Melinda Shofner has been a high school counselor for the past 20 years and specializes in College and Career Counseling. She helps students make the best decision possible in their college of choice, what a good fit really means, and she also helps students prepare for transitioning from life at home to college. In this episode, Melinda talks about scholarships, the implications of student loans, and additional resources students can tap into.

Key Takeaways

• There’s so much anxiety around choosing the right college for your teen. 
• Picking the right college is like teaching your child how to drive. 
• How many colleges should you be applying to? 
• What happens if your teen gets accepted into a college you can’t afford? 
• Is your teen considering taking out student loans? Sit down with them to do the numbers. 
• Melinda believes it’s important to look at school retention rates. How many of these young students are dropping out, and why? 
• What makes a good entrance essay? 
• There are so many changes happening during the first year of college that many students do not realize or are not prepared for it all. It’s important to have that conversation early with them. 
• Melinda shares how you can set the right college expectations for your teen. 
• How can young adults and parents get scholarships? 
• How do merit-based scholarships work? 
• What types of resources can parents and students tap into? 

Resources

Email Melinda: Melinda.D.Shofner@gmail.com

Sponsored by Stand Up for Your Greatness! Edgerety.com/education

Quotes:

“Their dream school is going to be tough when it comes to admission cost. When there’s a $10,000 difference in between schools, that’s actually a $40,000 difference over the four years.” 

“Your teen is going to be a young adult. They’re going to be need to own their credit and make plans for living on their own.” 

“So often the message is that college is “the best time of your life”, and when it’s not, you think it’s you. We have to be really honest with our teen that it’s not perfect all the time.”