1577: College Planning, Scholarships, and Teen Success Strategies with Shellee Howard

Robert Plank 0:00 Shellee Howard is here from collegereadyplan.com, and she's helped families worldwide secure top choice acceptances and over $80 million in scholarships. She's been on Fox, NBC, CBS, next level, CEO with Damon, John, and so much more. And she's going to talk to us today about college, about how to get in, how to not overpay, how to plan for this and how to present what those colleges want, not just GPA and test scores, but other ways to stand out, so that way you can secure your future for yourself and your family tree and so much more so Miss Shelly Howard, how the heck are you?

Shellee Howard 0:38 So good? Thank you so much, Robert, for having me.

Shellee Howard 0:41 Happy to have you. And so college, I've only had a four year degree, and I know like when I was in those last couple of years of high school, I was a little stressed out about it, and then in it's always like, in hindsight, you always look back like, oh, man, if only I'd found a way to, like, enjoy that process, if only I had fun, and I was like, Ooh, what? What schools can I like apply to, and how can I make more of like a an experiment or a project out of it? I only, I can only wonder, like, what that could have been like instead. But I mean, you tell me, what's the current happenstance when it comes to people applying for college, and just how's it working out?

Shellee Howard 1:22 Well, that's kind of a loaded question, because if you go on social media, Facebook, specifically, it sounds horrible. It sounds like nobody's getting into college no matter how amazing they are, and nobody's getting scholarships no matter how amazing they are. But I want to dispel all of that class of 2026 we had 29 students. They received over $10.3 million in scholarships, and 100% of them got into college. So I want families to realize, don't believe everything you hear. If your student has the desire to go to college. There's over 2500 of them. There's so many colleges, okay? There's the perfect college for every student, and there are 10 colleges that are tuition free. So if money is a concern, it just means the student has to work, which is not a bad thing. And so we're helping families to get clarity, to really figure out how to package the student. I know you're into marketing or, you know, it's the same thing we do. We package the student, get them ready to be able to compete. My son got a full ride at USC, and Harvard matched it full ride at Harvard, not a bad gig, but they don't offer merit scholarships, is what people tell me. I didn't have to pay for him to go to college, is what I tell them. So it's all about what you know, sometimes who you know. And I was just named 2026 global educational consultant of the year for the work that we're doing, because we're helping parents to be enjoy this time. This is the last four years they live at home. You don't want to be fighting with them.

Robert Plank 3:18 Right, I agree, and I like the way that you present it, because it's one of those, like, underrated soft skills that is probably needed throughout our whole adult lives, this idea of following up and then, kind of like slightly customizing the package that we present, that way we can have the ideal chance of success, both in like the quantity plus The quality. And you mentioned a little bit in there about how, like, there's, like, the subtext of, sometimes there are the excuses, right? Like, oh, well, I can't get into Harvard. Like, I can't afford that. And I think that we it's, it's so tempting to succumb to the excuses in, isn't it? And you hear, maybe in the past, like, 15 years, there's been a lot of dissing of college, right? You hear that, like the big tech companies, they no longer require a college degree. Or sometimes people say, Oh, well, college. You know, why would I bother? It's it's a waste of money, it's a waste of time. What's your answer to that? The naysayers about college lately.

Shellee Howard 4:18 If not college, then what? That's all I would say. What are they going to do? They're going to be 18. Do you want to take care of them for the rest of your life, their life? I really think parents are real quick to say, well, then we're not going to do that. But I'm quick to say, that's fine, but what are they going to do? I talk to students every day. I've been doing this 18 years, and what I have learned is students think that influencers really just talk online all day. They have no idea that they need a business plan in marketing and finance and they have to have a strategy. And they're like, Well, I don't know how to do that. Guess what you learn in college? College or the big trend right now is trade schools. I love trade schools. But does anybody want to be underneath a sink when they're 60

Robert Plank 5:10 I don't think so.

Shellee Howard 5:12 to start a business? What are you going to do? So again, people are really quick to like bad talk it, but there are some careers that you have to have a college degree, doctor, lawyer, CPA, right? What are they going to do? Is my question. It doesn't matter to me if it's college or not. What most students, if you ask them, parents, if you're listening, ask your teenager this, who are you? And don't say a word, and they're going to look at you with really big eyes, and then they're going to, you know who I am. I'm your daughter. I'm your son. No, really, who are you? I know adults who can't answer that. That's where the problem lies. They see everybody's best day on their social media. They don't think that they're very important or very significant, or what they've done is that great. I have four young adults, and I've watched from number one to number four the difference that these students have to endure about their future, and now with AI, there's a whole nother layer where people are now saying, I don't even know if there's going to be that career by the time they graduate. So we're helping them understand, if you're thinking about majoring in this, you need to know that in four years that's not going to be there. Would that not be helpful?

Robert Plank 6:46 That would and so you're saying that if, if you don't want college, well, you need to replace it with something. And you're also saying that it's, it's just, it's something we have to figure out, right that. I think I saw some survey a couple years ago, and it was really depressing where they asked all kinds of like, young kids, like, what do you want to be when you grow up? And when people like you and me were young, we'd say, you know, policeman, firefighter, and it was like, 95% influencer, because it looks so cool, but like the kids these days don't realize it's like, winning the lottery, isn't it? It's like, might you might as well be saying, I wanted to become a famous actor, like, it's great if you make it. But how about something that has that chance of success, or something that may be through the various phases of your life? You can be that plumber, and then once you figure that out, you can kind of grow your own plumbing company, or you can work up the ranks of the management or you can grow over time as you grow as a person. And it would be great to to be on a path like that, because as you know, life has these twists and turns right, and sometimes in college, you have to figure out those foundational skills that then maybe they do go out of date and you have to continue learn. But that's just, that's what life is. Right? No one said it would be easy. And so when these families come to you, what's the usual starting point? Is it like, all over the map? Do they need to know? They have no idea. Like, where are they usually at when they say, Hey, Shellee, we need your help.

Shellee Howard 8:14 So we have students families who come to us as young as seventh grade. So we can start helping families prepare seventh grade, seventh grade through 12th grade, we help college transfers. So it's really when the student finds us, if they're in seventh grade, they're on a very different path than somebody who's in 12th grade. We have to hope that the 12th graders been doing some things to help figure out what it is they want to do. Maybe they haven't. The very first thing we do with every student always is we help them to understand who they are and what matters to them, and how will they prove it? Because ultimately, that's what they need to do in life. So we tell families College is a stepping stone to their future. It's not the end game, and if you treat it like the end game, you're going to get to the end and be like now, what wouldn't it be better to start to help that young person figure out their gifts, their talents, their advocacy, the things that truly matter to them, their core values, then they can start to plan their future. I have many adults who want to go through this process as a matter of fact, and then they can plan their future. And what that gives them is focus. My son knew he wanted to be a surgeon in eighth grade. He is now an orthopedic surgeon. This doesn't just happen if you don't do the work and families just say, Oh, they're too young, or we don't want to stress them, or my kids are so well balanced, I would, I would beg to say they probably had an easier path, because they knew what they were good at, and they knew what they weren't good at, and we were okay that they weren't good at it.

Robert Plank 9:59 That's why. Wonderful. And I like how you said it in there that there was something about, like, figuring out what you're good at and proving it, which it seems like has many factors, right? Because there is an element of, there is like a little bit of, like, natural skill, but then there's also, like, the things you learn, and then the kind of your determination and your follow through, and it's like you can have some kind of potential about your future and squander it, versus being more of having a good work ethic. And so you mentioned about this idea of, like, being well rounded, because there's another excuse that happens, right? And I know I had this excuse all through high school. I thought, you know only, if I was less busy than I would, I would succeed more, right? I would tell myself, well, because I'm dealing with, you know, sports and band and all these hard classes, I thought to myself, If only I, like, got a break or if only things slowed down, then I would I wouldn't be so burned out. And I mean, you must see this in students all the time, but like you say, your family, your kids, they can have that full schedule and still be fulfilled. So if there's if someone has an excuse, Is it as simple as you say as like they need to figure out what they're good at and not good at? Or how can someone rise above the busyness excuse.

Shellee Howard 11:18 Give me an hour with any teenager and I could flip that upside down in a hot second, because they think they're so busy. Have you ever tracked how much time they spend on social media, on their phone, on their computer? Any idea it's hours, but yet they're so busy, they don't have time to serve their community. They don't have time to lead others to create the change they want to see. They don't have time to do XYZ. Well, they also don't have time to do chores, and they don't have time to do all the other stuff they don't want to do either. And that's been forever, right? We do what we want to do when we procrastinate in the things we don't want to do. Well, if they have no idea how to prepare for college, they're not going to do anything because they don't know what to do. So they just say they're busy. So their parents stop bugging them, and it's not a discussion. The parents are like, Oh yeah, they're in their room. They're studying for a long time. And you know, they're so busy doing that all four of my kids played a sport. They were all in music. They were all in leadership. And guess what? They had plenty of time on their cell phone. So we call it really getting clear about what they want. Just like adults, if we want to raise we show up to work early. We say after work, we do the extra things at work. If we really don't care, we show up on time, we leave a little early, and we don't expect anything. Hopefully, just keep our job. So what we're teaching our children by allowing them to just do what they want to do, is they're going to have a tough time when they have a boss and they have accountability and somebody who says, I don't care how busy you are, you're late on that proposal. That's the life skills that we're trying to help these students understand. Is this is not just getting them into college. This is teaching them how to adult.

Robert Plank 13:32 Very nice. Well, you're giving me some of these flashbacks. I think that maybe seventh grade was quite a transition, when I was just suddenly, just really overwhelmed, stressed out with schoolwork. And little did I know that probably, like, junior year of high school went to another level, and man, and by the time I got there, it was like, If only I had the seventh grade workload. And then, even then, I thought, well, then the maybe, like second year of college was another transition and the real world. So it's like, if you think that things are tough now, just you wait five or 10 years until it really becomes something more. And so that's great, that you can always find the time. You just look at how much time is kind of spent on cell phone and TV. And there's something I think about quite a bit, which is like the time will pass anyway, and then if we don't really have a plan for ourselves or our kids, and we don't stick to it, then someone else will make the plan for us, right? You're going to become an adult no matter what. You'll get a job no matter what, because you have bills to pay, and so it's a matter of, is it something that you want? That's your intention, versus what you just fall into? And that doesn't really that could be a life, but it's not really the ideal life for you. And so you mentioned this, this thing about like that seventh grade and throughout high school, there's kind of different phases of easing us into it. And boy, in seventh, eighth grade, I loved career day and just seeing what all the different possibilities were. Like, I think, like, a guy from Lucasfilm came by, and it was just so fun hearing about, like, you know, Star Wars movies and things like that. And so my son is about to turn six, and I'm, like, thinking about his future, but I don't want to, like, you know, I want to live in the present moment. So, and right now he's obsessed with toilets, so I'm like, Cool, whatever his hobby is, as goofy as it is, sure I'm all in. So, like, what do you think you did? Right from, you know, ages like six to 18, just to, like, be the best parent that you could be,

Shellee Howard 15:32 Intellectual curiosity that's the, that's the ticket to win, right there, if you teach them how to think, they will think forever, and they'll be able to tackle the hard questions. If you just throw a cell phone in their hand to keep them active or keep them out of your hair, that is just going to cause more strife later on. So what I recommend for parents is two things. Teach them to love to read, because the the ability to read gives them the opportunity to learn anything that they ever want to learn, and it gives them the vocabulary to be able to have a intelligent conversation, which is going to put them with the people whom you want them to be with, right? The second thing is, you definitely want to help them figure out who they are, because a lot of people do things just because that's normal for them. So while they're young, like a six-year-old, I would say, Wow, Buddy, did you see how all of those kids just wanted to play with you. You are a really good friend, just anchoring in the things that he probably is. Like, what are you talking about? Right? But it's the gentle positive reinforcement that will help your child to grow and be confident. I used to take my my, all of my kids when they were little, all the way through, and we did community service together. Why not? Because I wanted to punish them. That's not at all it or free labor. I wanted them to interact with different kinds of people. Do you like the elderly? Do you like babies? Do you not like people? This is a wonderful skill to bring out in a child and say, I am so impressed you were able to x, y, and z. So again, it's giving them that opportunity to explore who they are and reinforce those things that they naturally are gifted at.

Robert Plank 17:40 Very nice. So be an encourager and get them to enjoy reading that way they're open to all these possibilities. And so as far as what you and college ready do, how does this stand out from the sort of traditional like college admissions advisor role?

Shellee Howard 17:57 So college ready, we are a global college consulting, strategist, what we do is we help students understand, how are they going to stand out? You can no longer have a GPA and a test score and just go to college. It doesn't work like that anymore. Most students have a good GPA and a test score. That's pretty norm now college is, like, 12 times more expensive than it was just 10 years ago, so that the cost of college is extremely high, so the risks and rewards are different. So the best thing that we do is we help families, first, help their child make sure they know who they are, what they've done, and can prove it. Then we help them to create a strategy about why they want this major, why they want this school, why they want this career, and we build that out with activities, honors, awards. Then we help them to package it with the application and the essay, then we help them to know if a school is stingy or generous. We help them to know if they can financially negotiate that award offer that they've gotten. So we are the whole package. We are the only consulting firm in the world that is truly a through z we offer the entire package, and that's what students need to get in and get money if you're just looking to get in, make sure your students doing some great stuff. And some school will pick them if you want to pick where it's like standing in line when you're in elementary school and you have two captains and they say, I want you, and you don't want to be the last picked. Same principle. If you don't do much, you're going to be the last one woman or man standing, and you'll just have to go where they say, or you're going to be the first one picked, and they're going to throw some big money at you, and you're going to get into your dream school.

Shellee Howard 20:00 It's up to you which one you want to do.

Shellee Howard 20:03 Very nice, yeah, that's what I mean. What we all want in life. We all want to get picked first. And so this is fascinating to hear about, of like the story assembly, so to speak, right? You figure out, well, what's the story that I'm will tell about my kid, and as far as the activities and the ways that they stand out. And then the story that's building about our strategy and what the different colleges want and how we can get in. But also, you know, get get the money as well. That way we don't have to say, oh, you know, Harvard said yes, but we have no way to pay for it. You have the whole plan in place there. And I'm just, I'm thinking so much about, remember that book, Freakonomics, and they said something like, Well, what makes your child succeed? And it's like, Well, is it how good the parent is? And they said, No, it's how good the friends are around that kid. And it's like, well, you think there's, there's kind of a lot of random chance to that, but if you can get your kid in these activities, or you can get them in like, kind of be readers and be intellectual. Then ideally, hopefully, they'll surround themselves with other kind of, so to speak, good people, right, other encouragers and achievers and and not the the burnouts and not the kids that smoke the cigarettes around the corner. They'll have some, like, good circle of friends. And ideally, that can lead to, then being in college and making good friends there, and then in adulthood, making good friends there. And that's what we all want for our for our children, right? So just have a wonderful life like that, where we're not forcing them, we're just kind of encouraging them and setting them up to to be strong and be self-sufficient and to figure some of this out. Because it is quite a circus, isn't it, with just all the they all want different things. And like you said, there's so many colleges out there, but it's a lot to navigate with the essay and all the just, you know, getting getting it all presented and standing out from just the test scores alone. So man, you Shellee, we've jumped around and just talked about all sorts of different subjects, and I've had such a blast. But since you're the star of the show here, I want to make sure that we talk about what's important to you. So do you think there might be in this conversation a missing question that I should be asking you? I just don't know what to ask

Shellee Howard 22:12 you absolutely. And the number one thing I get asked is, when is the best time to start? Number one, the best time to start is right now. It doesn't matter what age your child is, if they're in third grade, you go to a science museum, take them to a college campus, walk around, take them to a football game, a basketball game, a ballet help them to see the culture that's going to be in front of them, as you would maybe to spend time in the garage, working on a car, give them exposure as early as you can. Then start helping them figure out who they are by the time they're in middle school. And like I said, I start helping families as young as seventh and eighth grade and all the way through. So if you have a teenager, or know of a teenager who'd like to get into college without you losing your mind or your money. That's the best time to get started. And I'm happy to offer your listeners a complimentary 30 minutes of my time to answer any questions that maybe we didn't get to to do that they go to collegeeadyplan.info. The info gets them 30 minutes of my time where we dive into their needs, and so that is my recommendation. The other thing is, I have two of my best-selling books on Amazon that the downloaded version is zero cost to you, because I want to have everybody have this in their hands. So please go to Amazon and pick up a copy. At least you have the foundation of what you need to be thinking,

Shellee Howard 23:48 very nice. And so to recap those resources, that's college ready, plan, dot info to get that 30 minute call figured out, to just you know, see what's possible, to send your teen to college without losing your mind or your money, and then to look into those books on Amazon. Her name is Shellee Howard, and that Shellee is spelled S, H, E, L, L, E, E, Howard. That's 2l and two E's. And the books are the college admissions plan simplified and how to send your student to college without losing your mind or your money. And the the main hub of what we've been speaking about this whole time is colleg readyplan.com. They help your students stand out through strategic college planning, proven to strengthen applications, increase scholarship offers and simplify every step of that admissions journey. Families choose them for their personalized guidance, trusted expertise, and results, including over $10 million in scholarships in the last year alone. And you know, Shellee, I'm always thinking as a parent about the magic, the power. Or of the third party, right? Sometimes your kids just they don't want to listen to you, but you say, Hey, here's the basketball coach, hey, here's the teacher, here's the other friend's parent. And just to kind of outnumber their singular oneness and have multiple people saying, hey, you know, college is important. Your future is important. I know it's a hassle to wake up early and go to that football practice or to practice for the clarinet one one more hour, but hey, this is your future that you're talking about. You only have one like you can't get the time back, and it's important to to be fulfilled and to do the right things and to get some help doing the right things. We said, That's college ready plan.com and to have that 30 minutes college plan conversation with Miss Shellee Howard. That's collegereadyplan.info. And Shellee Howard is the author of the college admissions plan simplified and how to send your student to college without losing your mind or your money. And you know, Miss Shellee Howard is a frequent podcast guest. You know how important the magic of a sound bite is. And even those, all those gosh darn influencers, right? They're all about the reels, the TikToks,. And so now it's your turn, right where I try to stump you. I try to put you on the spot by asking about a fun or interesting quote or lesson that we'll definitely use as a real or a Tiktok. So what comes to mind for you as a fun or interesting quote or lesson?

Shellee Howard 26:28 Do what you love and the money will come if you're really deeply enjoying what you're doing. I'm not talking about a hobby. I'm talking about a career that you find enjoyment. People ask me all the time, when I'm going to retire, why would I ever retire? I love what I get to do. I get to inspire teenagers. So that would be my sound bite. Is, do what you love and the money will come.

Shellee Howard 26:55 Very nice. Well, I'm inspired by speaking to you about this, as far as the curiosity factor and being open to those new experiences, walking around the college campus, seeing the ballet, tinkering with the car, figuring out, what is it that thing that you love that you can use as a career, and then the money will come but it's so difficult, daunting, overwhelming to think about this on your own, or just the parents and the kids. So why not go to Miss Shellee Howard, who eats, breathes, and sleeps this stuff, and as she said, she'll never retire, because it's just so gosh darn fun for her. So that's collegereadyplan.com, and to speak to her directly collegereadyplan.info, have that conversation. You'll be glad you did. We'll see you there, and thanks so much, Miss Shellee Howard, for blowing our minds, showing up, and giving us lots of entertaining and helpful information about all this. So thank you.

Shellee Howard 27:48 My pleasure, Robert, thanks for having me.

Robert Plank 27:52 Super. Great.