A Smarter Way To Earn Scholarships And Grants For College

Searching for the right colleges and financial aid for your child is a daunting process, and can also become a full-time job. We became overwhelmed, and finally, we took friends’ advice to meet with Shellee Howard at College Ready in their Newport Beach office. Our friends’ children worked with College Ready and both have excellent scholarships and financial aid at University of Michigan and SMU. What a relief to have the process steered by someone with expertise. Shellee and her associates are experts not only about private and public universities nationwide, but also about emerging career choices that may suit your child’s interests and strengths. They care about matching your child to college environments best suited to them and to your wallet. Shellee’s proposed colleges were not even on our radar, or seemed out of reach, and they helped us position our child’s applications for the best chance at acceptance and a strong financial aid package. If you want your child to have a breadth of options, both public and private, at a price you can afford, don’t leave it to a high school counselor. They cannot devote individualized time to your child, and they lack knowledge about “secret gem” private colleges with generous aid. You need a private counselor such as College Ready. The investment in their services will alleviate stress and save you considerable money; you may get MUCH more help from a private university than a state public one. So far our daughter was accepted to Columbia with 90% financial aid. Fingers crossed on the others.

Shellee and her College Ready group are solid college admission and financial counselors. They take parents and students through every step of the college admission process, starting with academic rigor, test strategy, passion project, extracurriculars, leadership and the FAFSA. Our daughter is now in her second semester at USC where she received the President’s Scholarship. My daughter called me last week to tell me Shellee stopped by to take her to lunch and see how she was doing. College Ready goes over and above what you may expect. They make navigating through the college admission maze so much easier!

Working with Shellee and her College Ready team was an excellent experience, Shellee sat down with me to get to know me and help choose colleges and universities that fit my needs and preferences as well as my parent’s financial needs. Once we had established a list of possible schools, I sat with Shellee and she helped me through the entire application process from the FAFSA to negotiating financials and comparing offers. My parents are completely confident that their money went to good use and that the return on the investment was well worth the cost. Thank you!

Shellee was amazing. Her team helped my daughter get accepted to 7 universities and a full ride to The University of Virginia. Would highly recommend.

For all you junior and sophomore parents out there with kids wanting to go to college, I highly recommend working with a college counselor. To be honest, we were really on the fence about hiring one. We met with Shellee from College Ready with our son the first time. She spent almost 2 hours with us (free consultation) and we were blown away by her knowledge. If your child is seriously thinking about college, I firmly believe that the money you spend with her will be recovered (plus $1,000’s more). It’s not too early (sophomore parents) to meet with her!!! You won’t regret it!

This workbook is amazing. If you follow the book and workbook you will no longer feel overwhelmed or stressed. You will feel in control and excited.” Collapse To Read Less2 Grace J. “The college process is intimidating and scary, but after our first meeting with Shellee I knew that we were in good hands. She presented my daughter with schools that specifically meet her needs financially and academically. Beyond that, Shellee’s guidance has taken the pressure and angst out of the process. Her organization, knowledge and encouragement is priceless. Shellee walked me through the financial aid process which can be daunting. Her patience and sense of humor was very much appreciated. My only regret is we didn’t meet with College Ready sooner. My oldest son had no plan and will end up in $270,000 in debt. My daughter had a custom plan thanks to Shellee, and she will graduate debt-free. Do yourself a favor and call them today. This has been the best investment I have made for my daughter’s future hands down!!!!

Shellee Howard makes it a point to develop a relationship with my children as well as my husband and I. She has helped prepare my oldest child get into college, and he is now on a large scholarship! Shellee is very organized and is very knowledgeable about all things college. She made a huge difference in the college application process. From essay editing to application help and finances, Shellee does it all!