We recently reported on the efforts of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to link federal direct student loan rates to the discount rates paid by banks (currently 0.75%).

Now comes Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) with a measure of her own -- one which would permit students to refinance their government loans at 4%.

While we certainly prefer 0.75% to 4%, these rates are better than 6.8% (current rate for unsubsidized loans, and rate to which subsidized loans will climb on July 1 unless Congress a...
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Remember that children's game, Simon Says? If Simon didn't say it, and you did it anyway, you were out.

Well, looks like Simon has grown up, is ready to apply to college, and has become the poster boy of the folks who brought you the Common App.

Yes, boys, girls, and college applicants of all ages, here comes Simon Monks, fictitious test-student for CA4!

In a recent email, Common App announced Simon's debut:

Many of our CA4 resources will revolve around the story of Simon Monks, a fictitious app...
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Imagine that Monsters University was your dream school. The only college you really wanted to go to.  Top choice. None to compare.

And then, your absolute worst nightmare (as if living and dining at Monsters U wouldn't be scary enough): You are notified by admissions that you are on the wait list.

Nooooooooooooo. It can't possibly be. After all, those awful monsters in your AP Bio class got in. And to the School of Science, no less! You visited -- and fell in love with -- the campus. You met wi...
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It's no secret that banks pay ridiculously low rates to borrow money (currently 0.75%, based on the discount rates banks pay to the Federal Reserve). At the same time, college students pay considerably more in interest (3.4% for subsidized loans and 6.8% for unsubsidized) when they borrow money for school under the feds direct student loan program.

Imagine that. Big banks -- the folks who brought our nation's economy to the brink -- get a most favorable, nearly unheard of rate from the feds, w...
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A commencement address with meaning, not just for the Class of 2013 (or for the Kenyon College Class of 2005, to which it was presented by the late David Foster Wallace), but for all of us. . .



Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2013!

Plan. Prepare. Prevail!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of The College Whisperer™.

Who knows what peril lurks in the college application and admissions process? The College Whisperer™ knows. . .

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Gap Year. That year between high school and college -- and sometimes, between college and grad school of college and work (if you can find work). A time to recharge, to rejuvenate, to mature, to decide what you want in life and where you want to go.

Always popular in Europe, where a year "on" before university -- traveling, interning, engaging in community service, and, yes, taking courses that often count toward college credit -- Gap Year is gaining greater traction here in the good ole U.S. ...
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