Your son is about to leave for college, and there are a thousand things you want to talk to him about before he goes. This month, take him out for a special celebratory dinner—and include these 6 things in the dessert conversation. You'll make the next four years...
A girl recently contacted me, asking me to explain to her how she could wrestle control of her 529 college savings plan away from her parents. "They are unreliable and untrustworthy," she told me. "What!?" I thought. "Are they drug addicts or human traffickers? Are...
Mary's father entered the library through heavy glass doors and started looking through the stacks for his daughter. He finally found her, bleary-eyed and exhausted, surrounded by books, notebooks, a laptop, and a half cup of cold coffee. "Honey, it's late," he said...
What would you do—if you found out your son or daughter was failing college and dropping out? Today I'm sharing the frantic email I received from the mother of a South Carolina college freshman in 2016. (Read on to hear the update on what happened to this girl in the...
The last thing you want to do is raise a child who's just a dull drone, pouring out memorized facts as though facts have the power to save the world. You want to raise a child who will be valued in a future workplace for being creative, confident, and innovative. But...
This post is a scary one. But read all the way down to the red print at the bottom and I'll give you a boatload of hope about college. 1. "If you don't get into a good college, you won't be able to get a good job when you graduate." This statement is completely and...
The dad waited in a long line to get to shake my hand. He was beaming. "We squeezed into a packed high school auditorium to hear you speak about scholarships last year," he told me. "You inspired my son to go home and apply for 20 scholarships he thought he'd never...
"Jeannie, are you serious? We need to talk to 6th graders about career?" Yes. And if not in 6th grade, then as soon as possible after that. Why? Because when your child is in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, his or her brain is growing faster than at any time since...
Your 12th grader is in tears, desperate for you to give him the go-ahead to attend an elite university that’ll cost him $950 per month for 10 years after college. You want him to be happy. Do you say yes? Before you respond, you’ll need to be clear on the answer to...
I'm always most able to inspire people when I talk to them face-to-face. The video above gives me the chance to do that, for you, right now. Click the play button above now; watch for just two minutes. And let this excited, hopeful feeling wash over you: Kids at all...
Wow. Wow! The best way I can describe how I feel right now is – overwhelmed with gratitude. Just a four days ago, on Dec 5, 2016, I announced that my book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward is wrapping up and is...
On January 4th, 2016 I announced exciting news about my upcoming book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward. If you missed that exciting post, you can read it here. In that post I asked my readers to complete a short...
Today I have a big announcement to make! And a quick favor to ask. First, an exciting update For the last year, I've been on a beeline to having my book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward out in December of...
Mom, Dad, I know your holidays are busy. You're working frantically to get all the shopping, cooking, and decorating done so that all the holiday magic will appear to flow effortlessly at your house. I know it's a lot—especially in addition to everything else you do...
This article on how grandparents can give college savings as holiday gifts was updated on November 10th, 2023. Most grandparents love to dote on their beloved grandchildren, but let's face it. Older kids and teens are notoriously hard to shop for. How can...
A massive number of parents have read my free PDF "12 Ways to Save $10,000 on College." This was heroic on their part, because it was little more than a Word document with a nice letterhead at the top. Now this free PDF has been made into a full color e-book --...
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post for parents who erroneously believe that if they'll just refuse to put their financial info on their child's FAFSA form, their child will get additional financial aid for college. Student, if your parents are refusing to help...
"We need to see you right away," the anxious mom told me on the phone, her voice shaking. "Our son is $40,000 in debt from a history degree he's not going to complete, and now he's changing his major to music performance. At this rate it's going to take him seven...
Imagine your high school age son up late at night, in his bedroom with his desk light burning, reading a book on software design or motivating employees or robotics engineering or building construction or funding service-oriented nonprofits -- just because he's...
Do you ever worry that you might have slipped over the edge from "helping" to "enabling" your teen? Today I'm featuring a post by Susie Garlick, a mother three who's also an author, a parenting teacher, and a Licensed Associate Counselor in the State of Arizona....
Note to parents: The September 13th, 2015 announcement by President Obama which I blogged about here has made this post obsolete. Parents of students who are in 11th grade during the 2015-2016 school year are no longer able to take advantage of the strategies...
I know, I know. You have a lot of people telling you that the local state university is your kid's bargain basement choice. Well... Unless your child is able to become a part of the honors program at that state university, this is not likely to be true. For the...
13-year-old Chicago resident Michael wanted to become a millionaire, but he didn't want to work 86 years at the Illinois minimum wage in order to get there. How could this middle schooler accomplish his goal without turning to crime or workaholism? This inspiring...
You're a loving parent—so of course you want to make your kid's future college breaks as warm and memorable as possible. But will you be able to do that if your newly-flown offspring comes home snarly and inconsiderate? What if your newly-minted college student...
“Why the big emphasis on avoiding student debt?” some parents and school administrators wonder. “Everyone gets student loans, don’t they? That’s what my guidance counselor told me when I was in high school. Isn’t that just the way it is?” Is that just the way it...
Your college-age daughter calls you, sobbing, at 10:00 pm. She's feeling overwhelmed by exams and paper deadlines, and she's begging you to let her quit the part-time job she's been working while taking her full load of college classes. You want her to be happy, of...
About a month ago I wrote about how some students could end up wealthier and happier by not going to four-year college after high school. It was a life-changing post for many. If you missed it, be sure to read it here. Today's huge news is that starting next year,...
Years ago, a hardworking college student could earn enough money in a summer of life-guarding or burger flipping to pay for one year of college tuition. If she continued to work for wages for as many hours as possible during the school year, lived in a tiny apartment...
The answer? As long as your child meets the LinkedIn.com minimum age limit of 14, it’s absolutely true. Your child needs one place to keep track of all of her accomplishments, achievements, work experiences, school and scouting awards, scholarship awards, job...
Today I'm featuring a 16 minute TEDx talk on student loan debt by Adam Carroll. This is a must-listen for every parent. Listen while you're getting ready for work in the morning, commuting, or cooking dinner. It'll change everything you've ever believed about...
Your son or daughter has started looking at colleges, and at this point the discussion is pretty much centered around how pretty the buildings are, what kind of sports they have, and "the quality of the business program." But are there even more important questions...
Would you like your child to have a Harvard education, but without the nerve-wracking admissions pressure or astronomical tuition cost? If this sounds good to you, you might seriously consider the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (ALB) degree at the Harvard Extension School...
Jon Acuff tells this chilling story, which should scare anyone thinking of ever applying for college, for a great job, or for graduate school or medical school. Jon writes this: "Recently, I talked to a CEO I know. During the conversation he told me his company had...
Parents nationwide are worried about how standardized tests for college entrance are changing. If your child is taking the PSAT exam this coming October 14th, you may be wondering how it will be different from the old PSAT, and what your child should be doing in order...
Every day since your child was a toddler, she’s been bumping into and forming relationships with professional people who have careers in every sector of the job market. Do you realize this? Your daughter may have met a software engineer at a technology company when...
Community colleges tend to be a GREAT bargain for students. (Do you wonder what gives me the credential to say that? Click here.) But what about 4-year state universities? Are they smart choices for students who want to keep college costs low? At first glance the...
Imagine your 19-year-old daughter walking into an enormous 10-story library. She chooses four books at random, and then walks up to the checkout desk and pays $25,000 for the chance to check them out. It sounds unthinkable, but this is the exact method many students...
Wouldn't it be great if your child age 13–22 would apply for 10 different scholarships before starting school this coming fall? Yep, that's what I said. Kids age 13–22. Ten different scholarships each summer. It's a myth that students should only apply for college...
In recent months I've been reimagining everything I do when it comes to helping parents and students. Like a determined mom cleaning out a closet, a purse, or an office desk, I dumped everything I had been doing professionally out onto the floor. "If I had a chance...
There are many students who should not be attending four-year colleges and universities. Why? Because these students are desperately needed in well-paying jobs that require more specialized kinds of training than four-year colleges can provide. Read on, and I'll help...
Have you ever told your kids or teens that they’re “smart?” Would you be surprised to learn that you should strike the word “smart” from your vocabulary? To explain why, I'm turning to my friend Toni Schutta M.A. L.P. as my guest blogger for today. Toni is an...
Imagine your 7th grader earning real transferable college credit for the knowledge she just gained in her middle school history class. Are you astounded that this is possible? Students of all ages can turn their regular school learning into real college credit in 33...
Researchers tell us that the brains of middle schoolers are growing at an explosive rate, faster than at any time since infancy. New connections are being formed, less-used pathways in the brain are being pruned away, and new experiences are imprinting deeply, in...
Are you a parent wondering if student loan debt is really that big a deal? Watch this powerful, entertaining video by Adam Carroll at TEDx UWMilwaukee. It'll be the best 15 minutes you'll spend on your kid this year.
We've all had those days. You have a mountain of work in front of you that you genuinely want to get done, but you find yourself procrastinating. Struggling to focus. Failing to get tasks completed. What's the problem? It's probably not that your time management...
You and your 10th grader are researching colleges, and all at once you're both about to jump out of your chairs. You've found a college that sounds absolutely perfect. There's only one problem. It's out-of-state and so extra expensive. This college is a fantastic...
That fancy name on your kid’s college diploma? It hardly matters. So sorry if this is hard to hear. In the 21st century, paid internships are the crown jewel of the college education. Top college students aim to find, apply for, and work at one, two, or three paid...
You know that it’s a good idea to start early to save for your kids’ college, but what if your budget just doesn’t allow for that right now? Are there other things you can do so that you’re ready when dormitory move-in day comes? Yes. This week I’m hugely honored to...
A devastating earthquake slammed into Nepal on Saturday, killing over 4,000 people. That's hard to wrap your head around I know. It's such devastation, it's such tragedy -- it's overwhelming. We want to close our eyes. We want to look the other way. We want to...
Hi, I’m Jeannie Burlowski.
I am a full-time academic strategist, conference speaker, and author of the book “LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward.”
My writing and speaking provide parents a clear, step-by-step checklist so they can set their kids up to succeed brilliantly in college, graduate debt-free, and move directly into careers they excel at and love.
For more than 20 years, I’ve helped students apply to highly competitive law, medical, business, and grad schools. I still do that from my website GetIntoMedSchool.com.
I am married, and my husband and I have a son and a daughter. We live in Minneapolis.