Welcome to the course. I will take you from where you are now, which for most of you will be “where do I start”, all the way through how to manage your first semester of college. Don’t feel alone; most people are overwhelmed by the amount of information and what to do with it. Much of it is conflicting and downright confusing and none of it comes with an instruction manual. I understand because I was right where you are fifteen years ago with my first son. I started by asking anyone I could find who I thought might know something, anything, about this college process. What I found is that most people didn’t know any more than I did, even people who had already had students attending college. Well, that was frustrating. I quizzed counselors and admissions officers, I found they had some answers but often the information I received was conflicting. I scoured the internet and found mountains of information, but none of it explained exactly what it was or what it was for. I was looking for an instruction manual and there wasn’t one. I would have paid any price just to find someone who would walk me step by step through this maze of information. I thought, “this is just wrong on so many levels.” We expect students to take their college process seriously and yet we don’t give them any direction or the tools on how to do so. I decided at that point to make it my mission to figure out the process and create a framework that could guide students and their parents step by step through the college process.

This is my personal strategy and framework I have developed that allowed my second son to receive seventeen offers of admission as well as over a million dollars in institutional aid and outside scholarships. He was actually awarded two of the largest outside scholarships in the nation. Following his success, I was approached by students asking how he managed this and if I would be willing to help them with the process. The decision to help these students ultimately led to the creation of this course. I have actually been teaching this course for several years now, and as word spread, and students came from further and further away, we began adapting the course to serve students in neighboring states and ultimately across the country. It became apparent that the need for this information was nationwide. Therefore, I set out to figure out a way to put it in as many students’ hands as possible. The result is the course you now have.

Through years of research, visiting countless colleges, interviewing college admissions counselors, financial aid officers, scholarship foundations, college students, and a lot of trial and error, I designed this course that can do for you what I could never find for myself. I will be your guide through all of the steps from the very beginning and your brand new shiny notebook all the way to the dog eared, doodled upon, loved, hated, and bursting-at-the-seams notebook so that we will eventually compare your acceptance letters and admissions offers.  

Let’s get this straight up front. There is no secret formula; just reading through this course is not going to get you into college or get you a slew of financial help. This is work. This is you making the decision that you will dedicate the time it takes to follow the steps, do the assignments, and show up! I cannot promise this course will get you into your dream school or tell you how much financial assistance you will ultimately receive. Every student’s situation is different. What I can assure you is that if you follow the course, do the assignments, and invest the time, you will have a much easier and more productive college application process and much less wasted time. You will not waste time on information that does not pertain to you.

This course will teach you how to research. You will learn how to look for and find the information that is specific to you and what to do with it once you find it. You will learn how to take that information and implement it in the process. You will learn what the college application is all about, how to approach it, and how to present yourself in the best light. I will teach you how to do these things yourself so that when you get to college you will be able to apply these techniques there as well. That is a large part of this course, teaching you how to do things for yourself and giving you a skill set you can continue to use once you are attending college.

I can tell you that hundreds of students have followed this process with a tremendous amount of success.   These students have not only gotten into their top choice schools, gathered an impressive amount of financial assistance, but most importantly, they have succeeded and thrived once they got there. In my opinion, getting into college is only part of the equation, staying in college and graduating is the other part. Many students are not prepared for the rigors of a college education and decide not to continue within the first year. I don’t want you to be one of them. Therefore, much of this course is focused on not only getting you into college but keeping you there.

Welcome to the course, Let’s get with the program!