Masterclass 5 Secrets to Scholarships

Welcome everyone, we will get started right at the hour. So excited you're here. I love this topic, always one of my favorites— how I can save your family's money. Welcome, welcome, welcome, Carrie. All right, so Carrie is my assistant, and we will be working, um, for you on this, uh, masterclass webinar. And our goal is to answer your questions as you think of them, or you can put them in the chat, and I will break throughout the, um, the webinar and answer them. So hope you all are ready to get started. I'm going to share my screen, and I'm going to help you to get your mind prepared for the topic at hand. So without further ado— my alarm always reminding me— um, let's go ahead and get started. So we are going to start from the beginning. All right, everyone. So thank you all for being here. As people are funneling in, I don't want to hold you all up. So if you could put in the chat which one of these is what you came to learn today. So is it A, 7 ways to decrease the cost of college? Is it 12 factors that affect if your student will be awarded scholarships and financial aid? Is it 8 ways to assure that your student gets an affordable college degree? Is it 10 secrets to find and win scholarships? Is it common mistakes that can cost you thousands of dollars on college and how to avoid them? Is it what colleges are looking for in today's students? It's actually not what you think. And is it the correct approach to filling out financial aid forms to protect your retirement savings? Or just straight up, I feel confused, not prepared, frustrated, overwhelmed. And not prepared, and it feels competitive, and I'm kind of panicking. So if you can put in the chat which one of those is what you came to learn today, that would be fantastic. Why is that important? Because you took the time to be here, and I want to make sure to answer your questions. So H, well, I totally get it. That's why I put it in there, because most of the people I talk to, at least when it comes to the financial side, are feeling super confused. H, absolutely. So the next thing that will help me to, to really lean into how I can best support you is where are you located and what grade is your child currently in? Because it's very different for a 7th or 8th grade or 9th grader than it is for a 12th grader. So if you can share which of those— 10th grader, Texas, thank you, awesome, that's super helpful. So you are in the, we call it the, the perfect timing. So hopefully that makes you feel good. And New York, 12th grade, yeah, so you're feeling frustrated. I, I have, I've been talking to a lot of you, um,, and I will let you know that I hear you, and I will do what I can to help you. Um, H, college, California. Okay, wow, that's a totally different, um, beast. Is, um, and, um, is your student in college looking to transfer, or in college and don't know, um, how to get more money? That will be helpful, because if it's a transfer student, it's going to be a different strategy than it is for a student who wants to stay there but just can't afford the school they picked. So, um, In College Now. Okay, great. D, 10 Secrets to Find and Win Scholarships. Awesome. That's one of my favorite things to talk about. Um, In College Now and if your child is planning on staying at that college, um, the, the important thing to think about is has something changed for your family financially? And we'll talk about that, but I just want you to kind of understand every piece, every one of these A through G is a different approach. So there's not one way to get in or out of college without debt. It is what is the right fit for your family. So before I dive in and, and just start pouring tons of information at you, I want to give you a little bit— I want to share a story with you. I think it will help you resonate. So I, like you, um, am a, a mom. I have, um, two biological kids, two stepkids, uh, an Italian exchange student, and an African a daughter, or she calls me Mama. I don't know if I'm actually related, but she thinks so. And why I share that is because it's important. Raising grandkids, wow, there's a whole nother thing. College is not in the budget at all. I feel you, Michelle. So I am not a grandparent yet, but I hope some point I'm there. But back to the story. So when I was going through this back in 2008, um, with my firstborn, I was doing my research, I'm sure like you have, and I was thinking, this is so unfair. My kid needs this, and yet I don't have a clue how I'm going to pay for this. And it was a bit terrifying. I was confused. I definitely was not prepared, and I was I was probably most frustrated at this point than anything. I, um, the internet wasn't quite as accessible back in 2008, but just the same, I was reading books. I was, I was studying desperately. And what I found out about scholarships is the same thing I'm going to share with you today. But before I do, that firstborn of mine came home from 8th grade and he says, Mom, I know exactly where I want to go. And exactly what I want to study. Excuse me, I'm getting over a cold. And I said, that's fantastic, are you going to share? And he's like, yeah, so I want to go to, um, I want to go to a top-tier, like, Ivy College, and I, um, I want to be a surgeon. And so that dollar sign that I was seeing early and multiple dollar signs behind it now, and I was panicking. Sorry, this is not good. Okay, I've got this, so I'll try not to get so excited. So that young man had just put extra dollar signs before, behind, and in front of my fear of how in the world were we going to do this. So that young man was the reason why all of this that I'm sharing with you got started. He had big hopes and dreams. And like you, as a parent, I didn't know how to navigate this. I did go to college here in the US, but it's changed so dramatically. I had no idea how I was going to pay for it. When I went, I was able to work myself through. I didn't have, you know, um, I didn't have to take a loan. I was pretty fortunate. My parents said no loans, and I'm like, okay, we'll figure it out. Now I'm trying to say the same thing to my children, and I'm, and, um, I'm saying no loans, and they're like, but how else am I going to do it? So why I share that with you is I think it's important because a lot of families either choose to not think about it, or they think about, I'm just going to study and do it myself and not talk about being overwhelmed. Or they're like, okay, I know I don't know what to do, but I don't know how to fix that problem. So I'm going to go ahead and get started, and we're going to talk about being the hero. And I'm the hero to these youngsters right here. Whoops. Jumped ahead. Um, oh, I'm going the wrong way now. It's going to be one of those days, Carrie. Um, okay, there we go. So I was— I am the hero to these young people. Um, the two on the left are my wives. They are my two oldest. My son graduated from Harvard completely debt-free, and I didn't pay a dime. He went on to UC San Diego Medical School, took on $30,000 in loans, and he is now an orthopedic surgeon at UCLA. Why do I tell you this? Because he only had $30,000 in loans total. He will make that in his first year and pay it all back, and it will not be a bad return on his investment. Now, my second child, she had big hopes and dreams, and I was again concerned because she had different hopes and dreams than her brother. Her dream was to go to University of Alabama and be a registered nurse. And so I told her, unless we were able to get her in and out debt-free, that that was just definitely not going to happen for us. She said, Mom, will you help me? And of course I said, absolutely, I will. So we created her own strategy. We figured out what was going to help her stand out to get accepted and to receive the big scholarships. You're going to hear me talk about scholarships and college being a business throughout this webinar, and I think it's important that I pause here because a lot of people are like, well, your kids are just lucky, or they must be quite amazing. I'm telling you, there are no more amazing than your kids. Um, what I will let you in on, a little secret, is they had a plan, and that plan led to a strategy that positioned them for scholarships. Because I, like you, didn't want to pay full price for college, didn't really feel like I had an extra $63,000 a year, and so I had to navigate it in a way that would help them to not only get in because remember, scholarships are quite useless if they don't get in. Um, and so they had to get in, and then we had to figure out how we were going to pay for it. So that is what I want to share with you today, because it is possible. My kids are no different than your kids, and all 4 of them will graduate debt-free. Even my Italian exchange student will graduate debt-free, because in 1 year I convinced her No need to take on debt. So that's what I want to talk about today. And because you're in this webinar and I can see that we have, you know, everywhere from 10th grade into college, which is a huge span. So I'm going to try to talk about each of your situations because they are completely unique. So let's go ahead and dive in. And I'm excited to share. So why do you think paying for college is the number one family fear? They have no idea how they will pay for college. It truly is worse than spiders, worse than public speaking. It is worse than meeting the in-laws for the first time because it feels like there's nothing you can do. I'm sure all of you have been online and you hear people ranting and raving. My kid is perfect. They didn't get in, or who gets scholarships, or throw up my hands, we make too much money. And I want to let you know that I have students in our program from a 2.8 GPA to a 5.0 GPA. I have students from need-based to multimillionaires. Why? Because when I wrote the book How to Send Your Student to College Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money, I was speaking to all of you. So if you have not read that book, I highly recommend it. My second book will be coming out in November, and we're currently working on a title, but it's very much focused on getting a return on investment of your college degree. So let's dive in. Student positioning to get accepted. Like I mentioned, if your child does not get accepted None of this is going to matter. It won't matter how much you saved in a 529 or how much you didn't save. It is truly the most important piece. But why is it important? Because picking their list of colleges, their reach, their comfort, and their safety is the number one way to a debt-free degree. Let me explain. Their reach schools, the top tier of the top tier, If they are not the top of that top tier, there will not be generous scholarships. So it's important for families to understand that if your student barely gets in, they're probably not going to be thrown a lot of money. Now, your comfort schools where they are competitive and they should get money and they are positioned should get a significant amount of money. And then your safety schools, oh yeah, you better be talking full ride, you better be talking show me the money, because they are overqualified. Remember, college is a business. Think about it as if you are going to work and you are trying to prove yourself to get a raise. If you do status quo, You're not going to get the raise. If you do over and above, you get the raise. The second and probably most critical piece is your Student Aid Index, your FAFSA, and your CSS Profile. If that sounds like a whole nother language to you, I'm sorry, I don't make this up. I'm just the messenger. For my seniors in the room, I want you to really lean in on this piece. Because the first thing that we do with our families is we calculate your student aid index. This is the number that each of your colleges will think you should be able to pay based on your financial profile. Now, I've never had a family say, oh yes, I'm happy to write a check for that. Most of them are like, uh, excuse me, where do they think I'm going to get this money? This is ridiculous. So if you haven't done that yet, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, you need to do it. Number one thing to getting scholarships is knowing all the information. Number two, the FAFSA. The FAFSA is your gateway to scholarships. If you say, I make too much money, I'm not gonna complete the FAFSA. There are a lot of bad things that could happen with that statement. Number one is you could be completely wealthy right now, and tomorrow life changes. COVID hits, illness hits— don't wish it on anybody— but if you do not complete the FAFSA the year that they go into their freshman year in college, you're done. You cannot complete it after that. So it's important for you to realize, even if you think you make too much money, complete the FAFSA because we don't know what the years ahead are going to be. For the family that's in 10th grade, this is super important for you. The FAFSA looks at the second semester of the sophomore year. You are finishing the first semester of the sophomore year, so your base year is going to be next semester. So getting your financial house in order to lower your student aid index and to get more scholarships is now. So if you are thinking, oh, I've got plenty of time, they're only a sophomore— not if you want scholarships. Your time is ticking. I'm sorry for the senior family. Your, your clock has ticked, and at this point It's all about picking the right colleges, and it's all about, um, completing the FAFSA correctly. And then you have the CSS Profile. This is only for, um, schools that, that require it. They're typically your top-tier schools or your private schools. Now, this is— if you take nothing away from this webinar except for this, The FAFSA, 77% of families complete it wrong, wrong. And that's why they don't get money. It's not because they make too much money, it's because they do it wrong. You know, we're so used to, you know, uh, doing a refi or buying a home, and you're like, I'm super loaded, I've got plenty of money, I've got resources. And now on the FAFSA, you you have to answer just the questions they ask. So many families do it wrong that it's important to know how to do it right. So keep in mind that the FAFSA is the gateway to scholarships. I have no idea what that beeping is, um, but we'll just keep moving on anyway. The second or the third piece is independent scholarships. Students may start to apply to these independent scholarships as early as the middle school years. They do not need to wait until their senior year when they're applying to colleges and doing their essays and— or they're in college. Students can start now earning free money that they don't need to pay back. So independent scholarships are good, but here's the catch. Independent scholarships are frustrating because most of them are bait and switch. Let me explain. You ask your child, hey, we can't afford for to pay for college. We need you to apply to scholarships. So they go online and they Google, um, college scholarships. And all of this stuff comes up. Literally hundreds of thousands. And your teenager's like, okay, well, my parents have said I have to work on it an hour a day, or an hour a week, or an hour a month, or whatever. So they go in there and they just start filling out stuff. And what they're saying is, yes, we own a home, yes, we own a car, yes, we have lots of money. Um, and now all of a sudden you're getting emails, would you like to refinance your house, would you like to buy a new car, When I did this with my first child, no kidding, I had to shut down my email. It had gotten so intrusive that I could not get away from it. My son, who got a full ride to Harvard, applied to 33 independent scholarships and got $300. So be careful. Independent scholarships can work with a strategy and a plan, and we can help you with that. But it's custom to you. I would give you the information here right now if I really knew your financial situation. So at the end, I'm going to give you an opportunity to hop on a call with me and we can talk about it. But as of right now, I want you to know that some of you are divorced, some of you are grandparents, some of you are a single parent. Like, there's so many things that go into this. There's no one way to tell you how to get independent scholarships. Need-based scholarships. These are truly for families who do not have the finances. Typically falls into a family who makes under $70,000 a year. And so most people who live in a city are not going to qualify for that. And Are there ways around it?

Nope.

So it really takes a family who is truly need-based. Now, I will say that need-based person should be requesting to get free SAT and ACT tests from their high school counselor. They should be requesting to get free college application fee waivers. There's a lot I can do to help that family, but truly, it— a lot of families don't qualify for that. The next one is my favorite one, and that is institutional merit scholarships. I did a webinar this past week on athletic scholarships, and I interviewed somebody who was a scholar athlete herself, and all three of her boys, um, were scholar athletes. And what she told my audience honestly took my breath away because she said, parents, 2% of your families will get a full-ride athletic scholarship, period. And I just felt like the whole roof caved in because all of these families were paying for, you know, private coaches and club teams, and their kids are like struggling to fit in academia because they're doing so much athletics. Or it could be my performers. Wow. Performing and getting ready for a performance takes so much time. So getting back to institutional, your academia will never fail you. Your, your athlete, your athletics, you can get injured. Your visual and performing arts or your theater child, they may just get tired of it. Um, maybe not. Maybe neither of those will happen, and we help both of those families, so I'm not dissuading you in any way. What I'm helping you to see is if you can help your child really lean into that, if they use their intellect, the scholarships are bigger and better. Our students earned over $23 million in scholarships over the last 2 years on merit. Understanding where to get it, how to get it, and what is helping our students to get it is fantastic. I had a student this past year, Grace. She earned the Coca-Cola Scholarship, $25,000 a year. And it— I mean, it's not easy to get. She had to write essays and she had to work for it, but it is possible. If you take nothing else away from this slide, I want you to realize 2 things. One is academics will never fail your child. There are thousands and thousands of colleges, one for each of your children. Merit scholarships can be a full ride like my son got. He got a full ride presidential scholarship to USC, and it opened up the world for him. Financially. So please know you can do financial negotiations, you can do financial reconsiderations. You might have thought you were coming on just to learn about independent scholarships, and if that's the case, I'm super sorry, but that is what I have found to be the least lucrative way of doing this. Don't forget test scores, community service, leadership, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and essays are really what's going to get you here quickly. So as we continue on, um, before we go any further, I want to take just a moment and answer any questions that have come in. Carrie, at this point, has anybody asked?

I don't see any questions. Okay, unless anyone wants to put any in there now. Um, Let's see, let me make sure. Um, just comments as far as how old their kids are and where they are signing in from.

Excellent. Okay, so we're going to dive in a little bit deeper. I want you for a moment to really just imagine what it would be like to see your student's face when they get accepted into their perfect college and your family can't afford it. I've heard too many stories of a, of a child who gets super excited for a school, and then the parents have to say, I'm sorry, we can't afford it. So ultimately, understanding the academic fit, the social fit, and the financial fit before you pick your colleges is the only way to make the perfect college fit happen. That's what I want to talk about today. If you discover your right path for your future, you can confidently pursue your dream. So what we're going to talk about today is your child's GPA and test score are no longer the key to getting into college. They are truly the starting point. We're going to talk about what your student, what your family needs to get accepted into the colleges they want. There are 7 things. And then we're going to talk about the importance of knowledge. Knowledge, no mistakes. You pick the college that your child wants to attend that's a good fit for your family. I want you to realize you can be the hero, even if you didn't go to college here in the United States. Maybe you went to college in another country. You are still completely able to be successful and be their hero. So let's talk about this for a moment. This is your child's future. On a piece of paper or in your notes, I want you to think about, as we go through this webinar, who will do what I recommend? Will it be you, the parent? Will it be the child, your child, 15, 16, 17, 18? Or will it be somebody who you need to get help from, your CPA, financial advisors, certified college consultant. What, what does that look like? I really want you to be able to, when you leave, have an action plan. So many times we get on a webinar and it's just information, information, information, sell me something. That is not this. This is, I want you to know, I want you to be the hero, and I'm going to give you the, the things you need to do but if you don't take action, there's nothing that's going to change. In case you would like to know how we do this, I am willing to show you what I have created over the last 17 years. You can do this yourself. You can get support from us. You can get support from others. The whole purpose is for you to have that action plan. So First thing I want to talk about is why college, and if not college, then what? Something is beeping again. Okay, so the first thing I want you to think about is why college. It's statistically true that your child will have a greater chance of a good job if they have a college degree. We truly believe that knowledge is power, and the knowledge you'll receive and the knowledge you pass on will give them the power to be successful in their future, making money and enjoying life. Statistically, college students— students with a college degree make more money and have a higher happiness grading. These are just quotes, it's not my opinion. They will have better opportunities, they will have status, they will have an accomplishment, they will be building the right connections, they will have a skill set, they will surround themselves with like-minded people. But you may be thinking, you know, do you really need a college degree right now? I think that's a viable question. I remember a long time ago having the same discussion with my parents because they didn't have a college degree and they were very successful. But what my dad told me, and what I will share with you, is having a college degree without going into debt is the best of both worlds. And that is what I want for your family. Because if they don't go to college, what will they do? Will they continue to live with you rent-free? Food in the fridge? Will they go to a trade school? Will they start their own business and be an entrepreneur? My favorite new one is they're going to be an influencer and they're just going to spend all their time on the computer making videos that go viral. So I say that tongue-in-cheek, but I do have students I have talked to and that is their plan. So really put on your action plan notes If they don't go to college, then what? And going to college with a debt-free degree and a return on their investment of that education is the secret to success. So here we go. The problem: college admissions can be overwhelming with information overload, financial obstacles, scarce resources, and fierce competition. The solution is truly knowledge, and I am so happy that you've chosen to spend your time with us because I'm here to give you expert guidance. Guidance. I'm part of an ethics organization called HECA for College Consultants, and I'm part of a financial organization called Society of Financial Awareness. And part of me being in those organizations is so families like yours can feel confident then I'm here to not just sell you a thing and walk away. I am here to lean in to help you to find the best solution so your child can be educated without going into debt. You can learn to do this on your own, like you could do taxes, or you could pay a CPA. You could sell your own home or hire an expert. Your child is not prepared to do this on their own. So as you look at the column of what will your child do, I want you to be mindful. They don't teach this in school. High school counselors do not talk about this because they don't know your family's financial situation. So your child probably is not the most financially literate to understand what $300,000 in debt looks like. And for those families who didn't know this, Your child cannot get scholarships to pay for college on their own. They must have a cosigner who has assets. So it is not truly let them figure it out because that just won't work. What matters more to you? Strategies to get accepted or affordability? Every time I put up this slide when I'm doing a live presentation, And I have one of them covered. Everybody raises their hand. I would like affordability, please. And again, I want to remind you, if they don't get into college, there is no need for affordability. So we always have to start with how will they get accepted? How will they stand out? How will they be positioned to get the big scholarships? It's so important that we understand that that is the process that must be done. Again, I want to help you understand that college is a business. Colleges want to see the best you. Will you be successful and graduate? Do you know colleges are evaluated on how many students apply and how many get rejected? That elevates them. Do you know that colleges are evaluated on will your child graduate in 4 years or 6 years, or will they drop out? So because college is a business, they are invested in getting their rankings because high rankings equal more students who want to go there, which is more profitability. You, on the other hand, want to pay the least. So here is where the tidal wave starts. They want your money. You don't want to give your money, but listen to this. Colleges have money to give you if you pick the right colleges. You know, Harvard has a $53 billion endowment. Every one of my son's roommates in college were receiving money. Harvard. So just because it says we don't give full-ride merit scholarships on their website, be very careful what you believe because we have found out ourselves that simply isn't true. So one of you had put a request to learn 7 ways to decrease the cost of college, so here it is. Number 1: strong GPA. There are some colleges that will not even look at your application if your GPA does not meet their minimum requirement. So again, if your child's GPA is at the high end, they're going to throw money at you. If they're at the low end, probably not going to happen. So picking the right college for that student is critical. Test scores. Did you know that their junior year PSAT can earn them a free Education. This is something most families are unaware because students don't want to test prep, and therefore they just don't talk to their parent about it, and therefore they don't get the score that they really should have. But think about this for a moment: if a student has a high GPA and a low test score, that means that you have either grade inflation or a child with test anxiety. Or if you have a high test score and a low GPA, you have a smart lazy kid. So why is that important? Because in order to decrease the cost of college, you need a positioning and a strategy so it all makes sense. Number 3, taking dual enrollment or AP classes. For those of you who are not familiar with dual enrollment, it is where a teacher at a high school is accredited to be a college professor, but they they teach at a high school level. So not every high school offers this. I can let you know if your high school does or not if we get on a call. And AP classes— if your child doesn't take the AP exam, you are leaving money on the table. There are so many ways to decrease the cost of college, and those are the top 3. Then we get into looking for colleges with strong merit scholarships. Now, there are colleges who will say straight away, we give money for scholars, and they do. We know after 17 years of doing this which are the generous schools. I can tell you off the top of my head which schools are not going to give you a penny and which schools are incredibly generous, but it's nowhere on Google because colleges battle that. They don't want you to know that secret. Remember, they're a business. Choose a college your student will graduate in 4 years, right? A California State School sounds wonderful at, at the sticker price, but what most families don't understand is that that situation, they're capping the units at 16 units a semester, which means your child cannot get out in 4 years. So it's taking 5 to 6 years to get a 4-year degree. Do the math, and then you have the cost of them not, you know, having their own insurance, paying their own car, all of this stuff. And no, it's not the cheapest route. You know, California is not the only one in that boat. There's Florida, there's Texas. There, there are several states that it is counterintuitive. I just mentioned California because they have the most overcrowded public schools because a lot of students would like to live in California for a few years. The next one, look for out-of-state public colleges or international schools with special pricing for out-of-state students. Super excited to share we are opening a new division of College Ready in February called University Now. My youngest is getting a 3-year international and US degree. Um, an international business degree in 3 years for $27,000 in total. She is getting to see the world. She is getting to experience life outside of the US and in the US because she comes home for her holidays, and she is really maturing at a much faster rate. She loves it, and she plans to come home to the US and, and get her career here. So it is a viable option. Look for private schools that meet 100% of your need. I was on with a student yesterday. We were looking at Stanford, and that is a great opportunity if you are need-based. The number one reason families go into debt is not having a balanced college list. Those are the 7 ways to decrease, decrease the cost of college, but the number one reason why families go into debt is they pick the wrong colleges. They let their child pick it based on a football team or a basketball team or where the, the school is located. And, and that, that could be part of the problem. So let's go ahead and dive now into another question you asked: what affects college admission? Number one, admissions has changed. Back in the day, right, it wasn't as competitive because not as many students went to college. Now it is. It is now a lot more expensive. But grades, just like in the first screen, GPA weighted and unweighted. They want to see the rigor, test scores, class ranking, extracurricular activities. How is your child unique? You know, the first thing we start with in the College Ready program is helping your child figure out who they are and what matters to them. Because most teenagers that are in this generation are finding that unless it's on a screen of a computer or a phone, they're a little perplexed. And so if your child doesn't know what they want to major in, if they don't know what career would be a good fit for them, if they don't know if college is a good investment, these are all things we can help you with and are going to be critical to help your family succeed. Essays are incredibly important. Your child will have to write between 0 and 18 essays per school, and that really depends on their college list. So why, why do I tell you that? Because if you're applying to a college that has 18 essays, that's 18 different things you can brag about, and that is not an easy accomplishment. So we help families to take away the overwhelm, put together a strategic plan. So those essays, piece of cake to write. The next one is skills, special skills, interests, passions. Our students in College Ready have put together an incredible opportunity for students to step into their passion. I encourage you to look at it. It's called empowereducation.world. These students have come together from all over the world, and we welcome students inside College Ready and outside because what their passion is, is to help provide education for children around the world. And so they're leaning into their passion, and they are making the changes they wish to see. Letters of recommendation— insanely important to ask the right person in the right order and give them the right resources. Diversity and leadership. Colleges are looking for somebody who can be a leader, who can work with diversity. Diversity, not just an ethnicity, but a business major and a communication major and a visual and performing major and a doctor all need to sit around a table, and they need to do it well. College interviews are a way to really show admissions how amazing you are. So for a student who hasn't done this and they're not feeling very comfortable or confident, the college interview is going to be hard. We spend 2 meetings preparing our students— what questions to ask, how to answer them, and how to handle themselves inside of an interview. So just know, college students are not winging this— it is a strategic way of getting accepted. All right, next one: U.S. News and World Report. So many people are making their decisions about a college based on this report. I want to caution you, this report is a marketing ploy. It is for colleges to convince you to apply there, and it's based on a bunch of fluff. So be careful what you listen to, be careful what you read, and really understand what goes behind it. Briefly, I'll explain what I'm talking about. When your student takes the PSAT, they will get a score. That score is released to all of the colleges in the United States, and your child will be bombarded with so much email and still some mail saying, "Please apply here. Well, you know, we want you. You're the perfect fit." And so your child applies. Well, maybe they don't have the GPA to go there. And so now what happens is this child is rejected and this school just got more difficult to get into, but it wasn't a fit in the first place. So the statistics and the numbers are completely wrong. So be very careful what you base your decisions on. Really, the most important person once your child finishes their application and sends it on is the Strategic Enrollment Manager. This is the person who has to balance the business, the communications, the medical, the engineering. They have to balance the class size. They have to balance diversity. They have to balance location. This person is the one who's playing chess with your child's future. So understanding their role and how to help your child put their best self forward is very important. All right, is a great GPA and test score enough? No, I touched on this, so I don't want to beat it up. How to get accepted. So here's a case study I wanted to share with you. Marcus, um, he is a high school freshman. His dream school is UCLA. He has a 4.1 GPA, which for a lot of kids, that's pretty awesome. For UCLA, not so much. He wants to be an engineer. So what did our team do? Our team met with admissions, uh, the admissions department. We talked about what are his passions. We talked about he loves music, and then we talked to the music department. What we found out is they're having trouble finding a bassoon player. So what did Marcus do? He learned how to play the bassoon. He said, I can do that. Not only did he get accepted because he was needed, he also got gifted. Application essays are so critically important. Before we dive into them, are there any questions, Carrie, in the chat?

No, there was a question about wanting the slides, but I let the person know that they will get the recording tomorrow in an email.

Awesome. Okay, then I'm going to continue on. That means it's hitting home.

You're doing a great job.

Okay, here we go. So application essay. What not to do. Before I even go into this, I have to let you know we now have a tool that can tell if a child used AI, and we now have to kick back that essay to the child and copy their parent that AI has been detected. And I know that sounds horrible, and I'm sorry that we have to do that. But it is our way of protecting your children because students, they think nobody will catch it. And parents, most parents are still not sure what AI is. And so if a child submits and they are found to have used AI, it's an automatic no. And if a parent writes the essay, They're going to know because we do period double space. Students use period single space. Could you correct that? Yes. Is that enough? No. Do not be your student's essay editor. If anything, if you're going to invest in anything, having a professional college essay editor is critical. We have had our same professional editors for the last, I want to say, 8 years, and they— I believe they're our secret sauce for success. I truly do, because a high school English teacher has not written a college essay probably since she went— he or she went to, to college. This is a totally different essay, and so they may correct it grammatically,, but the structure is going to be way off. I can't tell you how many essays I read that either bore me to death, are redundant, are still talking about COVID are, um, clearly using AI, or clearly a parent wrote them. And if I can detect it, so can a college. So please help your child build their resume now so they can write a brilliant essay their senior year. Here's the roadmap to getting, getting accepted, right? You need a standout strategy. You need a strategic plan. You need to understand which are the best college majors, and do your colleges you're applying to even offer that major? You need a strategic testing plan. How many AP? How many IB? How many dual enrollment? How many times can you take the SAT and ACT before it looks like disaster? Your student needs a passion with purpose project. Like I said, EmpowerEducation.World is a perfect example. Those students are earning 8 national awards and 4 leadership certifications. You need to have a plan for extracurriculars. Remember, the Common App has students list 10 activities and awards. The UC app has 20. If your student is doing 1 or 2 things, they're not going to be competitive. You need to understand who to ask for a recommendation, um, letter from, an essay strategy. You need to have 10 to 12 colleges that compete within each other for financial negotiations. How to align school with your family values, how to graduate in 4 years or less, and how to pick the right school. So this side on the right, I recommend on your to-do list, take everything here, put it down the left, and decide, will the parent do it? Will the student do it? Will an outside resource do it? That is going to help you create your action plan. That I want you to have when you leave today. So somebody had requested 8 ways to assure that your student gets an affordable college degree. You're going to see a few things that overlap: taking the most challenging classes they can and getting a good grade. Taking challenging classes and getting all C's, not going to cut it. Taking all easy classes and getting all A's, not gonna cut it. Having a strategic testing plan. Don't just have a student pick an SAT because their friend said it was easier. It needs to have logic behind it. Working with the right test strategist at the right time and teaching the student using how they learn, these are all critical steps for success. Having a test prep and score your student needs before they take the PSAT, taking AP, Honors, and Dual Enrollment, and earning strong grades. It is possible. We have students doing it all the time. Having a strategy or a plan as which colleges to apply to. Again, it goes back to do not allow your 17-year-old to do this because it would be like telling them, "I want to live in Texas. Can you find me a home?" And yeah, they can, but what— can you afford it? And would it be where you would want to live? And it's the same concept. They don't know any more than you do. Plan your college search by using the proper tools. We have tools that can show you what your student aid index will be for any school in the US. We can show you the cost of attendance internationally. Having the right tools and having the right resources is what it takes to have an affordable college degree. Look for colleges with strong financial packages and a track record. If you say, Shellee, um, my, my student wants to go to TCU, and I can say, well, the most TCU has ever given a student on record is this number and you're like, well, we still can't afford that, it may not be the best fit school for your family. There are so many wonderful schools. Please know we can duplicate that school somewhere else. Leverage your financial awards. Do financial negotiations. This is what you can do, what we do to help families. The first thing is assess your family finances and talk about it. Help your child understand that there is not unlimited resources. You know, I got through this process without any of my children getting, um, going into college debt. And now my, my second daughter just got engaged. Do you have any idea how much weddings cost? We're talking about our family finances all over again. And just like I did for college, there has to be a yes and a no. It can't be, we're going to take out our retirement and then you're going to take care of us. Take care of us. I mean, it could if, if that's what your family wants, but my kids said no, so I had to look at other options. Decide whether your student's desired college is a want or a need. Do they want to live near the beach? At UC Santa Barbara, or do they need to attend Santa Barbara? That's important. Determine if your major, um, if the major they pick will pay for their wants and needs after they graduate, right? I mean, VAPA kids, they have so much passion and so much gifts, but can it really pay for their lifestyle? Or if your child says, you know, I, I want to build cars, Well, what does that look like? Does it make sense? What if they want to build a lot of cars? What if they want to own a, an auto shop? What does it look like? They need a plan and they need it now. Note the graduation rate of the colleges your child is considering. If your college you're considering has a graduation rate or retention rate of 50%, Run! Do you really think your child's gonna be one of those 50%? Maybe. But there's also a large chance that half their friends are dropping out. That's scary. You have to be mindful of that. We have resources and tools that Carrie and I can show you exactly what their retention rate is. Learn about the acceptance rates at the colleges your school would like to apply to. In other words, does everybody get accepted? Does anybody get accepted? And how can your child stand out? Consider the size of the college, you know, do you want public or private? Do you want East Coast, West Coast? What is it that is important? You need to rank those and you need to make sure that it meets your academic fit, your social fit, and your financial fit. Okay, so here are some things to think about. Do you know how much it will cost if your child picks the wrong college? So say you're like, you know what, let's just see what happens. We're just gonna let our kid pick and then we'll figure it out. If your child picks the wrong school, add another $100,000 to that cost of education. Transferring is an expensive proposition because not all classes will transfer to the next school. Save yourself a lot of time and energy and plan now. Plan early. The admissions process is extremely complicated, and that is why 1 in 3 students get help. So there are so many frequently asked questions, and I could answer them, but I'd rather answer yours. So at this time, Carrie, is there any questions that I can answer?

Yes, we have a great question. How do children "504 IEP with issues like dyslexia compete against normal students. Testing difficulties play into lower test scores, but in all IB course with 91 to 100 in each course." Yeah, so that's a perfect example of how we can help your family individually.

This is— it is a thing, and It all comes down to— now I can ask a zillion questions. Um, do they have accommodations? Are they in a class with others? Are they in a class by themselves? Did they get extra time on tests? Do they— there's so many things that I think people need to consider when they talk about competing, because if your child is set up strategically, even with all of that, They can be completely competitive. They may not have a 5.0 GPA, but are they competitive with other students that are in their situation? And it all comes down to picking the right college. Would that child be successful at Yale? Academically, socially, financially? I don't know. I haven't met the child, but somebody who is struggling to get As, Bs, and Cs will probably be a little out of their element fighting with students who are getting all As. So really putting them at the right school for them and a school who can provide accommodations even in college so they can be successful there. I would highly encourage you to get on a discovery call. Um, Carrie, can you put, um, the link in the chat in case somebody has a really unique question like that, because I can help you. It's just I have to be careful to answer everybody else's question. Is there anything else before I keep going?

Nope. That was the only one. Are you guys sure? You might want to just put anything in there that you need answered.

Okay, that's it.

I want to see.

Perfect. I will keep going. And hope my voice holds out. So sorry, I can feel it right now. Okay, so here we go. We are going. Okay, so here are some options for you. You can be in denial. I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to talk. I don't even want my kids to leave. I want them to stay home forever. I've had families like that. You can put your head in the sand and just be like, wake me when it's over, I don't want to do this either. You can do it yourself, and I'm hopeful that what I shared with you will give you the tools and, and the to-do list to know what you need to get done, or you can hire experts. If not college-ready, somebody who matches with your needs. This is what needs to be done before your child applies to college. This is what happens if you Google it. So do you want to do this all on your own, or do you want to partner with us? The important thing is, if you make mistakes, they will be costly. It's not just, will your child not get to their dream school? It's how far in debt your family will be. Are you ready for college? Are you feeling a little frustrated? If you are, or you have these unique questions for your family, please know we do this to support you. I haven't sold you a thing. I haven't pressured you to do anything. I've just really leaned in to try to help, and that is what we do. If you want to hop on a call with us, You will leave with a clear vision of what you want that college experience to be for your child. We will help you identify potential obstacles based on where you're at, and we will identify clear next steps. So that is what I wanted to share. I have gone to my time, so unfortunately I cannot take any more questions, but thank you all so very much. If you have questions, please go to that, uh, link and know that we are here to support you. Thank you so much, and we wish you all the best.

Bye, everyone.