Should You Consider Early Action or Early Decision

Alright, good evening. This is Shellee Howard with College Ready, and I am really excited about our topic this night— this evening. So before we get started, I just want to give you a little bit of background. My name is Shellee Howard, and I am the founder and owner of College Ready. Our goal is to help students not only get into the best match college financially, academically, and socially, we want to do it debt-free. So if we're going to ask for it, we're going to ask for it all. And tonight we're some great information from stuff that will be helpful for every person all the way down to scholarships, free money, right? Everybody wants to know about free money. And then I'm going to deep dive a little bit into the financials, the FAFSA, the CSS Profile. So tonight is all about picking the best college academically, financially, and socially while getting some knowledge about what is this early decision and what is this, you know, priority. Um, there's so much language that sometimes I forget that students— it's like a whole nother language. So I want to demystify some of that this evening. So with that, I'm going to go ahead and share my screen and start the presentation portion. So I hope you can all resonate with this student right here. As this has become a COVID in our home, because I'm always asking, who left everything out? So if you can resonate with this, I hope you're smiling. Tonight, I want to talk about your child's future and why that is so important to me, you, and to your child. So let's go ahead and dive into the presentation.

All right.

Ah, wait, let's see. All right, here we go. So did you know that 3.3 million families battle the admission process each year? That's got to be terrifying. Did you know the national average is 500 students to 1 high school counselor? Did you know that— at the most highly selective colleges, even perfect grades and test scores cannot guarantee admission? Did you know that 1 in 3 students are getting help in the college admissions process? That's what you're doing right here, right now. If your student does get help, how will they know what needs to happen to get accepted into a college or university? I'm going to see if there's any new visitors. Yes, there is. And we're going to keep moving— oh, we're going to keep moving on. Sorry about that. Okay, so as we think about this is real, this is now, what do we do with it? So many students are lost, and it comes— when it comes to planning their future, because it's like nothing they've ever done before. There's no test that prepares them. There's no course. Questionnaire. There's not even a book that says, you know, what to expect when you're getting ready for college. So I did write a book about 2 years ago, and it's still a bestseller, How to Send Your Student to College Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money. And in 24 hours, it blew up because everybody wants that, the one trick, the one thing that they can have. So This is no surprise since students spend 80% of their time on their phone or computer. And what will life look like for our teenagers after they graduate high school? I mean, now that we're really locked in at home, we're getting very close to our family during COVID and you're starting to see how much time technology is part of our life. I encourage you to complete the assessment as part of this presentation and be fully engaged. Turn off your cell phones, turn off the TV, stop everything you're doing, because what I'm about to show you can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm going to tell you how my son got into college and graduated debt-free. So if that's important and you want to know, let's get started. Okay, so sorry about this, we're gonna have to move her around. Should you consider early action or early decision? What will this mean to my college acceptance? Just today, these are the questions that were asked: What is early action? What is early decision? What is regular decision? What is priority decision? Do all schools offer these? This is just today. So if you're feeling a little bit anxious about knowing how this all will affect you, your students, or your family, let's be mindful. Tonight's all about educating you. And I'm going to let two more people in. Sorry about that. We've had a few hackers, so we have to go back to the invite. Alright, so as we keep moving forward, alright, the next thing that I want to talk about is the pros and cons. So there are definite pros and cons. It's not one size fits all, and I want you to know what the difference is. So early decision, or some call it ED, and early action, some call it EA, plans can be beneficial to students. Obviously, that's why colleges do it, but only to those who have thought through their college options carefully and have a clear preference for one institution. Let me elaborate on this a little bit because there are students who still don't know their major. There are students who still really don't have a good grip on the exact perfect match college for them, and if that's you, please call me. I'm happy to walk you through that. I do offer a free strategy session, and I'm happy to help your student. But let's talk about what this means. So for some students, early decision or early action can actually help them, but for another student, it could really hurt them. So let's talk about what that means. So in early decision, Your plans are binding. Okay, that is a very critical word. A student who is accepted as an ED applicant must attend the college. You do not have the opportunity to compare financial aid offers. Okay, let me say this again. If you do not want to pay full price to the institution you are applying early decision, don't do it. It is not a financial negotiation anything. You are saying you're my number one choice and I'm willing to pay full price. Obviously, return on investment is very important to myself and College Ready, and so we really caution families to make sure this is the right path for them. Let's talk about early action. These plans are non-binding, so students receive an early response to their application but do not have to commit. To the college until the normal reply date of May 1st, or this year they had a little grace period. Approximately 450 colleges have early decision or early action plans, and some have both. So now are you really confused? Let me help you understand. Really what's important is that you are in charge of your own process. Deciding and clicking which button is up to you. I will tell you personally, my firstborn thought early decision was a really great idea. And as a new parent of a high schooler, I'm like, yeah, it kind of sounds great. Like, why not? And thank goodness he did not get into his early decision school because I had no idea it was binding. So it was, it was a bit terrifying for me to think that I almost made that mistake. And I asked him later, I said, why in the world would you do that? And he goes, Mom, one and done. I want to do one application. I want to get accepted into one school and I just want to be done with it. I understand that completely, but that is not a good strategy, especially if you want to negotiate. So who should apply? Early Decision. Okay, so applying to ED or EA is, is most appropriate for students who have researched colleges extensively. You know that you have wanted to go to UCLA since you were 3 years old— oh, UCLA doesn't do this— Yale or Princeton or whatever school. Is absolutely sure that college is the first choice. There's no doubt in your mind if you get in you are going. Has found a college that is a strong match academically, socially, geographically, and financially— super important. Meets or exceeds the admissions profile for the college, for the SAT or ACT, your class rank. In other words, everything fits, because you don't want to be the small fish in the big sea where you're fighting for every A You want to be super strong so you have a fighting chance to graduate just as an amazing student as you are now and has an academic track record that has been consistently solid over time. So if you— if that is you, then it makes sense, but you have to be sure. So applying to an ED or EA plan is not appropriate for these students. Has not thoroughly researched colleges. In other words, if you are not 100% sure that is your school, do not do it. It's appropriate for students who is applying early just to— not appropriate, sorry— to avoid stress and paperwork, like my firstborn. Is not fully committed to attending the college. Is applying early only because friends are. Oh yeah, don't do that. And then needs a strong senior fall semester to bring up their grades. That is key, because if you're applying to schools in January, February, you're going to have the opportunity to share those extra grades. So you want to use that to benefit. All right, so let's talk about pros and cons. Let's get real with this, because this could be a deal breaker. So here are the pros as we see them. For a student who has a definite first-choice college, applying early has many benefits besides possibly increasing the chance of getting in. Applying early lets the student reduce stress by cutting the time spent waiting for the decision, save the time and expense of submitting multiple applications, gain more time once accepted to look for housing and otherwise prepare for college or scholarships, and reassesses options and applies elsewhere if not accepted. So these are some things that, that are— could possibly be a pro in your book. The one I want to point out that I think is really, really important is the fact that— is there a financial fit? Because if you get in and you then figure, oh my gosh, how am I going to pay for this? That's not a good plan. So let's be mindful how we're going to be picking. So here are some of the cons, to be fair. Pressure to decide. So committing to one college sounds great, but that does put pressure on students to make a serious decision way before they really have to. And think about it, look 9 months back, are you a different person? Do you have different likes, dislikes? This is going to happen quick, but 9 months is a long time to have to, to be able to make that decision, especially if you've never been on the campus. So reduced financial aid opportunities. Ding, ding, ding, ding! This is huge. I can't tell you how important this is. So please know students who apply under early decision plans receive offers of admission and financial aid at the simultaneously and will not be able to compare financial aid offers. And I promise you, very few get financial aid offers applying early. Time crunch for other applications. So say you're all in, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna apply early decision, I'm gonna do one application, and unfortunately that one, which was my son's only no, came early. Not only is it defeating and it's so hard for the student because now They're second-guessing, will I even get into college? But now they have to scurry. Now they have to all of a sudden figure out where else can I apply and how do I get this done on top of my high school requirements? A lot of things to consider when you're doing this. So I get this question all the time from my students. increase or decrease the chance of my acceptance? Well, if we had that crystal ball, we'd have a better idea of telling you. We have been told statistically there is a very small percent, and let me tell you why. Colleges, it's kind of like dating. They want to know that you love them. They want to know that you're the best and that you absolutely want to go there. So is that important? Absolutely, they want to know that. So if you apply early, Guess what? They're feeling loved. They're feeling like you're going to say yes. And remember, that's ultimately what they're looking for. So many students believe applying early means competing with fewer applicants and increasing their chances. This is not always true. A lot of times the best of the best who have wanted to go to that school from the very beginning are the ones who are applying. So keep that thought in mind. Colleges do vary, and it's important that you ask. Higher admission rates for ED applicants may correlate to stronger profiles. So again, I would not do it just because you think your chances are a little better. What you do need to know— so keep this in mind— the Common Application and some colleges' application forms require the student applying under under Early Decision, as well as the parent and counselor to sign an ED agreement, which spells out the whole plan. So it's not like you can say, "Oh, I didn't understand what this meant." No, you know what it means going into it. So please be very careful. ED and EA programs specifics vary. So students should get information as soon as possible directly from the admissions staff of their first choice college. Do not take it for granted. Do not read stuff on the internet. Go directly to admissions. ED and EA applicants must take the October SAT or SAT Subject Tests if needed in order for those scores to make it in on time. A little bit more pressure, a little bit more time. Okay, so my first free gift that I'm giving this evening is the early decision and early action calendar. I want you to see what it will take and the timing it will take. So if this is something you want, please type in, in the comment section and let me know, do you want this? Is this something that would be helpful to you? All right. And I will promise to get that straight back to you. So without further ado, I would like to introduce Sherry from ImagineScholarships.com, who will share with you her greatness. She has figured out this whole scholarship craziness. She has vetted these school— or these programs to make sure they're legit for you. So I'm going to do a little bit of an interview and please welcome Sherry. I'm going to unshare my screen and I'm going to let Sherry take over the screen if she so chooses. If not, we're good to go. So Sherry, welcome and please help us understand how you can help them get scholarships.

Well, thank you so much for letting me join you this evening. I'm super excited to be here. And yeah, I love scholarships. I am a mom like you, and I've been working with students for the last 10+ years. And as I began the journey, I thought, you know, I have 4 kids who are going to go to college. I'm going to figure this out because I had a personal motivation, right? So, um, It was very challenging in the beginning, and I would love to share with you some of the secrets and tips that I've learned and some of the resources that I've created to help with the process. I've seen students get, I saw one student get $280,000, so not only was she able to pay for her undergraduate but her medical school, she actually made money each month. There is money, it is possible. It's also difficult. So I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't take a lot of effort because it does.

Absolutely. But that, I mean, just the thought of that, you hear it, right? I will say our students this year, between the seniors, earned $2.2 million in free money. And so people just have a hard time believing that just your average family can do this type of thing. So Maybe you can share why do you think more students and parents don't apply for scholarships as part of their financial options?

Yeah, great question. So I've actually been surveying people because I had my own hypothesis of why that was, but I wanted to know the facts. And the facts tell me that they are overwhelmed in the process. That is the number one answer I get. They're overwhelmed in the process. And the number two answer I get is they they don't know where to look. And as a parent, many years ago, I can understand their pain. Like, I didn't know where to look myself. So there are many, many places to look, and I can tell you a little bit more about that in a little bit, but you've got to, like you used earlier, demystify the process. You've got to know where to look. You've gotta know how to be the one that's competitive in the process. And you've got to have a plan of organization.

Absolutely. That right there sounds overwhelming to me. So my next question is, where's the best place to find these scholarships, and when should you even start?

Well, I think you should start really early because I believe that you can just layer them on top of each other. Now, when you're going through the admissions process, I truly believe that the very best place to look, and you kind of touched on some of this in what you said earlier, is the school that you're attending. And if you see that the school that you're attending is not a school that you are going to be able to financially afford, then it's wise to look elsewhere and look for schools who will fit your financial picture, as well as schools who have large endowment funds, who value what you bring to the table. To the table, right? Different students bring different things, and if that school values your gifts, your talents, your experiences, they're more likely to reward you financially in that way. So it all starts with having a good college counselor and finding the right school fit, because I think the school is the number one place to start looking for money. But when you consider looking outside, I really recommend that you do start early. So there are scholarships for students even in middle school and all the way through graduate school, whether it be law school, medical school, scholarships are available throughout the entire time. And I'd like to add that during this time of COVID and this strange time of life, I actually see a lot of people who want to be helpful, and I've actually seen an increase in scholarships of people who are wanting to help students students, especially with all the transitions in the college world right now. So I really enjoy seeing that and seeing the generous people. I also recommend that you look local. So starting with the smallest competition pool is really, really important. So yes, there are some large scholarships that are nationwide and people do win those, but finding something in your local community, whether it's credit union that you go to, or the place of employment that your parents have, or, you know, did you have a parent in the military? There are just so many options for you, but start local. Look within your own high school, look within your own community, your bank, your police station, your fire station. All those places, they actually want to give you money. So it's hard to believe that there are out there people cheering you on and actually wanting to help you. It's the same person that's cut your hair for the last 10 years, or the local bank that, you know, used to give you candy when you were a kid. They actually still want to help you today. And so I really encourage you to just ask. You're not going to know if you don't ask. So just say, hey, does your establishment offer any scholarships for local high school students? And I think you'll be surprised eyes, but they really do want to help. So I think that's another really good place to look. But just making sure that you look for the things with the smallest competition pool is your best bet. So that's where I would start, and I would start early.

Excellent. So it sounds like there is a, there's a strategy to it. It's not just stand in front of the computer and just start Googling away. I have told my students for years and years, be very careful. And that's why I have Sherry on this call, because she has taken the time to vet these options for you. I made the mistake when my son was going through this. Yes, I made all the mistakes, so therefore you get to benefit from them. And what I did is, you know, he got 7 full-ride offers, and so I thought he was going to make So much money. And I had him go and pick 30 of his favorite scholarships to apply to. He wrote 30 essays and he got, I think, $300. Why? Because he picked all the wrong ones. And his email box blew up with a bunch of stuff that did not help him whatsoever. And so it's taken me a long time to find somebody like Sheri who is willing to do the work for you and put it all together and know that it's safe, right? Safe is so, so important. So Sheri, maybe you can talk about, um, how can a student stand out, you know, in this competition for scholarships?

I would love to address that. Can I also I just wanna comment on something you just said.

Sure.

'Cause you're exactly right. So in the same way there are generous people wanting to give money, there are people out there who just want your information so that they can market their products or services to you. And so not spending your time on those, what I call scrap scholarships, changes the game. Like you cannot just give away your information You know, somebody's gonna give a $500 scholarship and have, you know, 2 million people apply, gather their marketing information. It's just not a good plan. So as I was coming up with a solution, I built a database and an app that does not include those things. I wanted reputable, quality scholarships that are for the average student. Not— you don't have to be a superstar. You just You have to be a high school student or a college student who wants to put in the effort to get money to get an education. And so I took out all those things and I replaced them with what I think are beautiful quality scholarships and they update every 24 hours. So I do think that that is really important. I thank you for mentioning that. With the organization system, I like you have a son, he's actually in medical school. In high school now, and when we started the scholarship process for him many years ago, I started with an old-school accordion-style folder, and I thought, this is a great plan. I'm going to print out scholarships for him. I'll lay them neatly on his bed, and he'll just apply for this every evening. Well, I was definitely not accurate. So, you know, I would find them on the floor with the basketball uniform or whatever, and I thought, and I was running out of printer ink every day. So I thought, this, this is not going to be a good plan. So you have to have a plan. You cannot do this process— Scholarships are unique in the fact that deadlines are very, very important. You have to make sure that you follow all of the rules of the application. And then in a positive side, some of these scholarships are renewable, meaning even if you get them once. You can get them for year 2, year 3, year 4, and even into graduate school. So having a plan to organize all of that, knowing when things are due, knowing when the renewals might be available, all those things, it was super important. And so the accordion-style folder did not work out. So then I tried to go to a digital system such as Evernote or Trello, something like that. And once again, I found that it fell short, so I decided to build something of my own. So I built a scholarship database and apps, and I had the help of lots of college students and high school students to make sure it was user-friendly, and it works, it works really well. So that's how I feel about organization. I think it's critical, and I built a solution that is extremely organized, extremely extremely efficient and user-friendly for our students.

And most importantly, safe. I really think keeping your data safe, keeping your, your students safe, that's huge on my list, right? As a mom, we worry about that.

Absolutely, it is safe. We don't share information with anyone. You're never going to get any spam from us, nothing like that. And I make sure that the scholarships that they are applying for are reputable and can be trusted. So yeah. Excellent. Thank you so much.

You're welcome. One more question. If a student's willing to do the work, because without doing the effort, it's just a great idea, right? I tell students all the time, you have a great passion project idea. Let's make it something special. So if they're willing to do the work, What's an average amount they can expect to earn?

If, if they're willing to put in the effort, and like I said, I've made it very user-friendly, so I think having weekly goals, monthly goals of how many you would like to apply for, but I would say around $20,000 a year is a really good average number of what I've seen students do when they are motivated to do it.

Excellent. So I do want to share, you know, is there any other way that you help students get free money? I tell my students all the time, it's the school, it's picking a school. That's what it's all about. Is there anything that you would like to add?

Yeah, there are just so many resources. And so, you know, I get the opportunity to work with students on other continents. And they're not as fortunate as us. So here in America, if you want to go to school, there are options and opportunities for you. And so you're exactly right, picking the right school is huge. It takes a large chunk off the top. But then there are things like dual credit courses, right, and subject tests and AP courses, things like that. This all will start to give you some additional free college credit or free very inexpensive, usually just the cost of a textbook. So I think those things are extremely important to remember when you are going through this process because every little bit helps, right? It's just funds on top of funds on top of funds. In addition to that, there are many companies out there that will help you pay for your school. For example, Starbucks. If you're willing to work 20 hours a week, not only will they give you a paycheck, but they will pay for you to get an undergraduate degree. Right? Like, there are options available for you, and so I just think taking advantage of anything you can. In fact, there are some schools, not all, not many, there are some schools that will actually take your work experience and give you college credit for that. And so I think you have to be a little bit scrappy and you have to be willing to work hard and look for the funds wherever you can find them, but having a Plan and not wasting your time on scrap scholarships and being dedicated to the process, it can be done.

Absolutely. So we are fortunate to have Sherry tonight, and she comes with something amazing. So for our college-ready families, she is offering us 50% off her already very reasonable fee of $1,600. $17-something, $17.99. Yeah, $17. And if you are interested, write in the chat box that you would like the scholarship promotion. And if you are not yet a College Ready family, you can go directly to her website and just purchase or start the program from there. Can you talk a little bit, Sherrie, briefly about what it is when they get there. What are we talking about as far as the website or what, what they'll find?

Yeah, well, first of all, I want to say how generous you are to offer that to your students and what an asset that will be to all of your families, and they are so fortunate to have you. And I'm really excited for the opportunities that they have coming ahead. For those who are not a part of your program, they can go to imaginescholarships.com and they can sign up. And once they get there, they will be asked to choose a path. Are you a current high school student? Are you a current college student? And then they'll be taken to a profile, and the profile will ask some information. It's nothing too personal, and remember, all of their information is kept safe with us. We don't use that for any— anything other than filtering their scholarships. And they'll be asked what is their GPA, what is their SAT score, what state are they from, what nationality, what religion, do they have family members in the military, all these things. You know, it saddens me sometimes because students feel like they have to have a great GPA or they have to have the best test score. The truth is there are scholarships for everyone. Everyone. And so You'll be asked several questions like that to help narrow down the scholarships, and then you'll say match me, and it will come up with a list of scholarships. The beautiful part of this, you know, sometimes students can go to these very large search engines and just honestly it's overwhelming. I've not found success there, but here they will be able to look at the matches that they have and they can either choose to save save them into a little bucket of saved scholarships that interest them, or they can actually get rid of it and never see it again. So they don't have to continue to filter through those. Then every 24 hours, as we find new things for them, they're added to their matched bucket. They can again choose to save them or not. And then there is— once they click on it, they can click apply and apply straight from our site, and then they will have an additional bucket of Applied Scholarships. In that bucket, we can actually see—

they can—

they have a little place to say, yes, I did apply, and yes, I received this much money. So it will keep track of the dates of when those are due, and it will keep track of the funds that they have found.

Excellent. Well, thank you so much. We are so grateful to have you as part of our affiliate team and just super excited that we found you. So again, students, if you want to go directly to the site, it is imaginescholarships.com.

Thank you, Shellee Howard. Thank you so much.

Absolutely. It is not over yet. We're just starting to have fun. So we have some bonus knowledge. Would you like to go to college and graduate debt-free? If not, you can go ahead and call it a night. Go sit down and watch more Netflix. Or you can hang in there and we're going to do some deep diving. So, eye chart. I get it. I know. I'd like you to take out a piece of paper and a pencil or a pen. Or you can pull out the notes on your phone. But this is going to be a little competition. You know, we're stuck at home. We've got to get creative. What are we going to do? So I'm going to read the question and I need you to make a little check of all the ones that apply to you. And then we're going to do a little fun game with it. So number 1, if this applies to you, check the box. You know what your student is passionate about. Can you list 10 things and see if they agree? What are the things they would like to see changed in the world? List 10 things and see if they would agree. If you're stuck, you should be concerned. If you got this right, congratulations, your student is on the road to success. All right, so that's question number 1. Number 2, you know which test your student should take? PSAT, PAC, ACT, SAT, ACT, AP, IB, Subject 2, or SAT 2? Yeah, there's a lot. I know it's like crazy compared to when I went to college. When should the student take this test or tests and in what order? How many times? Ooh, we're getting deeper. So if you got that question right, you can check your box. The next one, you know that your student has started test prep. And you know if it's worth it or not. Who should they trust and when should they start? Good question. Okay, if you know this, give yourself a check mark. All right, you know that your student is taking a dual enrollment class or a college class and how many. Yeah, it's kind of a different language. You know your student knows what colleges and universities are looking for. Very clear on what colleges are looking for. You know that your student has done over 200 community service hours and how many hours and what kind of service is important. You know that your student has led at least 5 things and that all leadership is not considered the same. I guess I gave you the answer to that one. Oh well. The next one. You know that your student knows the NCAA rules and what it takes to play a sport in college. What are the chances of them getting a scholarship? You know what your student's top 3 majors are and what colleges offer. And you know that your student knows how to get an internship. Okay, I have screens and screens and screens, but we're kind of getting close to time, so I'm just going to stop there. If you want to add up all of the ones that applied, the ones you got correct, you know, and put them in the chat box. I'm going to be giving away free gift at the end. So thank you for playing. Like I said, there are so many more questions that should be Asked, do you know? How important is this? What do you plan to do with this information or lack of information? Can you afford to do nothing? Does this overwhelm you, the fact that those questions are there and you don't know the answer? Because we, we do, and we want to help. So for, for families that are on or watching this as a replay, please know that we're offering a free strategy session to help your student have a Plan A and a B and a C, because we now know that every day things change in our world. And we talk about student assessments, educational strategy, financial strategy, essay editing, And that strategy, test prep and test strategy, leadership strategy, even a community service passion project strategy. So you now know, answer which one. My student is not college ready and we need your help fast, or we would like for you to meet with us just to assess what should we do next. Do you still need help? Reach out to us. So will you allow your most precious asset to be underserved by their high school? Their future's in your hands. Do you really have all the information you need to help them be successful? We know the stress you must be feeling right now. I have 4 kids. Sherri has 4 kids. We understand. I have two in college right now and two in high school. I know the reality of the world in which you're living. Would you rather spend your last few years arguing with your student or celebrating them? The choices you make today will affect them for the rest of their life. Can you imagine competing without a college degree, or even worse, allowing them to go into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt? Your student does not know what they do not know, and that could be a disadvantage. We do know and we want to help. Because you stayed on with us, I do want to offer you a few things. I want to give you one of the gifts below. So if you want to email me directly— yes, I'm sharing my direct email— and let me know, do you want gift 1, which is a copy of my bestselling book, Gift 2, a list of the most generous colleges in California. Gift 3, an application tracker fillable form and deadline tracker. Or Gift 4, early admit and early decision calendar. Really, the choice is up to you. I'm here, Sherry's here, we're here to give to you and your family so you can make a good decision. So with that, reach out to us. Let us know how we can help, and we would love to support you and your family as you go through this uncertain time that keeps changing daily. Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope that you have a really safe and enjoyable rest of the week.