How to get into College without losing your mind or your money!

For those of you who, um, are just coming in, my name is Shellee Howard and I'm joined by my associate Carrie Anderson, and we are excited to support you this evening. So, um, if you could just put in the chat where you're located and the age of your children, that's always really helpful. I want to make sure that I'm speaking to your age group so you get massive value out of it. So if you can add that to the chat, that would be fantastic. Um, the age and the location, and then we're going to go ahead and jump in. So without further ado, make sure that all the technology is working. All looks good. Okay, excellent. Pittsburgh, see, works out perfect timing. 15 and 17. Alright, I love that. That is so helpful. You are in the perfect room if you are wondering, how do I make the most out of this winter break? And that is what we're going to cover this evening. But how will it all fit into how to pick a major, how to pick a college, how to pick a career, and how does it all fit together? So that's what we're going to be covering tonight, but I wanted to really tap into using the break for fun but being intentional. After raising 4 kids of my own, they're now all young adults, what I did learn through that wonderful experience is how do you make it enjoyable while also helping them get clarity about their gifts, their talent, what they advocate for, who they are, what matters to them, what would be a good career, college major, college choice. All of that can be done during any break. So I often will tell parents, they say, "When is the best time to do this?" And it's really when they're not in school because we know what life is like when they are in school. So let's just focus on the brief time we have right? We have a little Thanksgiving break, then we had a little bit of, um, an, uh, we're coming up on winter break, then we'll have spring break, then we'll have summer break. And for a bonus, for those of you who have joined, um, nice and on time, I want you to know a little secret right now. Right now we are looking at summer. So for those of you who are just like getting your winter sweater out, know that right now the critical time is what will your child do this summer. So I'll talk a little bit about that at the end, but I just wanted to, um, let you know that that's a really important, um, thing that you should be considering. So thank you so much for being here. Without further ado, um, we are going to get started. So let's go ahead and jump into the presentation, and we're gonna go ahead and get started. Outstanding. So today we're going to talk a little bit about how to stand out for college. This is for 8th to 11th graders. Really who are focusing in on what can we be doing right now. Now, keep in mind, this will work for a 7th grader, a 12th grader, somebody in college, but I always like to, to preface it. Winter break, having a success plan is so important. If you go into winter break just going, I'm so tired of plans, you're going to let a great opportunity slip by. And so how do you use this time to help your child explore who they are, what matters to them, build their confidence, clarify their goals, set calm, confident paths forward? That's what we're going to talk about today. So if that resonates with you, you are going to love our time together. All right. So again, thank you for joining. This information is part or came out of my bestselling book, The College Admissions Plan Simplified: A Busy Parent's Plan to a Debt-Free Degree. Both of my bestselling books are on Amazon. I'm not here to sell a book, but in case you want more than just the webinar, the books are the foundation of what you need to start doing in order to find the best academic, social, athletic, and financial fit degree. A little bit about myself. I am the founder and CEO of College Ready. I've been doing this 18 years, and I love what I get to do. We've helped well over 15,000 students achieve their college dreams. Last year we earned over $23 million in scholarships— sorry, over the last 3 years. Last year was $10.3 million. So a lot, a lot of money, and we want to show you how we can help your child prepare for the Ivy League, a state school, liberal arts, trade school, whatever that is for them. We want to support you. College Ready has a mission, and that is to empower families and give them the knowledge that you need and the strategy to be successful, to not only get into college but to graduate without debt. We want to maximize your child's potential to help secure admissions to their best fit school. Remember, getting in is half of the, the process. Paying for it is the second half. We have many webinars on the FAFSA, the CSS Profile, the Student Aid Index. Please go to our YouTube channel. Tonight is going to be focused on helping your child use their break to help them get advantage. A little bit of my journey so you have an idea that I am just not somebody who decided to become a consultant. I'm actually a mother of 4, uh, 2 boys and 2 girls, 2 biological children, 2 stepchildren, and all 4 of them have gone into college and graduated without debt, and I did not pay a dime. So if that sounds like something you're interested in, you may want to set up a time to speak with myself or my team so we can help you navigate what that looks like. A little bit more about my journey. It all started when my son was in 8th grade, and it was such an incredible experience. I was in the kitchen making his after-school snack. He comes in and he's like, "Mom, I know exactly what I want to do and exactly where I want to go." to college, and I'm like, what happened at school today? He said the high school counselor came in and she said we need to pick our classes. Well, guess what, parents? This is going to be you and your child in just a few months. If they are in 8th grade, the choosing the right high school and the right classes and the right amount of rigor is going to be incredibly important to their success of not only getting in and out of high school, but getting in and out of college. So just know that this journey started with my firstborn, but it was different for my second, different for my third, different for my fourth. So let's talk about the firstborn. So his big dream was to be a brain surgeon and go to an Ivy League school. But keep in mind, I was the first to go to college on both sides of my family, and nobody in my family was a doctor. So this came out of nowhere, truly, for our family, and it was super exciting because it was his dream. So the challenge was, is I had no idea how I was going to help him, nor did his guidance counselor at his high school. So I took it into my own hands and I did what any good parent would do. Maybe not any good parent, maybe a little crazy. And I became a Certified Independent College Consultant. So I went back to school because I did not want to let my child down. So if you're listening and you're like, oh my gosh, that's a little extreme, it was. But what I will tell you is it turned into an amazing career that I've enjoyed for such a, a wonderful amount of time. Um, we took his dream and we reverse engineered it. I had built 7 businesses, and so basically I was building my son his own business, his own brand. We invested 33 hours on average a week for 4 years. If you don't have that, or if you don't want to give that, just know you're gonna need some support. The results were amazing. He got accepted into Harvard and graduated debt-free. He actually got accepted to 11 schools, and he had 7 full-ride offers. And he had a really balanced high school life with some really great achievements. And during his high school graduation, a young man looked over at me didn't know I was his parent, and said, dude, I didn't even know that kid was smart. And that's what I'm going to share with you tonight. How are we going to balance success, your child, their future, and making life enjoyable for that child? So your child can have the same experience with a plan, with a dream. They can get through college without going into massive debt. And your success story starts with a roadmap. So if that sounds like something you want to do, please put in the chat roadmap and my associate Carrie will get that to you. All right. Again, a little bit about me. Been doing this, this is my 18th application season. I've completed the FAFSA 9 times and the CSS Profile 4 times. Uh, our students have a 93% acceptance rate into their top 3 schools and over $23 million in scholarships earned over the last 3 years. So today, this is what we're going to cover: how to use Break to get clarity about what matters to your child and how to help them to navigate that, how to prove it in an essay and pick the best college to the perfect Fit Major. All right, so we're going to dive in. If you have something to take notes with, it might be a little bit easier than just trying to absorb, but really what I want you to first think about is who is your child? And if you're not sure how they feel about themselves, I often ask students, who are you? And they look at me like— they tell me their name, or they say, "I'm in this sport," or "I'm in this grade," or something very simplistic. And I'll ask further, "But really, who are you?" And it's an interesting question, but it's one colleges are going to ask. So the first thing that you're going to learn this during our time together is to help your child first figure out who they are so they can also let colleges know. But ultimately, remember, college is a stepping stone to their future. It's not the end result. And so this is going to be important for their future. What gifts, talents do they have? So important, right? Some students are gifted in a sport or music or acting or math, whatever that is. What is that for them? What do they think that is for them? What really matters to them? I, I really thought I knew this for all 4 of my children. I did. And then I read the book The Five Love Languages, and I would highly recommend it to any parent. Basically what it does— there's even a teenage version— and And I get nothing for saying this. They probably don't even know that I like their book. But what it did is it helped me to really get clarity about who my child is and how do they, how do they feel good and how do they show it and how do they receive it. So that is what matters to them. Colleges want to know what matters to them. What do others say about them? Isn't that interesting? What would their best friend say about them? Their siblings say about them? Their other parents say about them? This is the foundation that's going to be important for their exploration for their future. When you brag about them, do they hear you? How does it make them feel? I remember my kids used to say, "Mom, stop! You're embarrassing me!" And I told them, "Am I lying? Am I telling your grandparent anything that's not true?" And it just validated that they were really amazing, and it's okay to let them know. Are they good at one subject or many subjects? You know, students that I meet with on a weekly basis, it's interesting, the ones that have one or two subjects that they're really good at have a lot easier choice to make when it comes to picking a major, picking a career. The students that I meet with that have a lot of things they're really good at It actually makes it harder for them. So get— getting clear about what exactly they're good at is going to help them to understand what is available to them. Are they gifted in a sport, in music, in art, in acting? These things could be a passion, not a career, but it brings them joy, which will get them through the tough times of studying for the SAT or ACT. Or APs. When are they the happiest? If you say when they're gaming with their friends, what about the gaming with their friends makes them happiest? Is it competing? Is it camaraderie? Is it collaboration? Dig a little bit deeper. I know it used to just make me crazy when my firstborn would be gaming. And I would walk by and I would say, "Is your homework done?" And he would say, "Yes, Mom, and I still have straight A's." What do you say to a child like that? Well, what I learned is that was how he transitioned from his academic pressure into the, the release and the relaxation for him to be able to go in and do the next thing, community service, his sport, uh, leadership, whatever that is. So really get clear about why they do what they do. Now, here's what you came for. I don't want to keep you in suspense here. Well, I should say, here's the first piece, because I, I have it throughout the presentation. How you can help them, your child, this winter break. The first suggestion is give them an opportunity to try something new without judgment, without criticism, without expectations. Maybe it's cooking, maybe it's mowing the lawn, maybe it's sewing. It doesn't really matter. But get them out of their comfort zone. I remember my daughter over one winter break taught herself using YouTube how to sew. That opportunity led to her Passion with Purpose project where she actually taught her friends how to sew. She went around to our neighborhood and in her school and she got gently used pillowcases donated. She then went to Joann's Fabric and got sewing supplies donated, and then she requested, uh, family and friends to let her and her friends borrow sewing machines. Long story short, this one little thing sparked such a cool thing. Her and her friends would get together every Friday evening that they could, which was a lot, and they'd have a pizza sewing party, and they made pillowcases into pretty little dresses, and they sent them all over the world to children who have nothing of their own. And this brought them so much joy. They did this to a point where it was an international nonprofit, and it spread across, I want to believe, 7 other high schools, and they had done thousands of these little dresses that doctors were delivering when they were doing their volunteer work. One little idea. That's what I'm talking about. Number 2, have a no electronics day. Can they do it? Can you? I always say it's children, students, they, they mirror what we do as their parent. And so if you have littles, you want to make sure that you're not always on your cell phone, right? Because that's what they're going to mirror. Well, a no electronics day is going to take it back to like the days of when you were a child and What did you used to do? And maybe have a throwback day, right? Where you could talk about playing on the street till the lights came on, or going to the park and kicking the soccer ball, or taking the dog for a walk. Really just peel theirself away from everybody else's best day. The next one, have them choose how to spend the whole day. Give them the whole day to plan from breakfast to lunch to dinner and see where that takes your family. Maybe the whole family is not off the whole time. Maybe it's one parent. Maybe they can do it with a relative. But let them plan. Some students, they will find this very difficult. Some students will find they're actually really good at it. Again, you're trying to help them figure out what would be a good career, a college, a major. What about trying a walk around any 4-year college near you? I believe everybody has a 4-year college within a close proximity, unless you're in a very rural area. But you don't have to make an appointment. You can download the app to your phone, put the earbuds in your ear, walk on campus, and just explore like you would a museum, like you would a science experiment, a fair, something like this, art museum. You really just want to let them— what is this? Why do people do this? What do you do here? Why is this important? Remember when they were 3 years old and you were like, "Why'd out?" Now we want them to ask why, because as soon as they do, they're buying into talking about their future. And as soon as they talk about their future, it becomes theirs. It's no longer you nagging, maybe you don't nag, but it's no longer you prodding them to try to get this done. It's making it a fun event. Let them choose any book to read for enjoyment. I know this is hard because most students are potentially going to have to read for school, but anything that would bring them joy to remind them that learning should be fun is a great opportunity, especially for those students who really, use reading to decompress. Have them help a neighbor, a grandparent, or someone in need. They learn a lot about themselves when they're helping somebody else. A potential client was talking to me earlier today and she said, you know, one thing that my child does that makes me so proud is when they help their grandpa put up the Christmas lights. And the child looked at, or the teenager looked at the, the mom and like, I didn't even know you were watching. And it was a beautiful moment that we got to, you know, laugh about, enjoy, but it really helped to solidify that that child, that teenager had joy from helping somebody else. So that's a great opportunity. Have them journal for the whole break and then share the one thing they learned about themself. This is so important because college essays don't just happen. College essays are— most students are going to have to write between 5 and 15 essays, and that means 5 to 15 different topics, different stories, different things they've gone through. Journaling is the best way for them to help navigate writing college essays. So let's dive a little deeper. Let's get back to college prep. Let's talk about how all of this will really help with college applications, because I'm guessing that's important to you. So how will they build a strong activities list? Well, colleges look at activities as good, better, and best. A good activity is something that the student does over a span of time that they enjoy enough to write an essay about. A better activity would be something that they do that they are skilled at. Either they've led it or they've competed at a high level, um, lead in a performance, those type of things. And then the best is something that is international or national, something that they've won awards for, something that they've competed in and came out a winner or with a great story. So activities are not about checking boxes for college. Activities are really about building an activities list to stand out, to get accepted, which also turns into incredible scholarship dollars. And that is another way to save money. What really matters to a college? I get often asked, actually a lot, and I'm going to break it down as simply as I can. Colleges are looking for students who want to make the world a better place. But not just talk about it, do something about it. Advocate for another, come to the school, start a club, be part of leadership, play on a sport. They are looking for changemakers. They're not looking for a student to just come and sit and learn and leave. That is not gonna make their school better. Remember, college is a business. So knowing what colleges are looking for, what we talked about at the beginning, is very important because if you or if your child doesn't know who they are, what matters to them, how they advocate, how can they possibly let colleges know that they're a good fit? Let's talk about why unique strengths matter. A lot of people tell me, My child is amazing. And I thought my 4 were pretty amazing too, I'm not gonna lie. But what I've learned after doing this for so long is to ask why. Why are they amazing? What makes them amazing? There's no judgment. In my mind, all teenagers are amazing. But for colleges, they wanna know why your child is exceptional. You do not want to do what everyone else is doing. That absolutely will not help your child at all. It will actually muddy the water. It will make it more confusing for the admissions department. Your child is a unique piece of the puzzle, but colleges will not know if you are not able to articulate So please do not leave this up to your 17-year-old because they will, I've seen, very simply state, and it doesn't wow anybody. They've done the hard work. They need to articulate how amazing they've done. What will your classes tell the college about your child? What will their grades expose about them? So Are they taking all easy classes? Probably not a good sign. Are they getting out at noon? Probably not a good sign. Are they becoming a teacher's assistant versus taking an academic class? Probably not a good sign. So what are they doing? How are they spending their time? Did you know that on the University of California application, there's a place for 20 activities, honors, and awards. On the Common App, there are 10. So when you think about— yes, they need to be doing things, but don't think about it for college. Think about it for your child. What is going to set them apart? What is going to make them unique? These are the things that I want students to be thinking about instead of checking boxes. Really lean into who are they and what can they do to prove it. Now I want to take you through the 7 most important components for success. Our students have gotten into every college from private Ivies to public to Ivy-ish to the UCs. And one thing I can tell you is true, that these 7 factors are all part of the process. At some schools, factor number 1 will be most important. At another school, it may be number 3 and 5. So yes, these are important, but at each school it is unique to that school. So Carrie and I would love to be able to show you what it takes to get into their dream school. So if that's something you would like to see, put into chat dream school and Carrie will set that up for you. The 7 keys are the academic strategy. And this starts from the day they promote from 8th grade. How many AP? How many IB? How many CP? How many honors? How many dual enrollment? How many college classes? This is all a strategy. Very important. Then there's the test strategy. If your child says testing is optional, it's not optional if they want scholarships. So now how optional is it? If you don't care about scholarships, there are still, there are still some schools that are test optional, but they can decide tomorrow to be test required. And if your child hasn't taken the test, they cannot apply there. So knowing which is their best test, the SAT or the ACT, They don't have to take both. We can tell them should they take the SAT or the ACT, not by how we feel about them, but we have metrics that we can show them which is their best test. So if you would like help or have questions about which is the best test for your child, please put in the chat test and Carrie will get you that information. Community service. Community service is not just sign up and show up and put in your time. Colleges are not impressed that you're doing something that they know doesn't take much effort. So if you're looking for a passion with purpose project that would help you to stand out, I encourage you, we have a nonprofit that College Ready started. And it's called empowereducation.world. And Carrie, if you can put that in the chat, I encourage the listeners to go check out the website. You are welcome to join in. We welcome all middle school and high schoolers. It's no cost at all. It is our service to our teenagers so they can learn how to live their passion and serve with purpose.. So please go check that out. If you have questions about that, please put in the chat community service. Awesome. Leadership strategy. All right. So leadership is critical. If your child has any desire to go to an Ivy or Ivy-ish school, leadership is non-negotiable. They must lead and lead at a very high level. If they want to go into a major such as law or something that they will need to show leadership, that is going to be critical. So leadership comes in different ways, right? Leadership could be first chair in music, the lead in the play. It could be ASB president. There's many ways you can get leadership. So if you're not sure and you would like a list of the best leadership strategy, put leadership in the chat and Carrie will get that to you. All right, the next one, extracurricular strategy. We talked a lot about that. It's very important that that strategy matches who your child is. If your child is very gifted in the liberal arts and their extracurriculars are in robotics, there's going to be a little bit of confusion from the college admissions people. So you want to be mindful. Why am I doing this? Is it because I like it or because somebody told me it would help me to get into college? We can help you if you're unsure. The letters of recommendation— there is a strategy for this. It's really important that you ask the right people at the right time., and you supply them with what they need. If you need a recommender strategy, put that in the chat, and we will be sure to get you that as well. And the essay strategy— this is probably one of the number one reasons why people hire College Ready is we have the best— I do think so— professional essay editors in the entire industry. And it is something that we pride ourselves on. We have essay writing workshops. We have essay writing brainstorming sessions. We have strategies that we walk our students through. And then we have the editor that helps to polish and make sure that it is quality and the right topic. So if you need any essay support, any type of strategy, put that in the chat. So we can make sure and get you that information. All right, we talked about the academic strategy, having a comprehensive academic plan, making sure to match your college and the fit for the strategy. In other words, making sure that it's a good academic fit, social fit, and financial fit when you pick the university. Academic support and performance is so important. It's the number one thing that will get your child looked at and not looked at, but it's not going to get them accepted. It's just part of the strategy. The test strategy is making sure that they have a personalized testing strategy and timeline, having diagnostic tests and evaluations, and having test support from the right people, test strategists, not tutors. Community service is having a personalized Passion with Purpose project. Certification and national recognition. Our students have an opportunity to earn 8, 8 national awards and 4 leadership certifications. Having leadership training and global engagement. A leadership strategy that gets them certifications and recognition. International leadership opportunities, which is the highest level they can achieve, and helping them to develop by giving them opportunity to use those skills to become better at that, to write essays about extracurricular strategy, having a comprehensive plan and profile enhancement, access to enriching opportunities, and personalized support and resources. So important. The recommended strategy is identifying the, the right people to do the recommending, having the right timing and the right approach, and then supporting the recommenders and maintaining communication. All very important. And then the essay strategy: professional essay editing support, structured essay planning, organization, brainstorming, and writing tools. So now this is what I'd like you to really think about, parents. Who will be responsible for completing each of these? I encourage you to take a picture of this, print it out, put it on your fridge, and write down: will your 17-year-old be able to lead the academic strategy, financial strategy, testing strategy, leadership, extracurricular, All of these things need to be done, and if you think your high school counselor is going to do them, I encourage you to ask your child how many times they have met with their academic advisor. Unfortunately, I think at least I did, I had hoped it would be more support than they had. No bash on them, their plates are full. They're dealing with so much um, other struggles, so many other struggles. But just know, is it going to be you? Is it going to be your child? Is it going to be, you know, reading a book? Just as long as you have a plan is really what this webinar, this time, is all about. So the essay strategy and support— oh, I talked about that going this way. So the College Ready Plan, just in case if you're like, I don't want to do all of this, Shellee, this sounds way too overwhelming. We have a comprehensive personalized plan. We maximize your child's potential. We minimize stress and cost. Like I mentioned, we're very focused on how do we do this right with minimal stress, enjoying the process, and getting scholarships. These are the things our students focus on. We do it fun. We do it excitement. We do it with joy. And we do it by helping them and supporting them each step of the way. Investing in the College Ready Plan and working with me one-to-one could be well over $25,000 a year, but you don't need to do that. I want to make these strategies available for your family. So we have made it an opportunity that you can do this whole comprehensive plan for an investment of only $11,997 in total. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, I encourage you to act now. We only take 20 students per grade level. We ensure personalized attention, and if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Because we know that your goals and your challenges are real. We understand that doing this on your own and, and having alignment is challenging, and having the right fit is so very important. So if this sounds like something that you are interested in, we would be honored to help you. If you just want a piece to the puzzle put that in the chat and our team will get you that resource. We're here to support your family each and every step of the way. So thank you for the opportunity for allowing us to give you, um, a glimpse into your future, and I will go ahead and take questions at this point.