Students today are under extraordinary pressure—much of it completely unnecessary. (I'm an academic strategist—I know what I'm talking about regarding "completely unnecessary.") Today, let's look at three ways parents can relieve pressure for students ages 12–26, and...
What's more aggravating and frustrating than giving kids or teens a direct order, and then they ignore it? Try this brilliant parenting tip from the psychologists at loveandlogic.com: use the enforceable statement. What is an "enforceable statement"? Say the effective...
Your daughter's not choosing the career you want for her, and you're understandably disappointed. Take heart, there may be hope for her yet. Ask her if she'll take the career assessments I discuss in this article. (The professionally interpreted assessments I...
Melanie Lockert of Los Angeles, California tells about the jolting student loan debt wake-up call she had right after completing grad school. Lockert's jolting student loan debt wake-up call Lockert had wisely worked multiple part-time jobs throughout school, and for...
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...
How can college students keep themselves focused and organized, so they're in the best position to get the highest grades possible—preferably while studying less than most other people? My recommendation to students is, use the Full Focus Planner. The Full Focus...
Teen anxiety is at an all-time high. How can parents help? Or at least quit ratcheting up teen anxiety and making it worse? Some of the root causes of teen anxiety are things parents don't have much control over—such as our culture's senseless obsession with elite...
Most of my time on this blog is spent helping parents get their teens and college students to careers they'll love as quickly as possible. This makes sense—because years spent dragging feet in underemployment or treading water in undergrad can be expensive. But what...
Your son or daughter will be leaving for college soon, and it's just hit you how much you'll be paying out of pocket for tuition, room and board, and other college-related expenses. How can you pay high college bills—without piling debt onto the kid you love? You...
If you're currently in college—or if you're a parent who's taken out dreaded Parent PLUS loans—you'd love for a hero in a red cape to swoop down and tell you how to slash your student loan debt. The hero is here. 1. Slash your student loan debt by applying for...
Most parents worry at least occasionally: "What if these kids don't find good jobs and become independent adults? What if they want to lie around on my couch until they're 30?" Join me, Jeannie Burlowski, for episode 6 of the Launch Your Teens podcast, and you'll...
You desperately want your kids to succeed academically in school and in college so they can have a shot at lifetime career success—but cajoling and hovering and pushing them is just so exhausting. Here’s fantastic help that will take you under two minutes to...
With all the national conversation around legalizing marijuana, many teens are jumping to the uninformed conclusion that it's low-risk for them. Experts, however, are extremely worried about the impact of marijuana on developing adolescent brains. Not only that—but...
So, your kid just got into law school, medical school, or graduate school. That's great! Now you're wondering, "What can students do to get these programs paid for?" Here are the 12 ways I give to my clients at GetIntoMedSchool.com. Share this article with a student...
Your kids won't think today's strategy is funny, but you will—when you watch them scrambling to make a dollar stretch until it screams. Ha ha ha ha! Join me, Jeannie Burlowski, for episode 3 of the Launch Your Teens podcast, where you'll learn the most loved parenting...
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...
Which of these multiple choice testing strategies have you never heard of before? That's your new secret weapon. Share this article with a student you care about. 1. Before you start, note the structure of the test and plan your timing. Here's a nightmare you want to...
Books make great gifts. Why? Because a carefully chosen book can literally change a life. In this short article I share the top 9 books I most love for parents, 20-somethings, and students ages 12 and up. (Are you worried that your teen won't read a non-fiction book?...
Your daughter is starting her first real job after college. Or maybe it's you, the parent, starting a new job. No matter the age of a new full-time employee, bringing these three things on the first day of a new job makes a strong positive impression, and sets an...
Here it is—the meme every kid needs to see. Copy and forward this meme to the kids you love right now. Tweet this meme out to the people who follow you! [Tweet "Here it is—the #meme every #kid needs to see. #parenting #selfcontrol #boundaries #academics #k12 Thx...
By this time nearly everyone's heard of Gary Chapman's book, The 5 Love Languages. It's sold over 11 million copies, it's the 12th most popular book on Amazon (where it has more than 13,000 5-star reviews), and it's been a New York Times Bestseller 8 years running....
You've just dropped a son or daughter off at college for the first time—or you'll be doing so soon. Part of you knows you should be getting a lifetime achievement award for making it this far, but instead, dropping a kid at college may feel like a train wreck in your...
I recently read a fantastic John Grisham novel that contained a surprise for me that made my hair stand on end. What was it? The principal characters were all coping with horrific law school debt. I've spent my entire professional life getting college students and...
To listen to my best debt-free college interview yet, click here. Listen while you're driving or getting ready in the morning, and you just might change the life of a student you love. In March of 2018 I was interviewed by Andy Earle, a Loyola Marymount University...
If your spouse has student loan debt, what does that mean for your financial future? What can you do now that will keep you safe throughout the decades ahead, even if something bad happens? Immediately address the biggest thing you must worry about when your spouse...
In their book Wellbeing, authors Tom Rath and Jim Harter outline what they call “the five essential elements of wellbeing." Think about your kids as you read this list: Physical Wellbeing Social Wellbeing Community Wellbeing Financial Wellbeing Career Wellbeing I...
On the surface, it seems as though multitasking would make a great productivity tool. After all, if you can book a plane ticket and quickly shoot off an email while you're on a phone meeting at work, why not? Haven't you just masterfully killed two birds with one...
If you as a parent are out of debt by the day your kid starts college, you'll have more cash on hand to help with college bills. If you start the process of getting out of debt years before your kid starts college, you'll have more cash on hand to save for college....
Today I'm featuring a must-read article by Forbes contributor Jason Nazar on career advice for 20-year-olds. If you're parenting a child age 16–29, read this article and pick one or two topics to discuss with your child this week. And if your child is age 18–29? Share...
The 20s are a critically important time of life. Young men and women who maximize their 20s tend to have far better lives than those who don't. I know this, because I've read the book The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—And How to Make the Most of Them...
So, your 20-something daughter wants to live at home in her childhood bedroom. Should you happily say yes and make a plate of warm cookies to welcome her back? Or could this put you (and your child) in a bad spot? I’ve written in a previous post about the horror of...
This article is part 3 of a 3-part series on what students can do if they've left college with student loan debt. You can find the first two (very important) articles in this series here and here. Every year, frightening numbers of students finish college with massive...
This article on how grandparents can give college savings as holiday gifts was updated on October 21st, 2024. 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 grandparents...
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...
Your 12th grader hasn't yet figured out "what he wants to do with his life," and it's making you nervous. You absolutely don't want him living in your basement next year—partially for fear he'll turn into one of those 20-something kids floundering through their 20s...
Parents, I know you’ve heard the horror stories. You’ve heard of loving mothers and fathers who sacrifice for years only to find themselves in their 50s, stressed and anxious over unkempt twenty-something children still living in their childhood bedrooms, sleeping in...
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.