raise the Bar
Chapter 9 Break from the Norm     153
Chapter 10 Embrace the Entrepreneurial Spirit     163
Conclusion     183
Index     187

 

 

The College Solution

 

Introduction    xiii

PART I  Shrinking the Cost of College

Chapter 1  Making College More Affordable    2

Chapter 2  Show Me the Money    4

Chapter 3  The Colleges with the Best Financial Aid    9

Chapter 4  Who Gets Financial Aid?    16

Chapter 5  Winning the Educational Lottery        21

Chapter 6  Calculating Your Expected Family Contribution    25

Chapter 7  A Revolutionary Calculator    28

Chapter 8  The Allure of Out-of-State Public Universities    33

Chapter 9  Looking Across State Lines for a Bargain    40

Chapter 10  Capturing Private Scholarships    44

Chapter 11  Will Saving for College Hurt Your Financial Aid Chances?    48

Chapter 12  Maximizing Financial Aid    53

Chapter 13  More Ways to Shrink the Cost of College    58

Chapter 14  Appealing the Verdict    62

Chapter 15  Getting Grandma to Help    67

PART II  Increasing Your Admission Chances

Chapter 16  Boosting Your Chances    72

Chapter 17  Finding the Right Match    74

Chapter 18  Ditching the Test    79

Chapter 19  Showing a College Some Love    85

Chapter 20  When Talent Is the Hook    89

Chapter 21  The Realities of Athletic Scholarships    91

Chapter 22  The Geographic Hook    99

Chapter 23  Why Being Rich Helps    104

Chapter 24  The Legacy Hook    107

Chapter 25  Playing the Gender Card    110

Chapter 26  Diversity Blueprint    113

Chapter 27  The Asian Student Dilemma    120

Part III  Knowing Your Academic Choices

Chapter 28  What’s the Difference Between a College and a University?    124

Chapter 29  The Ivy League Myth    127

Chapter 30  What Is a Research University?    132

Chapter 31  What University Professors Do    137

Chapter 32  The Beauty of Liberal Arts Colleges    141

Chapter 33  What Is a Medium-Sized University?    149

Chapter 34  Why Community Colleges Are Popular    153

Chapter 35  Nine Ways to Generate College Ideas    158

Part IV  Evaluating the Academics

Chapter 36  Are Students Really Learning?    162

Chapter 37  What’s Wrong with US News & World Report’s College Rankings    169

Chapter 38  The Right Way to Use College Rankings    175

Chapter 39  College Rankings: An Alternative     179

Chapter 40  The Hallmarks of a Student-Centered University    182

Chapter 41  Staying in College Too Long    186

Chapter 42  Grading Academic Departments    193

Chapter 43  Kicking the Tires    195

Part V  Admission Nuts and Bolts

Chapter 44  What You Need to Know About High School Counselors    202

Chapter 45  What You Need to Know About Independent College Counselors    209

Chapter 46  Knowing What to Do When    216

Chapter 47  Writing Your Way Into College    222

Chapter 48  Visiting College Campuses    226

Chapter 49  Acing the College Interview    230

Chapter 50  Transferring to a Different College    235

Chapter 51  Getting Credit for Your Work    240

Part VI  Borrowing for College

Chapter 52  The Best Student Loans    244

Chapter 53  Private College Loan Perils    248