If you’re a parent and you’ve just found this, you’re probably thinking:
“Oh, wow—seriously? There’s help for getting my kids through college debt-free, and into great jobs after college? I had no idea this kind of help was available! Am I late starting this? Yikes, I don’t have any spare time! If I work on this, how much time is it going to take me?”
And getting your kids through college debt-free takes only minutes per week.
Right now, at this moment, you’re standing at the perfect starting point.
Listen to episode 1 of my podcast, below. It takes only 23 minutes. (Listen while you’re commuting, loading the dishwasher, or getting ready in the morning.) When you finish listening, you’ll feel hope and confidence, and you’ll know exactly what you need to do next to get your kids to the most exciting academic and career destinations—even if they don’t get a single scholarship.
If you’re parenting kids ages 12–26, listen to just the first 8 minutes below, and you’ll be hooked.
To see a list of the top 9 questions parents are asking me aboutLAUNCH—along with detailed answers—scroll to the red print below.
When Morgan Stanley’s Alix Magner calls you, you sit up a little straighter in your chair.
Alix is a high-powered, Stanford educated wealth management advisor who works with Minneapolis area families who have millions in assets—and families who are strategizing to get to that point.
When Alix told me that she’d read my book cover-to-cover and wanted to buy 30 copies for her clients, I jumped out of my chair.
You’d love to help your teen achieve more this year—but motivating teens can be so hard. And you have limited time and energy for trying anything fancy.
Here—2 sentences that can help your teen achieve more this year.
Throw these sentences into family conversation occasionally—and watch your teen achieve, and grow, and later on—blossom.
1. “Let’s get some help from Khan Academy on that.”
A college student recently told me, “I can’t understand my online math teacher. He’s not used to online teaching. I can’t hear him hardly at all, and I can’t follow what he’s saying.”
Alarmed, I replied, “This is a huge problem! You need this class as foundation for other math classes you’ll take later. Can you quick drop this class and take a different one?”
“Nah,” she said. “I’m OK. I just get the basic concept he’s trying to teach, and then I find someone online who can teach it clearly. I’m OK.”
This isn’t exactly what parents want to hear (especially when they’ve just paid expensive college tuition), but it is a real tribute to the resourcefulness of the student.
Khan Academy can help your teen achieve by clearly filling in gaps in math, reading, science, history, and more—for free.
Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with a mission of providing “a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.”
KA serves students pre-K through early college, even providing free “get ready for grade level” courses that allow students to not just work at their grade level at their own time and pace, but make sure they have filled in all their gaps, pre-grade level.
Khan Academy has distance learning resources that can also teach your kids, teens, and early college students grammar, engineering, chemistry, biology, arts and humanities, computing, economics, and finance—in a clear, step-by-step, interactive way.
Many Khan Academy resources are available in both English and Spanish.
Help your teen achieve by visiting Khan Academy today.
I especially love the “See what you already know” aspect of Khan Academy, where students of all ages are able to choose a unit, take a quick unit test to see which concepts they’ve mastered and which they may need to practice more—and then get teaching on the concepts where they need to grow.
Note that Khan Academy is in dire need of additional funding due to extreme use of its resources during the pandemic. If you work for a corporation that might donate to this very worthy cause, visit the KA donation page here.
2. “I’m so excited about research telling us that intelligence and talent can stretch and improve through focus and hard work.”
This is the second sentence that can help your teen achieve more this year.
Doors to my TRIBE Membership are currently closed. Doors will open again for just 5 days in March of 2021. This page allows you to learn more, and join the Waiting List. (Space is limited.)
You’ve got a book that helps you get kids through college debt-free—but you want more.
When you have a question on a step you’ve just read about in this book—you’d love to get access to the author to get that question answered.
That help is available inside Jeannie Burlowski’s TRIBE Membership.
Along with community and accountability that makes the whole process more fun.
Whether the kids you care about are in middle school or in high school right now.
(Learn what other parents are saying about this at the bottom of this page.)
The doors to my TRIBE Membership are currently closed.
Doors open just twice each year—for 5 days in March and 5 days in September.
Space is limited.
Join when the doors are open and get these 6 benefits:
1. TRIBE Members get access to the author online, in a group setting, 10–15 times per year.
Just 10–15 times per year—not a big time commitment!
Read your scheduled chapter in LAUNCH, and then attend the corresponding online group meeting only if you have questions or would like extra help. That’s it! No extra work for you beyond just the 10–15 online meetings each year.
Many of the parents, financial professionals, guidance counselors, and admissions consultants inside this TRIBE Membership think of it the way they think of their AAA auto club membership. “Use it only if you get stuck!”
Other members carefully put every single TRIBE Membership meeting into their calendars—using our gatherings as a way to keep accountable and keep moving.
2. TRIBE Members get the powerful boost that comes from accountability.
You might forget to read a book on your shelf—but when you’ve got an online meeting on your calendar, you’re going to show up, be prepared, and take action when the meeting’s over.
When people are expecting you—you show up.
And showing up is what keeps you moving forward on the debt-free college and thriving career journey.
Whether the teens you care about are being cooperative right now or not—and no matter your family income level.
And if you need to miss a session? No problem. Recordings are available inside the membership for two weeks after each session is over.
3. TRIBE Members save time. (They get the 3-session View From The Top of the Mountain class included for free.)
You know you need some good solid direction to jumpstart the college planning process for your family—but guidance counselors are hard to reach, and most in-person college prep conferences have been cancelled.
Time to register for a college planning conference that’s all online.
No need to buy a plane ticket or book a hotel room.
All the inspiring info is packed into just two hours—each evening—for a week.
Bring the kids.
Can’t make one or more sessions?
That’s OK—recordings will be available for 30 days after the conference ends. Just use the 30-day all-access pass included in your conference fee.
Hear me giving the keynote presentation at this conference.
I’ll be opening the conference Sunday, October 4th with a keynote titled: How to Get Kids Through College Debt-Free—WITHOUT SCHOLARSHIPS!
This keynote is inspiring, and exciting—and may save you so much on college costs that you could pay admission to this conference 200 times over.
Later in the conference, attend my small group breakout session.
It’s titled How to Win More College Scholarships—Starting in 8th Grade.
(If I can teach your family non-scholarship strategies for getting college paid for, and then inspire your kids with scholarship strategies—your teen will be beautifully positioned to win at the college and career prep money game.)
Cost for this online conference:
$199.00 per family. (The value of this conference far exceeds this low, low price.)
FREERegister here. (Note: your link to get into the webinar will come to you from Thrivent Financial. Check all your email folders for “Thrivent.”)
Learn an innovative way for grandparents to build ongoing, loving connection with their grandchildren, leave a legacy that will last, and increase the probability that the grandkids will graduate college debt-free—all without spending one penny more than they are right now.
For parents and grandparents of students ages 12–26, and the professionals who serve them.
* This webinar is brought to the community at no charge, thanks to the generosity of Thrivent Financial. Nothing is sold in this webinar. This webinar is available at these times only and will not be replayed. Connect with a caring Thrivent professional atThrivent.com.
I wrote this article on creating a strong med school application at the request of the Harvard Crimson.
You’d love to put together a med school application so strong—that it both gets you in, and gets you money to help pay for med school.
Other students are accomplishing this—you can too.
Do you know the one specific principle that can take an average, dull med school application, and make it so outstanding—so riveting—that it inspires med schools not just to let you in, but to give you money to help pay for med school as well?
Building your application around this one specific principle works—even if you have lower grades and test scores.
Learn this one specific principle, and you can completely revolutionize the content of your med school application.
How do I know this?
Because I’m a professional academic strategist, and I’ve been helping students get into med school for 25 years at my website, getintomedschool.com.
Here, in a nutshell, is my best med school application advice.
In your main med school application essay, focus your efforts on constructing a flawlessly well-reasoned argument in your own behalf.
(I use the word “argument,” but of course I would never want you to sound argumentative. I want you to sound warm, and personal, and human—no question about that.)
In your med school application, think of yourself as a lawyer arguing the most important case of your career.
To do this effectively, you’ll need to know the three component parts of argument that lawyers use when arguing cases in court.
The three component parts of argument start with the letters E, A, and C.
Neglect just one of these three components, and your med school application will feel weak and unconvincing—no matter how many times you rewrite it.
Weave these three components together effectively, though—and you’ll have the med school admissions committee saying, “Wow. This makes absolutely perfect sense. I don’t even have a question about this. It’s totally clear to me that this person should be in medical school.”
It was 8:35 am on a Saturday, and I was standing at a whiteboard in a large classroom—drawing diagrams I’d need for the class I was about to teach. From behind me I heard a young male voice.
“Hi, I’m early. I wanted to say hi to you.”
I turned to see a high school boy who looked vaguely familiar.
“I came early because I wanted to tell you—” he said, looking over at my whiteboard, “I took this class from you before. When I was 12. My mom made me do it.”
We both laughed. But then he grew serious.
“I took this Strategic College Student class when I was 12, and then three years later I was in a bad car accident. I mean—it was bad. I hit my head on pavement.
I wasn’t the same after that. I couldn’t think the same. And I used what you taught me in this Strategic College Student class to get myself back.
Now I’m the captain of the debate team at a large high school, and I’m headed to Yale.
I just wanted you to know.
I came back to take this class again because you said that a lot of kids take this class when they’re 12, and it plants some seeds inside of them. Then they take this class again when they’re 15 or 18—and it really bears fruit. I’m here for the fruit. Can I give you a hug?”
He hugged me. And I swallowed a lump and felt hot tears in my eyes.
I knew that my Strategic College Student class had a reputation for being transformative for students—but I’d never heard this before.
Don’t miss your opportunity to plant seeds—don’t miss your opportunity to harvest fruit.
My 1/2 day Strategic College Student class is now available online for students nationwide. Access it now using the details you’ll find here.
Ideal age to attend this class? Ages 12–26 (and their parents).
Yep—all those people, all in the same room, all at the same time.
Parents are encouraged, but not required, to attend with their students. Parents, in just 1/2 a day you’ll see your kids’ anxiety levels drop, and you’ll watch their sense of personal power and academic confidence steadily increase.
And you’ll have all the info if your kids ever need a gentle nudge back onto the right track later.
Today I’m sharing a bit about my own author journey—in hopes of saving you years of wasted effort.
When I started out to write a book, I had a message that I knew could change the world for students and parents. I’d already been a professional writer for over 25 years, so I already knew how to write sentences and paragraphs. I knew how to organize thought and communicate effectively. But writing a book?
What I didn’t know about writing a book couldfill a book.
The process of writing and publishing a book has so many moving pieces, so much unfamiliar vocabulary, and so many complex, interdependent steps.
I felt lost. I wondered, “How can I produce a creative, brilliant, and helpful book—when 75% of the book writing and publishing process is foreign to me?”
At first I thought that surely, a publishing contract would be the answer.
I thought that if I landed a publishing contract, that would be the easy route to getting my raw manuscript to finished product—and my book into readers’ hands. Let others do the work!
But after landing a publishing contract and realizing how little money I’d make from it and how at-risk I’d be for losing my rights to my work if my book went out of print—I turned that publishing contract down and decided I’d be my own publisher.
I used CreateSpace on Amazon (now called Kindle Direct Publishing) for my printing, and got professional help navigating all the other steps of the book publishing process.
I do really love Kindle Direct Publishing, and I’d do that again in a minute. But the most important, most life-changing help I got was from Stacy Ennis.
The moment I decided to be my own publisher, I was immediately on my way.
No more waiting around to be noticed. No more spending years traveling to writers’ conferences to try to get literary agents and acquisitions editors interested in me.
Being my own publisher rocketed me to my end goal of holding my own published book in my hands, of keeping all the profit from it, and of rapidly growing my business by leveraging off of an author credential.
Caution. If you’re going to write a book, you don’t want it to be a bad book.
If you slap together a poorly organized, poorly designed, amateurish, sub-par book and quickly put it up on Amazon so you can say that you’re an author, that’s going to backfire on you.
If your book doesn’t get reviews, or if the bulk of your reviews are negative, that will hurt your name, your brand, and your business.
I saved myself from this by getting help from Stacy Ennis.
Hiring Stacy was one of the best business investments I’ve ever made. She worked with me to engineer the structure of my book, to shape and polish it, and to navigate all the moving pieces I had to master to have an outstanding, well-reviewed result.
At this point parents are reading my book, libraries are stocking it, schools are putting it at their front desks for parents to read, and financial advisors are buying copies in bulk for handing out to clients.
I could have never achieved this without Stacy.
Until now, only a few lucky authors have been able to get Stacy’s help.
Stacy’s in such high demand that she’s able to accept only 1% of the projects offered to her. The wait to get on her client list can be months and even years long.
Now, you can get Stacy’s best help for a fraction of her regular price.
Join Stacy’s live, in-person book coaching program Nonfiction Book School by August 5th, 2020, and you’ll get top-notch, expert guidance that walks you through each step of writing your book, from initial idea to finished manuscript.
If you’re reading this on or before August 5th, 2020, join Stacy for a free webinar on how to increase your influence by writing a book. Register here.
Listen to my live interview with Stacy Ennis. It’s fun and fast-paced.
If you’re parenting a kid ages 12-18 and you’d like to hear what I, personally do for free to help parents get kids through college debt-free, zoom straight to minute 26:38.
When my book got rave reviews on Amazon, that was a game-changer for me.
It got me attention that literally changed my professional life.
Let Stacy give you the help she gave me.
I have no affiliate agreement with Stacy Ennis and have not been compensated in any way for writing this article.
Increasingly, grandparents are helping families get on the path toward debt-free college—and they’re doing it without spending one penny more than they are right now.
Join me for a free webinar titled How Grandparents Are Lighting the Way to Debt-Free College For the Kids They Love.
In just one hour, parents and grandparents will hear me explaining an easy idea that helps grandparents build close, ongoing relationships with the grandkids, point the way to future financial stability, and leave a legacy that will last long after they’re gone.
All without spending one penny more than they are right now.
This free webinar will be presented on Wednesday, July 29th, 2020.
Parents dread paying $100,000 for college—only to find out afterward that their kids have graduated with a boatload of forgotten classroom learning—but no real job skills and zero job prospects.
The key to getting a great job after college—is developing actual job skills beforehand.
Developing actual job skills between the ages of 15 and 22 can be done by:
1. Identifying career goal early on (as I explain in Chapter 13 of my book)
2. Job shadowing in the chosen career field
3. Volunteering in the chosen career field, and/or—
4. Joining SkillsUSA during the high school and college years.
SkillsUSAhelps students learn real-world job skills in high school and in college.
Parents, watch the 9-minute “What is SkillsUSA?” video featuring TV host Mike Rowe below, and then call 844-875-4557 to find a SkillsUSA chapter in your area and learn how your child can join.
This month I’m making applying for scholarships easier than ever.
Join me for a free webinar designed to whet your kid’s appetite for applying for scholarships.
In just one hour, you and your kids will hear me teach a short-cut, two-step strategy that helps students write one scholarship application essay and use it over and over again.
(In addition, you’ll learn a super clever way students can stand out as scholarship superstars—even if they have lower grades and test scores.)
This free webinar will only be presented on Saturday, July 25th, 2020.
