Our guest blogger today is Shymika Stephenson Davison. Her business is called PreCollege Solutions. She has over thirteen years of experience working with high school students in college admissions and acceptance and more.
I’m not sure about you, but one of my biggest obstacles as an entrepreneur is managing my family and business. Last week, I forgot to schedule my toddler’s six-month dental appointment because I was promoting my collaborative book for the past month.
Fortunately, I can schedule the appointment without my toddler’s look of disappointment. What happens when there is a scheduling issue for a college tour with your teen or a missed scholarship deadline?
Better yet, what if it’s your teen’s senior year, and no action plan has been implemented? Long gone are the days of depending on a high school counselor.
According to the 2021-2022 research conducted by the American School Counselor Association, the national average student-to-school counselor ratio is 408:1; the recommended ratio should be 250 students to 1 counselor.
Therefore, students are falling through the cracks of preparation for post-high school success.
As owner and lead consultant of PreCollege Solutions, a college readiness consulting and coaching company promoting academic excellence and financial literacy. We champion families with services, products, and resources to assist with college-bound teens.
Here are my top three pieces of advice for parents and guardians, especially entrepreneurs.
1. Start early
Wondering when to start college prep for college-bound teens? During middle school or first year of high school, only if your teen has shared that they want to attend universities or colleges.
In my industry, we call teens who have shared a desire to attend college “college-bound.” While in middle school and high school, the goal is to invest in youth to determine what their passion is, alluding to their future career path. The investment can include but is not limited to internships, summer camps, non-sport-related extracurricular activities, job shadowing, volunteering, and college prep programs. The faster your teens find their future careers, the more involved they become. Finding a career early can eliminate unrealistic future careers.
2. Have the “How are we paying for college” conversation with your teen
At PreCollege Solutions, we are very intentional about educating clients on the multiple ways to pay for college. With every client, I have the “How are you paying for college” conversation separately from parents and guardians and their teens.
Nearly 80% of the conversation ends with the parenting saying, we can’t afford to send them to all four years. The teens respond with, “if my parents got me, I’m not worried.” Two different responses mean the conversation needs to be had.
Clear expectations to set a game plan is what we practice with our family. Try to get teens to obtain and win two years’ worth of scholarships while parents and guardians can pay for the remainder.
3. Continue to have your teen help with your business
The University of Chicago Press Journals stated that parents who are entrepreneurs increase the probability of their children becoming entrepreneurs by about 60%.
The skillset that your teen is learning from you and their entrepreneur journey is priceless. Please continue bringing them business meetings, vendor events, and brand deals. Have them create social media posts.
Explain the sales report and dropshipping. The actual key to wealth is creating a legacy with the next generation.
Let’s Be Realistic
The average student loan debt in the U.S. was $37,693 per borrower as of 2021, according to Forbes.
As an entrepreneur parent or guardian, you may not have the knowledge, time, and money to prepare your teen for college.
That’s why we have products and services to help you.
Here are our top-selling products and services for busy entrepreneur parents/guardians.
College Made Easy Checklist
The College Made Easy Checklist is for our parents, guardians, youth professionals, and high school students who prefer a checklist to be college-ready for high school. This copyrighted checklist is your teen’s high school counselor.
You Can Go To College For FREE book
Have you ever wanted to know how teens can attend their dream school for FREE? This is the perfect book for you. Topics range from what our youth should do before high school to best practices for academically succeeding in college. This collaborative book comes from college prep experts, including me!
College Ready Parent Bundle
Parents of high school students have to know just as much as their teens regarding college and scholarship applications. Please take advantage of our College Ready Parent Bundle and stay ahead of the game! Our bundle includes 1-hour College & Scholarship Application Live Presentation and 40/5 Advisement/Assistance
Scholarship Subscription Plan
Families of high school seniors and college students can receive a bi-weekly customized scholarship list (minimum 10 per list). This alleviates the time and stress of searching for scholarships and obtaining promotional and scholarship scams. The monthly scholarship starts in October and ends in April.
Shymika’s Story
PreCollege Solutions began with an overworked Academic Coordinator for a college prep program, which focused on first-generation and low-income high school students. Their goal was to help high school students prepare to get into college, yet they lacked a plan on how to sustain and assist them while they are in college.
One day, Shymika got tired of seeing high school students not receive their dream of going to college due to finances. She is tired of seeing college students put their lives on hold because of student loan debt.
Therefore, Shymika formed PreCollege Solutions.
Shymika strives to be the change she wants to see in academic success and financial literacy in assisting this generation in minimizing the amount of student debt obtained in college.
She wants to inspire women to dream and live bigger so we can help the next generation of women advance to a higher level than us.
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