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Helping Parents Navigate the College Process
Today’s blog entry is a guest post from Suzanne Shaffer, an expert in the field of college prep who helps parents navigate the college process with her blog and Countdown to College Crash Course. Welcome, Suzanne!
Years ago there was no internet (yes it dates me). Hence the only college help parents received was from counselors and if you were lucky, talking to other parents. When I began helping my kids with the college process, I was completely lost. Having not gone to college myself, I had no idea where to begin. Most of my friends had younger kids and they weren’t even talking about sending their kids to college.
What got me started?
My son’s senior year was hard. With little help and little encouragement from his high school counselor who had little time to spend with him, he made the decision to enter the military. He wanted to go to college but he knew we couldn’t afford to send him and he felt he wouldn’t get a scholarship. When he entered the Marines they assured him he could go to college while serving. That turned out to be an out-and-out lie. Marines are on-call 24/7 and have little time to attend college, even if it’s online.
What did I learn?
After this fiasco, I was determined to help my daughter pursue her dream of college. I spent many hours at the library and in the high school counselor’s office. I learned that students can’t do this alone; they need parents to help and support them through the process. After doing the research and partnering together, my daughter was accepted to every college she applied to and received multiple scholarships. It wasn’t easy, but our hard work and determination paid off.
How can I help you?
After my daughter’s success, other parents began coming to me asking for help. After years of doing even more research and helping hundreds of parents I felt there must be an easier way to share my knowledge. That’s when it occurred to me that I could help more parents, especially the first generation parents, by going online and blogging about the process. The next step was to create my Parents Countdown to College Crash Course—an easy step by step guide to help parents navigate all the ins and outs of college admissions. Since I could have never afforded a paid college counselor, I felt I needed to keep my course affordable; and I did.
How can the Crash Course help you?
My Crash Course is not just another book, it’s a DIY kit for helping parents help their students and achieve positive results. With a step by step guide, website recommendations, whitepapers , expert links and a workbook, parents have every resource available to help their kids research, apply, and receive offer of admissions to colleges. I cover every topic imaginable from financial aid to scholarships to college visits to applications to award letters and how to decipher them.
Back to School Special
In honor of Back to School, I’m offering my Crash Course at a discounted price—half off at $73. Just one scholarship or merit award will pay for this ten-fold. If you think the college process is too complicated and overwhelming, this course is your godsend. It’s a small investment to make for such a huge payoff. What’s more important than seeing your child realize his/her dream of college and being able to afford it in the process?
Browse my blog by topic and find your answer to just about any question you might have about the college application process. Sign up for my FREE parent tips email, my FREE Parent Guide to College Financing, and subscribe to my blog for emails when new articles are posted. And remember my motto: Preparation Prevents Panic!
Monica Matthews is the author of How to Win College Scholarships. She helped her own son win over $100,000 in college scholarships and now shares her expertise with other parents and their students. She truly has “been there, done that” in regard to helping parents and students navigate the scholarship process.
Open to High School Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors! APPLY NOW HERE
Her method of helping students in finding college scholarships, writing unique and compelling scholarship essays, creating amazing scholarship application packets, and more have taught desperate parents to help their own students win thousands of scholarship dollars. She teaches them how to apply S.M.A.R.T. with outstanding results.
Monica’s scholarship tips have been featured on many prominent websites, and she has been dubbed the “Go-To” expert on college scholarships.
