00:01Hello.
00:02That was loud.
00:03Sorry.
00:04So now we're going to have some fun.
00:06Anybody like game shows and interacting?
00:09Oh, OK.
00:11OK.
00:11So I'm going to bring up my good girl, Shamika.
00:13We're going to do a college prep.
00:16We don't know what we know until they teach us.
00:18So we're going to play a really fun game.
00:22And I'm going to let her have the say.
00:23So y'all be nice to my friend and play this game with her.
00:26OK?
00:27You got it, Shamika?
00:28I got it.
00:28All right.
00:29Enjoy.
00:30Hello, everyone.
00:32How are you guys doing?
00:33All right.
00:34My name is Shamika Stevenson-Davidson.
00:36And I am the founder of Pre-College Solutions, a college readiness
00:40coaching and consulting company.
00:42And for the last six years, we have been helping students that
00:46look like us, families who look like us, get ready for college.
00:50And there are lots and lots of errors and mistakes that I see
00:55people like us make all the time.
00:56So this game, this game show is our attempt so you guys don't make those
01:01same mistakes.
01:02So we're going to jump into it.
01:04So what I'm going to do is I'm going to ask a question, true or false
01:08question.
01:09I'm going to bring two contestants up here.
01:12All right.
01:12The person that answers the question correctly and the quickest will win our
01:18prize.
01:19All right.
01:20Real simple, right?
01:22Yes.
01:22Yes.
01:23Very simple.
01:24All right.
01:24So I'm going to start with a practice question.
01:29Can I have two people come up here?
01:30Practice question.
01:31Come on up.
01:32Come on up.
01:33He needs somebody to go again.
01:35So where y'all at?
01:36Come on.
01:36Come on up.
01:40I don't want to practice.
01:42I want the real question.
01:42You want the real question.
01:44Okay.
01:45I'll give you the real question.
01:46All right.
01:47Yeah.
01:50All right.
01:52There you go.
01:52Here you go.
01:53All right.
01:53So my man said he don't want a practice question.
01:57He want the real deal.
01:58So I'm going to give him the first question.
02:00All right.
02:00So this category is called FAFSA.
02:04All right.
02:04We all should be familiar with the FAFSA if we've been to college.
02:07All right.
02:08So this question says, should you never, never, never get a student loan?
02:16True or false?
02:17You should never get a student loan.
02:19True or false?
02:22False.
02:24All right.
02:25You too.
02:26You got to give an answer.
02:27I'm going to say false.
02:28You going to say false?
02:29What about you?
02:30You going to say true?
02:31All right.
02:31So the answer is false.
02:35Yes.
02:36You should get a student loan if it is the last resort.
02:41And if your family has done all the research and tried all the resources possible.
02:46Because there's no need not to go to college because you're $1,000 short.
02:51Or you're $5,000 short.
02:53All right.
02:55You're the winner.
02:56See my guy right there?
02:57He going to give you one.
03:00That wasn't no trick question.
03:02I didn't get nothing.
03:04All right.
03:05I need two more people up here.
03:06Two more people up here.
03:07Come on up here.
03:09Come on up here.
03:15Come on up here.
03:18There you go.
03:25All right.
03:26We're going to go to the category of scholarships.
03:30Scholarships.
03:31All right.
03:32Come a little closer.
03:32Come a little closer.
03:33Come a little closer.
03:34All right.
03:35So here is your question.
03:37All right.
03:38Social media is the number one way to find scholarships.
03:43True or false?
03:44True or false?
03:46They are both correct.
03:48Both of them.
03:49You're both of them a prize.
03:50You're both of them a prize.
03:52All right.
03:52So the number one way to find scholarships, believe it or not, is your high school counselor.
03:58Your high school counselor.
04:00She or he can help you do local scholarships.
04:03They can help you do national scholarships.
04:05And I know sometimes you don't have the best high school counselor.
04:10All right.
04:10And if you don't, you need to go to someone at that school that you trust as a parent,
04:16as a student, so that they can invest in you and get you the stuff you need so your child
04:20can apply for scholarships.
04:21Okay.
04:22All right.
04:23Question number three.
04:24I need two people up here.
04:25Come on.
04:26Jog on up here.
04:26Come on, girl.
04:27Come on.
04:28Come on.
04:28You.
04:29Come on, Mickey Mouse.
04:30What happened?
04:32Mickey Mouse ears over here.
04:34Come on.
04:34Come on.
04:35Come on.
04:35Come on.
04:40There you go.
04:41There you go.
04:42All right.
04:43He needs somebody to go against.
04:45Nobody.
04:46Nobody.
04:46Nobody want to go against them.
05:02You can let her bring her bag, even though we all want it.
05:06You can let her bring her bag.
05:09All right.
05:10All right.
05:11So, this category, this category is called college prep.
05:17College prep.
05:19True or false?
05:20Should every student take the ACT and the SAT?
05:24True or false?
05:26True or false?
05:27They are correct.
05:29Give them a prize.
05:30Good job.
05:32Every student should take the SAT and the ACT because you don't know which test your child is going to
05:40do better
05:41in.
05:41And I know in a great state of Louisiana, which I am from, we are very ACT heavy because we
05:48have a lot of state funding tied to that.
05:50But you need to take the SAT as well because universities look at both of those scores and when they
05:56give out merit-based aid,
05:57it doesn't matter if your child has taken the ACT or the SAT.
06:00Only depends about the score.
06:02Okay?
06:03All right.
06:04Can I get a couple more people?
06:05Come on up here.
06:05Come on, girls.
06:06Come on, Mickey Mouse girls.
06:09Come on.
06:16How old are y'all?
06:1817.
06:19How old are you?
06:21How old are you?
06:22That feels unfair.
06:24That feels unfair.
06:25You said it again?
06:26That's okay.
06:27All right.
06:29So, I'm going to give you guys a college prep question, okay?
06:33College prep question.
06:34True or false, is missing deadlines the biggest mistake that students make during the college application process?
06:44Is missing deadlines the biggest mistake they make at college deadlines?
06:50All right.
06:51That is correct.
06:52That is correct.
06:53Look at you guys.
06:53Look at y'all.
06:54Y'all ready for college.
06:55Go get you a prize.
06:56Go get a prize.
06:58All right.
06:59So, believe it or not, simply by missing a deadline, a lot of college bound students and their family miss
07:07out on amazing opportunities and miss out on a lot of money.
07:11So, when you are a parent or even if you are a student and you have a college bound, you
07:17got to, man, you need to put that in your phone, your planner, a timer, put it weeks in advance.
07:22You really need to be on these deadlines because senior year is filled with so many activities that you'll miss
07:29out.
07:29All right.
07:30All right.
07:30Let me get another couple more people up here.
07:33Couple more people.
07:34Come on, girl.
07:35Come on.
07:36Come on.
07:41All right.
07:42Here you go.
07:45Here you go.
07:47All right.
07:48So, y'all's category.
07:50Come a little closer.
07:51All right.
07:52So, your category is financial aid.
07:55Financial aid.
07:56Fast forward.
07:56All right.
07:58True or false?
07:59Financial aid priority deadlines vary from state to state.
08:05True or false?
08:06They vary from state to state.
08:08True or false?
08:09Good job.
08:10That is true.
08:11Go get you guys a prize.
08:12Go get you guys a prize.
08:15So, raise your hand if you know what a financial aid priority deadline is.
08:19Raise your hand if you know.
08:20All right.
08:22So, a financial aid priority deadline.
08:24That is a deadline that most universities or states make basically when they start giving
08:30out the money to the students.
08:31So, if your child has not done the financial, the FAFSA by that deadline and send it to that
08:37school, then they may not receive all the funding that that state or that the government wants to give them.
08:45So, you definitely need to know what universities your child is interested in, what's their financial aid priority deadline.
08:54All right.
08:54Couple more people.
08:56Couple more people.
09:00Come on, ma'am.
09:12All right.
09:13You can come on this side.
09:20All right.
09:21All right.
09:22All right.
09:22Thank y'all.
09:23So, this category is called college prep.
09:28Okay.
09:29College prep.
09:30So, true or false, the nation's average for student loan debt is $30,000.
09:36The average for student debt right now is $30,000 per person.
09:45True or false?
09:46True?
09:48False.
09:49She is correct.
09:51It is false.
09:52It's actually $39,000 as of this enrolling this coming school year.
09:59So, $39,000 for student loan debt.
10:04All right.
10:05Go get your prize over there.
10:07Now, this is why we need to be looking at various ways for our babies to be getting money.
10:16I know the big three, grants, loans, scholarships.
10:20But we also need to be looking into some other things.
10:23Some things as such as them working.
10:27All right.
10:28I know.
10:29I hear this generation don't like to work that much.
10:32But we need to be looking into the working.
10:34We need to be looking into negotiating financial aid letters with the universities.
10:39We need to be looking at maybe having a meeting with the family to see how much the family can
10:47contribute and how we can sustain that.
10:49All right.
10:50All right.
10:50Last question.
10:51Last question.
10:52Two more people.
10:53Two more people.
10:53Come on up.
10:54The last one.
10:58Nobody wants a prize?
11:00All right.
11:01We got the pool people.
11:02Come on, ma'am.
11:03I saw you want to give up.
11:04Come on.
11:05Come on.
11:05Oh.
11:06Yay.
11:06There you go.
11:17There you go.
11:18All right.
11:19So last question.
11:20Last question.
11:21All right.
11:22We're going to bring it back to financial aid.
11:26All right.
11:28So no, I want to make it a fun question.
11:30All right.
11:31We're going to take it to college prep.
11:32All right.
11:33So true or false.
11:36The average family spends about $5,000 on their child's senior year.
11:43On senior year of high school, their child's senior year of high school, they spend about $5,000.
11:49True or false?
11:53True.
11:54False.
11:55Believe it or not, it is true.
11:57It is true.
11:58This is the average how much a family spends on their child's senior year.
12:03All right.
12:03Go collect your prize.
12:05I want you guys to think about this.
12:07Senior year is very expensive.
12:09You have homecoming.
12:12You have prom.
12:13You have graduation.
12:14You have all the extracurricular activities your child is a part of.
12:18You have all of those things and everything being the last.
12:21The average amount is about $5,000 that a family ends up paying for senior year.
12:27And if you think about it, that's $5,000 that could be going to the college.
12:30That could be going to paying for your child's education.
12:34So you need to budget and spend wisely when it comes to senior year.
12:38All right.
12:38So as I wrap up, this is one thing that I always like to tell my clients.
12:44Okay.
12:46Getting into college, easy.
12:49The hardest part is paying for college.
12:51And the families that don't have some type of plan to figure out how they're going to pay for their
12:57child's college,
12:57typically are the ones whose child end up with the most amount of student debt or they end up dropping
13:02out sometime during college.
13:04All right.
13:05So I want to put that on y'all's heart as y'all are thinking about what you're going to
13:09do with your college-bound babies.
13:11All right.
13:12So appreciate you guys for coming.
13:15We, Pre-College Solutions, will be at the Maker Studio quickly after this.
13:21If you just have questions you want to ask me about college prep, about scholarships, about services that our company
13:27offers.
13:28All right.
13:29And you can also follow us on social media at PreCollegeSolutions.com, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
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