WEBVTT - Navigating College Decisions with Elisia Howard #170 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.640 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:07.480 Matt and today we're discussing navigating college decisions with Alicia Howard. 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:29.920 At Today on the podcast, we're speaking with certified college 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:34.400 counselor Alicia Howard. She has been in education for fifteen 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.520 years and worked in college admissions for five years before 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:42.920 starting College Insights. In at College Insights, Alicia helps students 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:47.839 navigate college decisions through academic advising, resume building, and applying 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:51.200 to the right schools. She is passionate about college students 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.440 avoiding the crippling effects of student loans. So this will 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.640 be a really valuable conversation for anyone considering college, for 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:01.040 students who are already in school, and even for graduates 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:04.000 who already have student loans as we'll touch on that 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.399 as well. So Alicia, thanks so much for coming on 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.360 the show. Yeah, thank you, thank you for having me today. Yeah, 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:11.600 I'm glad to have you and Alicia. Real quick before 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.440 we start talking about college, well, we intentionally Matt and 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.280 I drink a craft beer on every episode. It means 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:19.040 the world to Matt and I. We love beer and 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:21.680 so uh and so we love our families and we 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.640 love our families and so well, we love both equally. 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.440 I don't know something like that, but yeah, because we 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:29.920 love beer, we're we're happy to sporge on really good 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.400 beer right now while saving for the future. Today on 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.360 the show, we're drinking a beer called hot Food by 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.360 North Park Beer Company, and a listener John sent that 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:40.960 one our way. So what's your kind of craft beer equivalent? 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:42.399 What what do you like to sport John in the 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.120 here and now even while you're saving and investing for 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:48.440 the future. Traveling. Traveling is a big one for me. 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:53.800 I lived abroad for many years and I've backpacked almost 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:57.600 thirty countries, So the big traveler. Yes, I know people 0:01:57.640 --> 0:01:59.040 are like, oh, I like to go travel and I 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.520 went on a cruise. Like no, I'm I'm a real 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:06.200 traveler and I have no problem spending money on that 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:10.200 while you know, also saving for my future. Very cool. 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:12.000 If if you could snap your fingers right now and 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:14.440 kind of transport yourself to to any country that you've 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.480 been to, where would you go back to you right now? Thailand? 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.320 Thailand has been on my mind a lot lately. And 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:23.120 when you travel like I do, I have a lot 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.800 of places I can couch surf, if I want. So 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:27.760 my friend called me and was like, hey, I just 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.520 bought a three bedroom villa on the beach and pouquette. 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:34.560 You want to come crush my spare bedroom. I was like, yeah, 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:38.160 I will do that. So, yeah, that's that's something I'm 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:41.679 willing to spend money on. Although it's cheap, it's cheap 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:43.800 to do and somewhere like Thailand, so it's not actually 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:47.280 a very expensive thing to do. Yeah, Thailand is wonderful 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.320 to food, everything so cheap here. You've been there, right, 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:51.640 and that where you wrote on the elephant and have 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.120 I didn't ride on an elephant. I walked with an elephant. Oh, 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:55.640 and you walked with it, but then you were in 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:57.320 the river with it and you're talking about how it's 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.400 like it was this like surreal experience. You talk so 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:04.079 much about that elephant bath. I've done that. I have 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:08.560 done it too. It's crazy, isn't it. Yeah, it's so fun. Yeah. 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:10.959 And holding the tigers, that's like definitely one of my 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.080 favorite things to do. I didn't hold a tiger. I'm 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:16.240 not that crazy. I did. I held a tiger and 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.160 by the time we got there, the baby tigers were 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.799 like taking a nap, and so I told the monk, 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:23.239 I'm like, I really want to hold a tiger, and 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:25.320 he's like, yeah, I have one you can hold, and 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.080 I have a picture of me. But this thing is 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:31.080 like a move faster like for a live tiger, Like 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.200 this was like a daddy tiger, And so I'm like, really, 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:36.560 that's like I wanted to hold a little baby. Gave 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:40.440 me like this massive tiger to hang out with and 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.560 snuggle with. But I took it because that's the only 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.040 shot I had. I like the sound of your your 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:49.960 tiger orphanage. That sounds amazing. I know, it was fun. Alicia, 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.280 how let's let's talk something about you know, our topic 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:53.960 at hand here, like how did you get started in 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:58.200 the world of academic advising and admissions? Like basically all 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:00.920 things college related? How did how did you get your star? Yeah, 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:03.280 so that's actually a super long story, but the fast 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:06.080 story is that, I mean, I've been in education for 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:10.080 but fifteen sixteen years now and kind of started in 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.560 everything and just took the opportunities that came my way. 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.200 And so I'm not I'm a kind of person. I'm 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.600 not afraid to try things and kind of mess things up, 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.440 as long as my bosses were cool with it. They're like, oh, 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:24.160 you want to plan this camp, or do you want 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:26.680 to plan this curriculum, or how you should create this class? 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.760 And I just kind of took everything, and so it 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.360 ended up giving me this very general expertise of a 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:38.000 lot of things. But I had graduated college from grad 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.240 school in two thousand and eight and I was actually 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:44.320 going to law school when the economy crashed, and so 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.760 I kind of had an early midlife crisis, like what 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.200 am I gonna do with my life and just decided, Okay, 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:52.800 I'll go back to law school, but I'm not going 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:54.760 to go back unless I can figure out how to 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.640 come out without debt, because I had undergrad and graduate 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.560 school debt. And so I went to Korea. I worked 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:05.240 my way up the ladder there and was figuring out 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.640 how to pay for law school, and you know, as 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.120 a default, I figured out how to not pay on 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.120 my own student loans and get them forgiven. I figured 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.160 out how to get to law school for free, and 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.279 then I ended up kind of just helping other people 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:23.239 and just fell into it, and I really enjoyed the work, 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.960 and so I kind of ended up starting a business 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.880 on accident. Honestly, over time it's grown and now I 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.440 have a lot of good data on how successful these 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:36.200 kind of trick tips, tricks, you know, strategies work, and 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:38.760 now it's kind of at the next phase of growth. 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:43.440 So I it was seriously an accident. I fell into it. Well, 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.120 that's cool, and I love that it worked for you 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:47.320 in order to kind of curb your student loan debt, 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.880 Like what what aspects of consulting and specifically helping people 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.080 navigate the admissions process where you drawn to? You know, 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:56.800 for me, it was you know, I came from a 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.360 pretty poor family and my like my parents didn't even 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:02.320 graduate high school. So when I was going through the 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.560 process myself and I was sixteen when I went to college, 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:07.800 I just didn't know what I was doing. And I 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:10.279 tried the best I could, but you know, I really 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.080 didn't have support. And what I mean by support is 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.000 my parents were, you know, gung ho, we'll we'll back 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:17.640 you up, but like they didn't know what to do. 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.080 They couldn't edit my essays, they didn't know where to 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.680 look for schools, and so I kind of had to 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.440 figure that out on my own. And then I just 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.719 kind of had that passion of you know, there's a 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.880 lot to this process, and being in education for a 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.679 long time, I understood it very well, you know later, 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:36.200 but not when I was a kid. So I just 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:39.120 kind of had that passion of really helping really middle 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.680 class families, you know, lower income kids. They qualify for 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:44.760 a lot of a lot of free staff, there's all 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:47.840 kinds of nonprofits. Wealthy kids have always paid for it, 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.640 as you've seen now in college admission scandals that are 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:53.680 coming up. Um, I don't do that illegal stuff, but 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:58.840 you know, well, yeah, but wealthy people have always paid consultants. 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.560 And so what a middle class families do and what 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.000 help do they have? They have nothing. So I just 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.359 kind of had that passion to help help kids that 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.679 were like me, very cool. I mean, well, yeah, speaking 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:11.560 of the middle class, like, there is such a price 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:15.120 disparity from school to school, right, so how how would 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.239 you recommend for folks to determine if an expensive school 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.040 is worth it? So I'd see that's very you know, 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:25.120 case by case, but generally an expensive school honestly is 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:28.000 only worth it if you can pay cash. Period. There's 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.200 not really an exception because there's four thousand universities in 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.160 this country, like, you can't find one that will fit 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.000 your needs and be affordable. Now, you might not know 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.360 where to look, which is why people hire me. But 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:41.880 I have clients Like I have a client right now. 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.640 Both of his kids are at public schools out of state, 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.800 and it's sixty grand year, and he's very wealthy. He 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.280 owns a lot of property in Seattle, and so he 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:53.320 has no problem writing a sixty dollar check every year. 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.720 That's fine, he can afford it. That's buying a happy 0:07:56.760 --> 0:08:00.160 meal to this guy. Most families, I'm not going to 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:02.680 send them to those schools. It's totally not worth it 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.880 to get a public school degree for sixty grand a year. 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.240 That's crazy. So for most people, I'd say, if it's 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.400 over priced, if it's that expensive, it's it's not worth 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.440 it unless your family can write a check for it. Sure, 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.240 And as we've seen kind of the costs of college 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:23.440 tuition creep up and up, and by creep, I mean skyrocket. Yeah, right, 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.600 they've gone. It's gone up so fast, and it's become 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.520 so daunting for people when they are choosing what college 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:32.440 to go to. Do you ever recommend for folks to 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.520 go to for students to consider choosing a community college 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:37.280 instead for the first couple of years to kind of 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:41.240 keep those costs low, and then like transferring to a 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.000 college that maybe is a better fit for those final 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:48.200 two years. It can be. It really depends on this student. 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.920 I mean I see students. I mean one like me. 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:52.520 There was no way I was going to do that. 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.240 I really wanted that for your experience, and I do 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:57.360 see the value in it. Now. Do I see the 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:01.160 value of coming out with two dollars in debt? No, So, 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:05.040 like there's wiggle room there. And it depends because you know, 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.320 some community colleges are not that affordable nowadays, So it 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.440 just depends where you're from and where your your costs are. 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:13.880 But for some people, yeah, I have a lot of 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.760 students where they just have no idea what they want 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:19.240 to do. They don't even know what they're looking for 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.120 in a college. Yeah, maybe it's a smarter move to 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.480 just stay home and go to a community college. Um, 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:27.480 we have somebody in our family right now. This is 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:30.160 a great example. She didn't know what she wanted to do, 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:32.760 actually got a sports scholarship to go play at a 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:35.760 community college, ended up not wanting to stay there, but 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:38.640 her boyfriend was out of college. Um, he's at Western, 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.840 which is a school here in Washington, so they're doing 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.559 a long distance thing. Well, she took some time off 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:48.600 and now she's at a community college near her boyfriend 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.280 who's at Western, and it works really well for her. 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.680 You know, she still gets the experience of the four 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:57.760 year um, the four year experience and friends and you know, 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.240 interacting with students at that school. Isn't paying the price 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:03.400 and she still gets She lives in an apartment with 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.240 a friend who is at Western there and so she's 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.520 still getting that experience but without the cost. And then 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.520 you know she'll probably transfer there at some point. But 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.600 you know, there's ways to have that experience without paying 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.240 that cost if you're kind of in that middle ground 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.840 of not knowing what to do. So there's definitely validity 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.320 to it. So on the other end of that, right, 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:25.800 you know, with a four year college like that, you're 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.800 getting that experience. But do you ever think that that 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:31.160 it makes sense for a high school or to not 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:33.800 even considering going to going to college at all? Right, Like, 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:35.280 like we said, like we are seeing the cost of 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:39.240 college become prohibitively expensive, and like a lot of recent 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:42.360 graduates are even in jobs that don't require the degrees 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:44.959 that they've just worked so hard to get or that 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.880 they've spent a ton of money to receive. So do 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:49.800 you ever have clients that come to you where, you know, 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.360 sometimes you even advised them that, you know what, like 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:55.840 maybe college isn't for you. Oh yeah, all the time, 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.960 and I'm advising it more and more. Um now, Like 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:01.600 obviously there's students, you know, like I have a bunch 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:03.320 of clients this here. It's just kind of odd it 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.040 worked out that way. But they want to be doctors. Okay, 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:07.280 well you want to be a doctor, you want to 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.240 be a teacher, like you have to go to college. 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:14.640 There's an yeah. But then there's people who even like 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:18.920 my my nephew who's nineteen, you know, my sister was like, 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:20.679 what do we do. I'm like, he's not going to 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:22.880 go to a traditional four year college. He's going to 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.200 go to a vocational school or get do some sort 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.120 of like trade. That's just what's best for him. That's 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.440 the kind of like he's that person. I could see 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:36.199 him being an electrician or something. And that's fine, that's great. Um, 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.960 if you can go to a great trade school, or 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:42.640 go through an apprenticeship program. I mean here in Washington, 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.040 we have such a shortage of electricians. They're making like 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:47.959 a hundred hundred twenty grand a year, and the training 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.160 for it is really good. Like you can be making 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.000 and not have the debt and be making six figures. 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.439 I mean, why not, you know it is for some 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:02.280 for some students, it's it's a great option. So for 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.640 for high schoolers or parents of high schoolers who are 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.679 mechanically inclined, what direction do you push them in when 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:09.920 it comes to trade schools? How like what's the best 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:13.120 way for them to kind of go about pursuing work 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.160 with their hands or work in the trades. Yeah, I 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.360 usually recommend because usually a lot of times they don't 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:19.679 know what they want to do, and that's kind of 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:22.040 where they get stuck. So I'll usually a guys and 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.360 I have a lot of relationships here in our area 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.360 and be like, hey, can you job shadow this kid 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:29.320 for a couple of days, like let them tag along 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.680 and see would he be a good electrician or you know, 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.480 commercial plumber or welder, you know those kinds of things, 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.200 and see if they like it, you know, if they 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:42.079 have a skill at it. And if that's something they 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.880 want to do, then you know, we'll hook them up 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.920 with those mentors and kind of send them down down 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.360 that path and get them going that way. I love that. 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.280 I think it's amazing that, Like you mean, your company 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.079 is called College Insights, But at the same time, you're 0:12:57.120 --> 0:12:59.960 also keeping in mind that sometimes like the best path 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:01.800 for some of these students to take isn't one that 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.560 actually involves college. So yeah, I think that's that's smart. 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:06.920 So well, Alicia, we are actually going to talk some 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:09.439 more about college. We're gonna talk about kind of the 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.839 admissions process and how to pay for college, and we're 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:22.960 gonna get to those topics right after the break. All right, 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:25.280 we're back from the break. We're talking with Alicia Howard, 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.720 and we're talking about navigating college decisions. Okay, and Alicia, 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:33.480 let's say that our fictional student here is has declined 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:36.360 to go to a trade school, that they're interested in 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.079 a traditional four year degree. Let's talk about navigating the 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.640 admissions process. What are the biggest things that most folks 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:46.360 applying to college don't even consider during the process that 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.720 could actually end up really hurting them. Oh man, so 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:51.960 I have a perfect case, right now with the client. 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:53.640 What I'm about to tell you is going to save 0:13:53.679 --> 0:14:00.960 you about so you're gonna yeah. So what most parents 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.439 don't realize because most parents went to college thirty years ago, right, 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:06.480 and they applied to one school and it was a 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:10.400 little application and it was easy. It's not like that anymore. 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:15.280 It's so competitive that we have all these essays and 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:18.160 all these little pieces of paperwork that have to be submitted, 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.640 all this financial paperwork, like just a lot of stuff. 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:25.360 So I recommend that you probably need a solid year 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:29.120 ideally to really get through this process. My average students 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:35.160 writing essays, there's multiple applications, the applications more complicated. There's 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.960 just a lot of stuff that goes through this process 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.720 to really navigate it and make sure the family and 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.560 the kid are meeting their goals right. So it's a 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:48.840 long process. What most people do is they lollygag or 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.960 they don't realize it's important, and they end up submitting 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.520 their applications in January February March when it's that's the 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:01.680 later deadline often called the regular decision deadline mine most laws. 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.240 So in seven states there's actually this is actually by law. 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:06.000 I will tell you if it's not by law in 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:10.120 most states, it's definitely a practice by most universities. What 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.880 happens is once you get your admissions letter, that kind 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.640 of triggers to the Financial Aid Office. That thet the 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.120 next step kicks into place, so your offer letter comes. Well, 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.960 at every university there you know, tied on funds. There's 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:26.480 only so much funding and that gets awarded basically in order. 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.080 So the sooner you've submitted all of your applications, the 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.840 sooner that goes to the Financial Aid Office, the sooner 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:35.240 you're the more money they have, et cetera. When you 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:39.240 wait until like February to submit those applications, there's only 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.960 so much money left, and so a lot of kids 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.760 wait till like July to do their fast fut and stuff. 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:49.400 Well money's gone. There's no money left. There's no money left, 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:52.800 even if they like would have qualified for something. So 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.240 the earlier you get your applications and I am seeing 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.840 a difference of about twenty to thirty thou dollars and 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:03.600 offer money. Remember most of those applications, the scholarships are 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.360 offered freshman year, So if you don't get it freshman year, 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.600 and there's exceptions to this, but if you don't get 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.320 that money freshman year, like you're not getting it all 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.400 four or five years. So if you don't get that 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:18.840 five thousand dollar scholarship freshman year, that's twenty thou dollars 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:22.280 over four years. Why because you didn't get your stuff 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:26.000 in on time. You waited till January February March. If 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.520 you would have gotten that in by the like November 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:32.680 one deadline, you get significantly more money. Now, my students, 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:36.920 I aim for a deadline of September, which don't tell, 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.200 don't tell the kids, But that's actually because I I 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:41.200 know I'm not going to get their work until October, 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.680 so like I tell them in September fifteen, that's not 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:47.800 actually what happens. But my kids who get their stuff 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:51.200 in in September October man they get acceptance letters usually 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.000 within a week or two because there's not a lot 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:56.640 of kids doing it at that time. Mission staff doesn't 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.120 have a whole lot of a whole lot to read 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.840 right the right then right, yeah, but prove Yeah, so 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.600 my admissions rate, so I have a hundred percent emissions 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:08.000 rate over my what eight years doing this? Because what 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:11.080 happens your admissions officers in a better mood, like they're 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:13.679 getting through them faster. Again, it depends on the school, 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.960 but they're getting higher acceptance rates. Plus their offer letters 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:21.639 are significantly higher. So the easiest way to save money 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:25.000 on school is to get your stuff in early and 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.320 don't wait like everybody else does and call me in 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:34.879 like November or October ary. Yeah, you're not going to 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:37.280 get any money. There's no money left. It makes me 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:38.920 think of like when we go to the grocery store 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.360 and it's the beginning of the month in our budget resets, 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:45.280 and we have a fridge or not a fridge, but 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:46.960 we have like a you know, a full gallon of milk. 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:49.280 When I'm making my coffee, I pour a lot of 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:52.240 milk into my coffee because there is a lot of milk. 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:54.040 But you know what, once we're getting towards the bottom 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:56.960 of that jug and I'm like, oh, you know, there's 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:58.520 just a little bit left. And so I tend to 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:01.440 be more conservative. But but yeah, I had no idea 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:03.199 that it had that much of an impact when it 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:06.159 comes to financial aid, just getting getting your foot in 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:07.639 the door, getting your name in the door, getting on 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.960 their list, and then earlier, like the compounding effect of 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.960 getting a freshman year and then and then getting those Yeah, 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:16.920 the recurring funds for years on end, that's huge. Yeah, 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:20.520 especially middle class families, that's super important. Again, it's different 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:23.439 if you are pelgram eligible or different things. That's a 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.320 different set of rules. But if you're a middle class 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:28.880 and you're not going to qualify for a bunch of grants, man, 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.280 your best bet is to get those scholarships, your departmental scholarships, 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:36.240 your university scholarships, your academic scholarships. But the best way 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.240 to get those is to get them early. By February March, 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.720 a lot of stuff's gone, so the only their best 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:44.919 bet was to do it early. But because you just 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:47.439 couldn't get organized, it's just so sad. I see so 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:49.560 many families. I'm like, man, you just like couldn't get 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:53.240 organized early enough, and you like cost your kid thirty grand. Well, 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.800 so you know, at least you're talking about how it's 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:59.679 like a year long process, right just basically applying to school. 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.320 You're talking about the importance of those essays. What about 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:05.640 just other extra curriculars in high school? Like what are 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:09.040 most college admissions departments looking at are Like, are they 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:10.720 looking you know, for you to be involved in a 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.160 bunch of clubs like I was in high school, even 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:18.520 though I barely went to them. I was that girl totally. 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:20.280 I was a part of a ton of different clubs 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:23.120 and I had minimal involvement in every single one of them. 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.479 Or are they looking for maybe more initiative. Are they 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.399 looking for a student who's maybe like the presidents you 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.080 know of a certain club. Matt was the kid in 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:34.600 chess club playing checkers. Yeah, all right, yeah, So it 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:36.960 depends on the school. And now if you're going I 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:41.120 V S, that's a very very specific profile you're looking at. 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.920 But most schools, I mean, they do kind of want 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:46.040 you a little well rounded, but they want you more 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:48.680 focused than they tell you. Like most people will say, oh, 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:52.040 be really well rounded. But the truth is is, like 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.040 most people who are experts, and we all know those people, 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:59.120 you're good in one thing and you're really, really really 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:01.320 good in that one thing. Ing. So like a good 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:05.000 example of a good profile is like, be really good 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.320 and you're you know one to three things, right, You're 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:11.400 really great in football or maybe a couple of different sports, 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:13.639 or you're really strong in your key club because you're 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:18.960 a great volunteer, be specific and if a couple of things, Now, 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:21.359 it's okay to round that out with you know, maybe 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:23.639 you do want to do a couple of clubs, that's fine, 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:26.880 but don't join like twenty clubs. It's a little bit 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:30.560 of both. Be really good in two or three things, 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.720