Interview: College and Scholarship Readiness

Below is the script for an interview I participated in with Jodi Okun from her #CollegeCash series on Twitter. The interview took place in August of last year. Since it's no longer online, I’ve reorganized the format of the script a bit for easy reading, and posted it here on my blog.

Introduction:

Elizabeth Wallace started teaching at 7 years old in her neighbor’s backyard, and didn’t stop for over 35 years. During her career in education, she taught German, French and English, while also helping students get into college. After earning an MBA, she taught business administration in the U.S. and abroad. Elizabeth wrote Free College at the insistence of her sister, who said it was selfish to withhold the secrets of winning scholarships from students who didn’t happen to attend her school. Her goal while teaching was helping students reach theirs. Now she is showing them how to reach their goal of going to college without needing student loans.

Q1 What should parents be doing right now when it comes to preparing their kids for college?

A1 While children are little, read to them and with them, give books as gifts, visit bookstores and libraries.

A1 For elementary aged children, enroll them in music lessons. Find lessons nearby and encourage them to continue through middle school.

A1 Find a sport each child likes and could continue for life, swimming, tennis, track, etc. Encourage them to participate through high school.

Q2 Is there a financial aid to-do list for elementary, middle and high school students?

A2 Parents of elementary students should find scholarships and apply for all which are available to the age group of their children.

A2 Help middle school aged children apply for a few scholarships each month.

A2 High school freshmen and sophomores should apply for a one or two each week; while juniors and seniors should apply for a minimum of three each week, and continue until they’ve graduated from college.

Q3 Where should parents and students look for scholarships?  

A3 Start with family connections at work, church, civic clubs, fraternities, other associations and groups.

A3 Move on to civic organizations, foundations, local, state and federal grants and scholarships.

A3 Spread out online, use mobile apps, social media sites, such as @Scholarships360 and fastweb @payingforschool on Twitter, etc.

Q4 What are the most important strategies parents and students can use outside of school?  

A4 Enroll children in enrichment courses at a local college beginning in elementary, and continuing through high school.

A4 Find a safe place in the community for students to volunteer.

A4 Learn how to play a musical instrument and take lessons through middle school.

A4 Stick to all of these over time. Colleges like to see consistency.

Q5 When is the right time to visit a college?

A5 Families can visit colleges informally while taking family vacations or attending concerts, festivals and other public events.

A5 Students should be enrolled in enrichment courses on college campuses each summer.

A5 Start making formal visits to tour colleges by ninth grade.

Q6  What tips do you have when it comes to testing?  

A6 The most successful and least stressed students start studying for tests the first week classes begin.

A6 Many practice tests for the SAT and ACT are available online for free; use them to become comfortable with their formats.

A6 Get enough sleep the night before and eat a complete, healthy breakfast (with no added sugar) the morning of a test.

Q7 How do students win scholarships?  

A7 The most successful start getting ready at a very young age.

A7 They fulfill all Standard A – G requirements, but go over and above them, so they stand out from the crowd; example: take more foreign languages than required, and for longer.

A7 To win scholarships, students must apply, over and over. Don’t stop until the last year of college.

Q8  Should parents (or grandparents) use retirement funds to pay for their children’s college education?

A8 No. Never. Not for any reason. Okay, maybe if you’re in the top 1% of earners in the nation.

A8 There are many grants and scholarships for college, but none for retirement.

A8 Learn how to help students win scholarships and grants.

Q9 Tell us more about your book “Free College How Graduates Earn The Most Scholarship Money”

A9 I researched graduates who earn lots of scholarship money and found a pattern of behaviors.

A9 I included a step-by-step guide to the strategies and habits of the most successful scholarship winners in Free College.

A9 Students of families who adopt these habits, and apply for many scholarships, will  be among the highest scholarship winners.

Q10 What are three things you want to leave us with tonight?

A10 Earning more free cash for college is possible by practicing a few disciplines every day.

A10 Student loan debt cannot be eliminated by bankruptcy, but it can be avoided by earning enough scholarships.

A10 I don’t have the power to eliminate college tuition, but I have exposed the secrets of successful scholarship winners for families of preschool through high school students to follow, so they can avoid taking out student loans.

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE. It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

Photo Credit: Google Images

How Teachers Help Students Avoid Needing College Loans

When I first started teaching, few of the students who graduated from the school where I worked went on to college. This included my foreign language students. I knew for them to do well after high school graduation, something had to change. I started slipping reasons for going to college into our conversations. A hint here, a hint there, the idea eventually took hold.

I started putting up a poster each January and encouraged all seniors to list their post-graduation plans for everyone to see. This had a positive impact on all of my students. After a couple of years of doing this, I noticed all my seniors listed college as their destination. As college prices increased to absurd levels, I began informing my students of ways to avoid college debt. Some students were better at this than others. I wondered what they did that made the difference.

After doing a great deal of research, I put together a questionnaire. I distributed it widely and also solicited comments. It became clear those who received the most scholarship money had several habits in common. I wrote my book, Free College using this information. In addition to listing the sixteen successful strategies, I explain them and the results I saw for each. I suggest ways families could adopt them as well. The families and/or students who were better at practicing these habits received more scholarship money than those who only followed some of them. Those who completed them all received Full-Ride Scholarships.

I feel it’s vital to make this information public. I want it known by families everywhere. This way, everyone will be aware of what to do to avoid college loans. College debt is difficult to pay off, and becomes a monster that follows students for years, if not for life. My book is available on Amazon, click on the book cover in the top right corner of this page, to buy it now. If you have Pre-K through High School students in your life, my book will show you how they can graduate from college debt free. 

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE . It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you.

Photo: My book cover

What You Should Do, If Your High School Doesn’t Have a College Counselor

Every high school where I’ve taught has had at least one counselor who was an expert in “all things college”. What do you do if your high school doesn’t have such a person? I recommend you take a look at Free $ For College For Dummies by David Rosen and Caryn Mladen. Click HERE  to get a copy.

It won’t help you become the ideal college scholarship applicant, like my book, Free College. It will, however, help you through the process of finding and applying for scholarships. It consists of twenty-four chapters containing important details you need to know. I wasn’t sure if my grandson’s high school in another state had an expert on campus to help him, so I sent him a copy of this book when he started his junior year.

The book is like having a mentor walk you through the process. It can’t nag you to complete forms on time, of course, but it does give you a timeline to follow. The first four chapters include an overview of the process of finding free money. It explains what you can expect and how to avoid scams, (yes, as we have seen on the news lately, there are con men out there).

The second section of the book helps you optimize what you can receive from the federal government. Although there’s more than $46 billion in grants and scholarships available annually, over $2.9 billion in free college federal grant money went unclaimed last year. Read these chapters carefully, so you don’t miss out. This section also helps you avoid problems with the Internal Revenue Service. There’s a right way and a wrong way to report money received, do it right, so you don’t have problems.

Section three goes into finding money from the state in which you live. Like with the feds, there are grants and scholarships available. Free cash for college exists on a local level too. This part of the book helps you go after this money.

Next, you’ll learn how to negotiate with colleges for a lower tuition. Just like with cars, it's possible to pay less than the sticker price. Plus, you can apply for merit, athletic and even international scholarships from the college itself. All of these, naturally, must be appropriate for your student. As with the recent college admission scandal, students and parents who try to scam the system end up in trouble, and might even go to jail.

Lots more scholarships can be unearthed from private and public organizations. The next section of the book explains how to find them. Some are obvious, like charitable and fraternal organizations, unions, and the military. The last section of this chapter includes a resource guide for finding more obscure scholarships.

The final four chapters of Free $ For College For Dummies explains what else you can do, as well as what you should avoid while looking for ways to pay for college. Whatever you do, avoid taking out student loans. They can't be forgiven in bankruptcy, will follow you everywhere, and often grow so large, you’ll never be able to pay them off. I know people in their seventies who have student loan repayments taken involuntarily from their monthly social security benefits. Whether you buy this book, or mine, do whatever you can to avoid student loan debt.

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE. It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

Photo Credit: Google Images