October 6, 2025 • 25 mins
Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Jennifer Ledwith.
She is the founder of Scholar Ready, whose mission is to help students excel in standardized testing and scholarship applications.
🔑 Key Themes & Highlights
-
The Inspiration Behind Scholar Ready
- Ledwith founded Scholar Ready after realizing many students struggled with scholarships due to weak essay-writing skills.
- She personally secured scholarships to fund her college education, graduating with minimal student debt.
-
The Importance of Standardized Test Preparation
- Scholar Ready helps students prepare for PSAT, SAT, and ACT exams to unlock scholarship opportunities.
- Ledwith emphasized that test scores are crucial for college admissions and financial aid.
-
Overcoming Barriers to Higher Education
- Many students fear essay writing and test-taking, limiting their scholarship potential.
- Ledwith’s program provides personalized tutoring to build confidence and improve scores.
-
Scholarship Application Strategies
- Students must research scholarship providers and tailor their essays accordingly.
- She advises applicants to highlight unique qualities beyond grades and test scores.
-
Encouraging Persistence & Resilience
- Ledwith stresses that rejection is part of the scholarship process and should not discourage students.
- She encourages students to apply widely and refine their applications based on feedback.
📘 About Jennifer Ledwith
Jennifer Ledwith is an education entrepreneur dedicated to helping students succeed in college admissions and scholarship applications. Through Scholar Ready, she provides tutoring and workshops to improve test scores and essay-writing skills, ensuring students have the financial resources to pursue higher education.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am Rashan McDonald, a host the weekly Money Making
Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this show
provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading other
people's success stories and start living your own. If you
want to be a guest on my show, please visit
our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and click the be a
Guest button. Press submit and information will come directly to me. Now,
(00:24):
let's get this show started. My guest has been on
my show before and I'm happy to have her back.
She has a business degree from the University of Oklahoma.
She is the owner of scholar Ready, the scholar Ready
and educational services company. She meets with clients online and
her company's scholar Ready tutors math conducts personal essay writing workshops,
(00:46):
and prepares students for psat SAT and ACT exam. Please welcome,
Please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass. Jennifer led with
how you doing, Jennifer, I'm.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Doing well over Sean. How are you doing today?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Sooner?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Huh?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
How did you I? You originally from Houston, Texas? Correct?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Correct all these colleges in Texas? Now, how did you
get up in Oklahoma. What made you go to the
Oklahoma state out of state tuition all that expensive stuff?
Why University of Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
You know, I had gone to school with the same
people for twelve years and I was over it, and
I knew the only one and it was I had
a friend I grew up with who was applying to
OU and her cousins had attended OU. And I looked
on a scholarship bulletin at my high school one time
(01:40):
and I saw a big scholarship that the university offered,
and I said, well, why don't I just apply and
see what happened? And that's and that's how I didn't
get that scholarship that I applied for, but I did
receive enough to lure me to UH to Oklahoma. And
(02:03):
so I have like, my family is very close knit,
and I have an older brother, and my older brother
went to school not too far from Houston, Like really
you want to my brother.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Went to Prairie you right outside of Houston, forty five
minutes HBCU.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Right, correct, And you know, I just noticed that when
he went to Prayerview, he did not have he did
not seem to have the freedom that I was seeking.
I have a very close knit family. And I liked
Oklahoma because you know, you know, to go to prayer
of you from Houston. I mean, if you just jump
(02:40):
on to ninety or you know, you know there's something
backway him Staid highway or whatever. But you know, if
your family wants to come visit you in Oklahoma, you
know they have to come up forty five.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well, basically what you're saying, Jennifer, let's let's let's cut
the bus.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Let's cut it right to you said, if you partying,
partying now you don't have to worry about your mama
coming through the front door at midnight because you in Oklahoma, now,
pray have you you partying, you might have mama sitting
in the bed when you come through the door at
two a m.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That's what we all. That's what we're talking about.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Correct, Correct, And I yes, And I wanted something different.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yes, you know you waddling through this little story. I'm
gonna come on that. I've been.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I've been in college. I know about the good party.
I know if I came to the front door and
my daddy was sitting there at three am, and he
and my grades wasn't.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Doing so good. We gonna have a different conversation. We
might not be hit that school no more.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
But you know, but Scholeready, you know, you know the
inspiration behind that was what when you started scholar Ready.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
That's why I got you on the show.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I just wanted let everybody know, because you do our
online service, I want everybody to see your personality, that
your upbeat, that you open minded, because you're talking to
young people and you want to have a certain energy,
you want to have a certain personality, and I wanted
people to hear that about you before we started discussing
what scholar Ready is all about. Talk to us about
(04:09):
what scholar ready. First of all, why you started it
based on your own personal missteps?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
All right? I started it because I had gone to school,
and I from the time I was a junior in
high school the time to the time I was a
junior in college, I applied for over thirty scholarships and
my parents couldn't pay for me to go to school.
My family made too much money to qualify for need
based financial aid, but not enough to write a check.
Times too, because I have a twin sister to go
(04:38):
to college, and so I was able to get all
of my college cupboards because of largely because of my scholarships.
And what drove my scholarships are my test scoords, my
writing skills, and my incredible persistence. I'm incredibly persistent. And
I thought that I thought that what I I was normal.
(05:01):
I only graduated with a thousand dollars in student loans
and that was my plane tickets for non academic reasons,
and I, you know, I thought that what I did
was normal. And then I started talking to my friends
and I realized that they had a lot of loans,
and I asked them, why didn't you do Why didn't
you just apply for scholarships? And one of my friends
(05:23):
who was outstanding, like she had outstanding citizenships and all
these great things going for her, and she was like Jennifer.
I was just intimidated by the essays. So I started
scholerating and help students and right essays. Eventually that more
is to be helping students to prepare for p SAT,
SAT and ACT, and it morephed them to me helping
(05:43):
them with the math and with their reading. And I
just I started scholar reading because I wanted my students
to be able to have a degree. I think the
theme for me is like freedom. Like that's why I
went to Oklahoma because I wanted to be free. I
didn't want to be like so close. And I just
think there's just like a there's a great freedom that
one can have when not battled with student loans. And
(06:07):
I just that's what I want my students to experience,
that same thing, no matter what they do when they
when they graduate college. I want them to be able
to be free, free as possitible to pursue their drinks.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
The thing about it is that what really engages me is,
you know that's that debt and essay. I wasn't a
very good writer coming out of Hogh School. In fact,
and I can write at all. I have to take
remedial English when my freshmandia in college because I didn't qualify.
I had to go back and the individually, I became
a writer in Hollywood. So who would think that would
(06:39):
be my front story? But I think that when I
when I listen to you, what makes a good essay?
You know you said your friend was intimidating and other
people are intimidated about the process when you talk about
an essay, especially essays or scholarships what are some of
the tips that you work through these students work with
students who come on board with your scholar.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So the first thing I have my students do is
I have them to realize that they have something to
offer to a university. I have to talk. I tell them,
I say, you know, this is like dating. I was like,
you're picking your person, and your person is picking you.
So you're picking your college and your college is picking you.
So you have something to offer to the college. So
I always have them to start with what I want
(07:22):
a college to know about me? And I say, and
we need to write some things that aren't going to
be in your numbers. So in your test scores, your GPA,
your class rate, we don't want to Let's let's do
some things beyond what they see in the apple. Those
things are important, but they the colleges want to know
more about your personality. And that's the point of that
(07:44):
part of the application. It's the personality. And I have
them to write about like what you want what you
want a college to know about you? And then I
have them to tell a story about how that's the
thing about that. For example, I am curious and you
know I can tell a story about how I was
so curious about swimming that my one goal was, really
(08:08):
you just pull across an Olympic size pool, but I
wound up learning all four strokes and being like becoming
a distance swimmer and all that. Like, So I'm curious,
and that's I want you to be able to share
with this committee who you are. So we start with that.
We start with what you want to college to know
about them, or what I want to college to know
about me, or what I want a scholarship committee to
(08:30):
know about me. The second thing we do is we
get the prompt, the essay prompt, and we get the
We research the organization offering the admission or the or
the scholarship, for example, some like there are some there
are some organizations that will only offer scholarships to students
(08:54):
who attend school in Georgia, right, Okay, So that means
that when you write your say, you can't be telling
them about your dream to attend school in Hawaii, you know,
like why you know? So I mean it's certain things
like I mean, or if you're writing a scholarship for
(09:15):
you know, if you're applying for the for West Point,
like I have a couple of students who attend West Point.
And if you're writing an essay to get into West Point,
I mean you probably don't want to write an essay
about how you know the military is not good for America.
You probably don't want to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Right, right, And that's very true.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I know that my wife and I we have a
scholarship program at the University of Houston started in twenty nighteen,
and it's for you know, she has a degree in
optometry College of Autometry and my degree is in mathematics
or natural mathematics and science. And so that means that
you fly for our scholarship has to be STEM related.
So if you're Liberal arts over there or you want
(09:56):
to you know, in a non degree that doesn't associate yourself.
So you have to come to us with a pacific
degree path, I would say, and you have to be
attending the University of Houston to do it. So if
you want to go to not saying nothing that you
want to go to another school Riots or Texas Southern
or Saint Thomas, you can't apply for our scholarships.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
And those are the things you're saying.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Do your homework and also be nice to mention who
we are in this in the.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Application, absolutely absolutely, like demonstrate that, you know, because that's
going to give that person an edge. That that's that's
going to give you an edge, and that's going to
people love. Most people, their favorite topic is themselves. So
if you write an essay talking about the person who
founded the people who founded the program, then I mean,
(10:48):
that's sure to get the applicant brownie point.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
It's sure to do that to give brownie points in
my location.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I'm just let you, oh see, everyone applying to the
scholarship for Sean.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
And Sisly McDonald's scholarship at the University of Houston just
mentioned some nice things about it. But also you have
to have academic standards. You have to have a grade,
you have to be a you can't be a freshman.
So there's certain stipulations. So every scholarship application has stipulations,
and you can't be frustrated. But what I do know
that when you come to these college campuses, there are
a lot of scholarships on campus. You just have to
(11:27):
sift through them and make sure you apply. And you
said the right word be persistent, do not be afraid
of rejection. That is the number one thing that you said,
And that's the one thing that people need to understand.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
There will be rejection.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
You are not going to get every scholarship you applied for,
but that doesn't stop you from applying for every scholarship
you see.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Correct, that is correct, that's correct. People need to you know.
I try to tell my students, like, at this point
in your when you sit down in your for applications
or scholarship, I just want you to think about the
opportunities available to you. Don't start thinking about oh, well,
what if I don't get it and what you know?
This can think more about the opportunities available. Don't think
(12:13):
about oh the door is closed and now because I didn't,
you know, because kids were going this whole like doom loop,
and they'll get into this all the anxiety and they'll
start before you know, if they'll think that like if
they don't, if they don't do you know, they don't
dot their eyes across their teeth on every application they
think they're gonna like wind up. You don't have to
(12:35):
tell my fin blood no matter what happens here, whether
we're writing essays, preparing for exams, I'm like, look, you're
not going to wind up.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know when there's always opportunities that stay positive, you
can win and don't allow one rejection to define your opportunity.
And that's very important in the motivational strength. Now when
you come back, we're gonna talk. We're going to commercial
break when we come back for we just talked about
the essays. Now we're gonna get to the important part.
Those test scores. Those test scores. I'm gonna tell you something.
(13:07):
I was a horrible test taker. I made it into
college because I was in the top ten percent of
my class. That's the only reason I made it into college.
But my test score was an embarrassment. But if you
come to scholar ready, your child will not have embarrassing
test scores like Raean McDonald. When we get back, we're
gonna hear Jennifer tell you how she does it on
(13:28):
a regular basis and how she keeps doing it across
the country, not just in the Houston market. She handles
students from New York to Washington, d C. To Washington,
State of Washington to San Diego nationwide. We'll be right
back with more money making conversations with Jennifer Letwick.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
(14:10):
Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
My guest has a business degree from the University of Oklahoma.
She's the owner of scholar Ready, an educational services company.
She meets with clients online and a company scholar Ready
to just people nationwide, and math conducts personal essay writing
workshops prepare students for PSAT SAT and ACT exams. Jennifer,
(14:37):
when should a student or your or their child or
their children start really thinking about college and preparing for
college with these exams?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
So really when you start really preparing for the exams,
I would say junior year, junior really seriously preparing for
the exams and taking them seriously. Eleventh grade because eleventh
grade is when P. S A T counts for scholarships
for National merit, and then that gives the students some time,
(15:08):
you know, in the in the junior year and the
senior year to tighten up those scores because often what
we're seeing with these colleges, especially HBCUs. The the scholarship
money is first come, first served, and people want people
want to get those scores in. They want to have
those competitive scores in as early as they can. So
it's ideal to really start taking the test seriously eleventh grade.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So so for.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Your program, you would recommend taking your program the summer
before your junior year.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Correct correct correct correct correct.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
And so how would that work?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Tell us how that would work with the with the
platforms we were talking about the ACT and the SAT.
Before their junior year, we contact you and then what's
what happens?
Speaker 3 (15:55):
So before junior year, they contact me and we set
out of depending on what they want, ACT or SAT
eight to nine weeks or psat eight to nine weeks.
And what we do in that program is we help
to address the things that make people nervous about just
preparing for tests. You know, I think about the things
(16:16):
that parents tell me. So people say, oh, my student
is a bad test take up. So I think we
can all agree, especially since the honset of the pandemic
that students have all these gaps. And so what we're
doing in that eight weeks course is we're doing more
than just taking practice exams, because where people make mistakes
is they take practice exam as a practice exam as
(16:37):
a practice exam and nothing changes. And you can take
practice exams, that's fine, but you have to go in
there and build that foundation before you can really go
in there and take those tests. So that's something that
we do during those eight or nine weeks. Another thing
that we do is I train them in terms of
how to come up with different strategies. And I'll teach
(16:59):
them strategies, but usually what I'm looking for my students
to do is take a strategy and make it their own.
So if the strategy is correct, consistent, and they're comfortable
with it, we can go for it. Because so often
with these tests we have to teach some strategy. We
have to prepare them for how to take these tests,
because I mean, they're anxious. I think test anxiety is real,
(17:23):
and there are people who just really really just get
stuck when it's the idea of a test.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I'm telling you something, Jennifer, I just didn't know, you know,
let's go on. Just be honest about Rashan McDonald. I
can blame it on anxiety. I can blame it on.
When I sat down, I saw that piece of paper, went, boy,
you're not prepared.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
I set that room. I sat in that room. I
looked around.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Everybody else was busy except for John. I skipped around.
I realized, you can't skip around. You got to do
the You can't skip around. If you miss section, they're
not gonna count it. And so no, that's why I
just let people know, is that we can put a
lot of titles on these things, but preparation is the
(18:06):
key if you and that's why I brought you on
this show with skylerready and let people have an option.
My daughter, you know, she was preparing to be on
the WTA Dude Women's pro and she wanted to be
the next next next Serena Venus Williams, and she blew
it Onkneath at nineteen. She blew it out on me,
and so she had to suddenly take courses like this.
(18:31):
And I didn't know about Scholerady, otherwise would have had
her take scholerated. She had to go to these different
programs to get prepped for the test because in other words,
you know, you can take these SAT scores, But I
don't mean that like Georgia Tech has a certain requirement
for engineering, then the University of Houston and various schools
might say thirteen fifty to get in the engineering program.
(18:52):
Over here, they might say twelve to fifty or eleven hundred.
So that's why you have to realize what you're trying
to achieve can't be tied undermined by your SAT or
your test scores. That's why I have scholar already on here,
because if your child is ready and wants to pursue
an opportunity in the academic arena, whether there's a predominant
(19:15):
white institution or on HBCU, they have to be prepared.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
I went in there. I was unprepared, and the result
was horrible, horrible. I still remember that piece of paper.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It did not move, it did not change because I
did not know what to put on that piece of paper,
because I had no clue. And my teachers told me,
is Rishan, are you studying? Are you prepping? Are you understanding?
I went in there arrogantly thought I knew what was
going on, and I, like I always told you, I
took remedial English when I got to college, so you know,
(19:50):
I failed the English portion of the SAT, and so
I don't know what I did good on it, but
I knew certain sections I knew I had flat eyed failed.
So scholar Ready gets you ready. And that's why it's
important to unlock those opportunities and tell us everybody about
how does that online process work.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
With a student?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Okay, so what they're gonna So what you're gonna do
is you're gonna visit my website scholar ready dot com
is scholar ready and there's only one R in the middle,
and you'll be able to visit the site and look
for how to contact me and learn more about my programs.
And once you do that, we're gonna you know, you're
gonna indicate your interest. We're gonna have a brief conversation
(20:33):
about your expectations for your child, and then we'll talk
about my expectations for the class. Students need to come
to class, they need to do their homework. We do
not record our sessions because I want my students to
feel comfortable enough to not I want them to feel
comfortable enough to ask questions, and that's why I don't
record the sessions. But you need to come to class,
(20:53):
you need to do your homework, and then once they're
you know once they're Once we agree like I expectations matched,
then you're gonna pay and you can pay through you know,
we have online so we can pay through you know,
the online processing service. And then what you're gonna do
is and then we're gonna start class. I'm gonna send
you two books and the students will use those books
(21:17):
for class work and for homework and throughout the session
the way I am. I mean, I've done this for
twenty years, and there's no such thing as a dumb question.
I encourage my students to ask questions. If they feel
nervous about asking questions during class, they can stay after
to get help. I just and it, and a lot
(21:38):
of times I have my students explaining when we talk
about how they got the answer that they got, I
want them to explain. I have them explain to me
step by step, like how did you get that? Because if,
for example, with math, and you have a degree in math,
so you get this, you know with math, I want
you to explain every step to me because if you can,
(21:59):
if you can explain every said to me, that means
that you can do it well enough on the test.
Because I don't know how I don't know what the
level of difficulty is going to be on the exams.
I just know that if I get you set up
with the basics, then you can you can excel on
the test. And so it's a lot of back and
(22:19):
forth and very personal and interactive, and I have students
make in over and then they so then another, and
then once they finish at the end of the course,
we have a multi day test review where I will
sit with them and I will stay with them at
the test reviews, the test reviews in the evening, and
I stay and answer every question I say, until we
(22:42):
answer every question in that session, and then they go
take their exam and then they tell me what their
scores are. My last one of my students who took
the TSAK recently, his score went up two hundred points.
His PSAP score went up two hundred points.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
And that's the purpose of taking these early tests, like
I say, gaining confidence, being aware of what that format
looks like. And that's what through me. I didn't know
the format. I didn't know what I was walking into.
And no matter how smart I was or how good
I was in books, if I had a clear understanding,
I probably would have done better. And that's why when
(23:22):
I do this show, I try to be as honest
as possible as I can to my listeners. Just there's
a lot of success tied to my name that you
can google. But guess what, it didn't always start out
that way. I managed to go to college and I
got my degree. It took me seven years, so I'm
mature and understand what it takes to, you know, get
(23:43):
academically prepared to graduate from college. But you are preparing
students right now through your through I want to call
it a national program, Jennifer, because people from all over
the country can participate in your online program.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Correct, absolutely, absolutely, well, my.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Friend always we're fantastic. Tell everybody how to get to
your website as we close out the show.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
All right, so visit www dot scholar ready dot com.
So it's the word scholar and the word ready, just
one R in the middle and you can go there
and you can visit our contact us page. You can
look at our different services to learn about our upcoming classes,
and I'll be ready to receive you and your students.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Great. Thank you for coming on my show, Jennifer. We
talked to Okay, thank you to.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
This has been another edition of money Making Conversations Masterclass
hosted by me Rashaan McDonald. Thank you to our guest
on the show today and thank you our listening audience now.
If you want to listen to any episodes or want
to be a guest on the show, visit our website
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
(24:52):
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
your gifts.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Keep winning.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Master
Class posted by me Rushaun McDonald. Thank you to our
guests on the show today and thank you for listening
to audience now. If you want to listen to any
episode I want to be a guest on the show,
visit Moneymakingconversations dot com.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us
next week and remember to always leave with your gifts.
Keep winning.
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am Rashan McDonald, a host the weekly Money Making
Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this show
provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading other
people's success stories and start living your own. If you
want to be a guest on my show, please visit
our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and click the be a
Guest button. Press submit and information will come directly to me. Now,
(00:24):
let's get this show started. My guest has been on
my show before and I'm happy to have her back.
She has a business degree from the University of Oklahoma.
She is the owner of scholar Ready, the scholar Ready
and educational services company. She meets with clients online and
her company's scholar Ready tutors math conducts personal essay writing workshops,
(00:46):
and prepares students for psat SAT and ACT exam. Please welcome,
Please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass. Jennifer led with
how you doing, Jennifer, I'm.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Doing well over Sean. How are you doing today?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Sooner?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Huh?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
How did you I? You originally from Houston, Texas? Correct?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Correct all these colleges in Texas? Now, how did you
get up in Oklahoma. What made you go to the
Oklahoma state out of state tuition all that expensive stuff?
Why University of Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
You know, I had gone to school with the same
people for twelve years and I was over it, and
I knew the only one and it was I had
a friend I grew up with who was applying to
OU and her cousins had attended OU. And I looked
on a scholarship bulletin at my high school one time
(01:40):
and I saw a big scholarship that the university offered,
and I said, well, why don't I just apply and
see what happened? And that's and that's how I didn't
get that scholarship that I applied for, but I did
receive enough to lure me to UH to Oklahoma. And
(02:03):
so I have like, my family is very close knit,
and I have an older brother, and my older brother
went to school not too far from Houston, Like really
you want to my brother.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Went to Prairie you right outside of Houston, forty five
minutes HBCU.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Right, correct, And you know, I just noticed that when
he went to Prayerview, he did not have he did
not seem to have the freedom that I was seeking.
I have a very close knit family. And I liked
Oklahoma because you know, you know, to go to prayer
of you from Houston. I mean, if you just jump
(02:40):
on to ninety or you know, you know there's something
backway him Staid highway or whatever. But you know, if
your family wants to come visit you in Oklahoma, you
know they have to come up forty five.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well, basically what you're saying, Jennifer, let's let's let's cut
the bus.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Let's cut it right to you said, if you partying,
partying now you don't have to worry about your mama
coming through the front door at midnight because you in Oklahoma, now,
pray have you you partying, you might have mama sitting
in the bed when you come through the door at
two a m.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That's what we all. That's what we're talking about.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Correct, Correct, And I yes, And I wanted something different.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yes, you know you waddling through this little story. I'm
gonna come on that. I've been.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I've been in college. I know about the good party.
I know if I came to the front door and
my daddy was sitting there at three am, and he
and my grades wasn't.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Doing so good. We gonna have a different conversation. We
might not be hit that school no more.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
But you know, but Scholeready, you know, you know the
inspiration behind that was what when you started scholar Ready.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
That's why I got you on the show.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I just wanted let everybody know, because you do our
online service, I want everybody to see your personality, that
your upbeat, that you open minded, because you're talking to
young people and you want to have a certain energy,
you want to have a certain personality, and I wanted
people to hear that about you before we started discussing
what scholar Ready is all about. Talk to us about
(04:09):
what scholar ready. First of all, why you started it
based on your own personal missteps?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
All right? I started it because I had gone to school,
and I from the time I was a junior in
high school the time to the time I was a
junior in college, I applied for over thirty scholarships and
my parents couldn't pay for me to go to school.
My family made too much money to qualify for need
based financial aid, but not enough to write a check.
Times too, because I have a twin sister to go
(04:38):
to college, and so I was able to get all
of my college cupboards because of largely because of my scholarships.
And what drove my scholarships are my test scoords, my
writing skills, and my incredible persistence. I'm incredibly persistent. And
I thought that I thought that what I I was normal.
(05:01):
I only graduated with a thousand dollars in student loans
and that was my plane tickets for non academic reasons,
and I, you know, I thought that what I did
was normal. And then I started talking to my friends
and I realized that they had a lot of loans,
and I asked them, why didn't you do Why didn't
you just apply for scholarships? And one of my friends
(05:23):
who was outstanding, like she had outstanding citizenships and all
these great things going for her, and she was like Jennifer.
I was just intimidated by the essays. So I started
scholerating and help students and right essays. Eventually that more
is to be helping students to prepare for p SAT,
SAT and ACT, and it morephed them to me helping
(05:43):
them with the math and with their reading. And I
just I started scholar reading because I wanted my students
to be able to have a degree. I think the
theme for me is like freedom. Like that's why I
went to Oklahoma because I wanted to be free. I
didn't want to be like so close. And I just
think there's just like a there's a great freedom that
one can have when not battled with student loans. And
(06:07):
I just that's what I want my students to experience,
that same thing, no matter what they do when they
when they graduate college. I want them to be able
to be free, free as possitible to pursue their drinks.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
The thing about it is that what really engages me is,
you know that's that debt and essay. I wasn't a
very good writer coming out of Hogh School. In fact,
and I can write at all. I have to take
remedial English when my freshmandia in college because I didn't qualify.
I had to go back and the individually, I became
a writer in Hollywood. So who would think that would
(06:39):
be my front story? But I think that when I
when I listen to you, what makes a good essay?
You know you said your friend was intimidating and other
people are intimidated about the process when you talk about
an essay, especially essays or scholarships what are some of
the tips that you work through these students work with
students who come on board with your scholar.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So the first thing I have my students do is
I have them to realize that they have something to
offer to a university. I have to talk. I tell them,
I say, you know, this is like dating. I was like,
you're picking your person, and your person is picking you.
So you're picking your college and your college is picking you.
So you have something to offer to the college. So
I always have them to start with what I want
(07:22):
a college to know about me? And I say, and
we need to write some things that aren't going to
be in your numbers. So in your test scores, your GPA,
your class rate, we don't want to Let's let's do
some things beyond what they see in the apple. Those
things are important, but they the colleges want to know
more about your personality. And that's the point of that
(07:44):
part of the application. It's the personality. And I have
them to write about like what you want what you
want a college to know about you? And then I
have them to tell a story about how that's the
thing about that. For example, I am curious and you
know I can tell a story about how I was
so curious about swimming that my one goal was, really
(08:08):
you just pull across an Olympic size pool, but I
wound up learning all four strokes and being like becoming
a distance swimmer and all that. Like, So I'm curious,
and that's I want you to be able to share
with this committee who you are. So we start with that.
We start with what you want to college to know
about them, or what I want to college to know
about me, or what I want a scholarship committee to
(08:30):
know about me. The second thing we do is we
get the prompt, the essay prompt, and we get the
We research the organization offering the admission or the or
the scholarship, for example, some like there are some there
are some organizations that will only offer scholarships to students
(08:54):
who attend school in Georgia, right, Okay, So that means
that when you write your say, you can't be telling
them about your dream to attend school in Hawaii, you know,
like why you know? So I mean it's certain things
like I mean, or if you're writing a scholarship for
(09:15):
you know, if you're applying for the for West Point,
like I have a couple of students who attend West Point.
And if you're writing an essay to get into West Point,
I mean you probably don't want to write an essay
about how you know the military is not good for America.
You probably don't want to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Right, right, And that's very true.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I know that my wife and I we have a
scholarship program at the University of Houston started in twenty nighteen,
and it's for you know, she has a degree in
optometry College of Autometry and my degree is in mathematics
or natural mathematics and science. And so that means that
you fly for our scholarship has to be STEM related.
So if you're Liberal arts over there or you want
(09:56):
to you know, in a non degree that doesn't associate yourself.
So you have to come to us with a pacific
degree path, I would say, and you have to be
attending the University of Houston to do it. So if
you want to go to not saying nothing that you
want to go to another school Riots or Texas Southern
or Saint Thomas, you can't apply for our scholarships.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
And those are the things you're saying.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Do your homework and also be nice to mention who
we are in this in the.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Application, absolutely absolutely, like demonstrate that, you know, because that's
going to give that person an edge. That that's that's
going to give you an edge, and that's going to
people love. Most people, their favorite topic is themselves. So
if you write an essay talking about the person who
founded the people who founded the program, then I mean,
(10:48):
that's sure to get the applicant brownie point.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
It's sure to do that to give brownie points in
my location.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I'm just let you, oh see, everyone applying to the
scholarship for Sean.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
And Sisly McDonald's scholarship at the University of Houston just
mentioned some nice things about it. But also you have
to have academic standards. You have to have a grade,
you have to be a you can't be a freshman.
So there's certain stipulations. So every scholarship application has stipulations,
and you can't be frustrated. But what I do know
that when you come to these college campuses, there are
a lot of scholarships on campus. You just have to
(11:27):
sift through them and make sure you apply. And you
said the right word be persistent, do not be afraid
of rejection. That is the number one thing that you said,
And that's the one thing that people need to understand.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
There will be rejection.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
You are not going to get every scholarship you applied for,
but that doesn't stop you from applying for every scholarship
you see.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Correct, that is correct, that's correct. People need to you know.
I try to tell my students, like, at this point
in your when you sit down in your for applications
or scholarship, I just want you to think about the
opportunities available to you. Don't start thinking about oh, well,
what if I don't get it and what you know?
This can think more about the opportunities available. Don't think
(12:13):
about oh the door is closed and now because I didn't,
you know, because kids were going this whole like doom loop,
and they'll get into this all the anxiety and they'll
start before you know, if they'll think that like if
they don't, if they don't do you know, they don't
dot their eyes across their teeth on every application they
think they're gonna like wind up. You don't have to
(12:35):
tell my fin blood no matter what happens here, whether
we're writing essays, preparing for exams, I'm like, look, you're
not going to wind up.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know when there's always opportunities that stay positive, you
can win and don't allow one rejection to define your opportunity.
And that's very important in the motivational strength. Now when
you come back, we're gonna talk. We're going to commercial
break when we come back for we just talked about
the essays. Now we're gonna get to the important part.
Those test scores. Those test scores. I'm gonna tell you something.
(13:07):
I was a horrible test taker. I made it into
college because I was in the top ten percent of
my class. That's the only reason I made it into college.
But my test score was an embarrassment. But if you
come to scholar ready, your child will not have embarrassing
test scores like Raean McDonald. When we get back, we're
gonna hear Jennifer tell you how she does it on
(13:28):
a regular basis and how she keeps doing it across
the country, not just in the Houston market. She handles
students from New York to Washington, d C. To Washington,
State of Washington to San Diego nationwide. We'll be right
back with more money making conversations with Jennifer Letwick.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
(14:10):
Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
My guest has a business degree from the University of Oklahoma.
She's the owner of scholar Ready, an educational services company.
She meets with clients online and a company scholar Ready
to just people nationwide, and math conducts personal essay writing
workshops prepare students for PSAT SAT and ACT exams. Jennifer,
(14:37):
when should a student or your or their child or
their children start really thinking about college and preparing for
college with these exams?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
So really when you start really preparing for the exams,
I would say junior year, junior really seriously preparing for
the exams and taking them seriously. Eleventh grade because eleventh
grade is when P. S A T counts for scholarships
for National merit, and then that gives the students some time,
(15:08):
you know, in the in the junior year and the
senior year to tighten up those scores because often what
we're seeing with these colleges, especially HBCUs. The the scholarship
money is first come, first served, and people want people
want to get those scores in. They want to have
those competitive scores in as early as they can. So
it's ideal to really start taking the test seriously eleventh grade.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So so for.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Your program, you would recommend taking your program the summer
before your junior year.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Correct correct correct correct correct.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
And so how would that work?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Tell us how that would work with the with the
platforms we were talking about the ACT and the SAT.
Before their junior year, we contact you and then what's
what happens?
Speaker 3 (15:55):
So before junior year, they contact me and we set
out of depending on what they want, ACT or SAT
eight to nine weeks or psat eight to nine weeks.
And what we do in that program is we help
to address the things that make people nervous about just
preparing for tests. You know, I think about the things
(16:16):
that parents tell me. So people say, oh, my student
is a bad test take up. So I think we
can all agree, especially since the honset of the pandemic
that students have all these gaps. And so what we're
doing in that eight weeks course is we're doing more
than just taking practice exams, because where people make mistakes
is they take practice exam as a practice exam as
(16:37):
a practice exam and nothing changes. And you can take
practice exams, that's fine, but you have to go in
there and build that foundation before you can really go
in there and take those tests. So that's something that
we do during those eight or nine weeks. Another thing
that we do is I train them in terms of
how to come up with different strategies. And I'll teach
(16:59):
them strategies, but usually what I'm looking for my students
to do is take a strategy and make it their own.
So if the strategy is correct, consistent, and they're comfortable
with it, we can go for it. Because so often
with these tests we have to teach some strategy. We
have to prepare them for how to take these tests,
because I mean, they're anxious. I think test anxiety is real,
(17:23):
and there are people who just really really just get
stuck when it's the idea of a test.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I'm telling you something, Jennifer, I just didn't know, you know,
let's go on. Just be honest about Rashan McDonald. I
can blame it on anxiety. I can blame it on.
When I sat down, I saw that piece of paper, went, boy,
you're not prepared.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
I set that room. I sat in that room. I
looked around.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Everybody else was busy except for John. I skipped around.
I realized, you can't skip around. You got to do
the You can't skip around. If you miss section, they're
not gonna count it. And so no, that's why I
just let people know, is that we can put a
lot of titles on these things, but preparation is the
(18:06):
key if you and that's why I brought you on
this show with skylerready and let people have an option.
My daughter, you know, she was preparing to be on
the WTA Dude Women's pro and she wanted to be
the next next next Serena Venus Williams, and she blew
it Onkneath at nineteen. She blew it out on me,
and so she had to suddenly take courses like this.
(18:31):
And I didn't know about Scholerady, otherwise would have had
her take scholerated. She had to go to these different
programs to get prepped for the test because in other words,
you know, you can take these SAT scores, But I
don't mean that like Georgia Tech has a certain requirement
for engineering, then the University of Houston and various schools
might say thirteen fifty to get in the engineering program.
(18:52):
Over here, they might say twelve to fifty or eleven hundred.
So that's why you have to realize what you're trying
to achieve can't be tied undermined by your SAT or
your test scores. That's why I have scholar already on here,
because if your child is ready and wants to pursue
an opportunity in the academic arena, whether there's a predominant
(19:15):
white institution or on HBCU, they have to be prepared.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
I went in there. I was unprepared, and the result
was horrible, horrible. I still remember that piece of paper.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It did not move, it did not change because I
did not know what to put on that piece of paper,
because I had no clue. And my teachers told me,
is Rishan, are you studying? Are you prepping? Are you understanding?
I went in there arrogantly thought I knew what was
going on, and I, like I always told you, I
took remedial English when I got to college, so you know,
(19:50):
I failed the English portion of the SAT, and so
I don't know what I did good on it, but
I knew certain sections I knew I had flat eyed failed.
So scholar Ready gets you ready. And that's why it's
important to unlock those opportunities and tell us everybody about
how does that online process work.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
With a student?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Okay, so what they're gonna So what you're gonna do
is you're gonna visit my website scholar ready dot com
is scholar ready and there's only one R in the middle,
and you'll be able to visit the site and look
for how to contact me and learn more about my programs.
And once you do that, we're gonna you know, you're
gonna indicate your interest. We're gonna have a brief conversation
(20:33):
about your expectations for your child, and then we'll talk
about my expectations for the class. Students need to come
to class, they need to do their homework. We do
not record our sessions because I want my students to
feel comfortable enough to not I want them to feel
comfortable enough to ask questions, and that's why I don't
record the sessions. But you need to come to class,
(20:53):
you need to do your homework, and then once they're
you know once they're Once we agree like I expectations matched,
then you're gonna pay and you can pay through you know,
we have online so we can pay through you know,
the online processing service. And then what you're gonna do
is and then we're gonna start class. I'm gonna send
you two books and the students will use those books
(21:17):
for class work and for homework and throughout the session
the way I am. I mean, I've done this for
twenty years, and there's no such thing as a dumb question.
I encourage my students to ask questions. If they feel
nervous about asking questions during class, they can stay after
to get help. I just and it, and a lot
(21:38):
of times I have my students explaining when we talk
about how they got the answer that they got, I
want them to explain. I have them explain to me
step by step, like how did you get that? Because if,
for example, with math, and you have a degree in math,
so you get this, you know with math, I want
you to explain every step to me because if you can,
(21:59):
if you can explain every said to me, that means
that you can do it well enough on the test.
Because I don't know how I don't know what the
level of difficulty is going to be on the exams.
I just know that if I get you set up
with the basics, then you can you can excel on
the test. And so it's a lot of back and
(22:19):
forth and very personal and interactive, and I have students
make in over and then they so then another, and
then once they finish at the end of the course,
we have a multi day test review where I will
sit with them and I will stay with them at
the test reviews, the test reviews in the evening, and
I stay and answer every question I say, until we
(22:42):
answer every question in that session, and then they go
take their exam and then they tell me what their
scores are. My last one of my students who took
the TSAK recently, his score went up two hundred points.
His PSAP score went up two hundred points.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
And that's the purpose of taking these early tests, like
I say, gaining confidence, being aware of what that format
looks like. And that's what through me. I didn't know
the format. I didn't know what I was walking into.
And no matter how smart I was or how good
I was in books, if I had a clear understanding,
I probably would have done better. And that's why when
(23:22):
I do this show, I try to be as honest
as possible as I can to my listeners. Just there's
a lot of success tied to my name that you
can google. But guess what, it didn't always start out
that way. I managed to go to college and I
got my degree. It took me seven years, so I'm
mature and understand what it takes to, you know, get
(23:43):
academically prepared to graduate from college. But you are preparing
students right now through your through I want to call
it a national program, Jennifer, because people from all over
the country can participate in your online program.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Correct, absolutely, absolutely, well, my.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Friend always we're fantastic. Tell everybody how to get to
your website as we close out the show.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
All right, so visit www dot scholar ready dot com.
So it's the word scholar and the word ready, just
one R in the middle and you can go there
and you can visit our contact us page. You can
look at our different services to learn about our upcoming classes,
and I'll be ready to receive you and your students.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Great. Thank you for coming on my show, Jennifer. We
talked to Okay, thank you to.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
This has been another edition of money Making Conversations Masterclass
hosted by me Rashaan McDonald. Thank you to our guest
on the show today and thank you our listening audience now.
If you want to listen to any episodes or want
to be a guest on the show, visit our website
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
(24:52):
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
your gifts.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Keep winning.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Master
Class posted by me Rushaun McDonald. Thank you to our
guests on the show today and thank you for listening
to audience now. If you want to listen to any
episode I want to be a guest on the show,
visit Moneymakingconversations dot com.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us
next week and remember to always leave with your gifts.
Keep winning.
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