Are you planning for college like it's still 2005?

Remember when college applications meant taking the SAT and waiting for brochures to arrive in your mailbox? That world is long gone. Today's college admissions landscape has transformed into something barely recognizable to those of us who went through it decades ago.

Shaquita Basileo, a seasoned college admissions coach and proud graduate of Florida A&M University and Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, pulls back the curtain on what's really happening in college admissions today. With the timeline shifting dramatically earlier—applications now happening at the end of junior year rather than senior year—families need to start planning for college as early as freshman year. Even those reliable state schools that were once considered "safety schools" have become fiercely competitive.

The heart of a successful application today? A compelling story. "Your application needs to tell a story," Shaquita emphasizes. This narrative connects the dots between a student's experiences, interests, and future goals in a way that demonstrates genuine passion and commitment. Admissions officers, overwhelmed with applications, often only have time to read the first paragraph of an essay—making a powerful, coherent narrative essential for standing out.

For parents worried their teen hasn't found their passion yet, Shaquita offers practical advice on sparking interest and building a compelling application regardless. She also tackles tough questions: Is college still worth the investment? (Yes, but with a strategic plan.) Why are HBCUs becoming more competitive? (They're proving their value and creating supportive environments.) What additional considerations should families with disabled students keep in mind? (Start early and learn about available accommodations.)

Whether your teen is approaching college age or you're planning years ahead, this episode provides the insider knowledge you need to navigate this new landscape successfully. Subscribe, share with other parents, and start reimagining your approach to college admissions today. The landscape has changed—and now you're equipped to change with it.

What's your question?

For links and the transcript, visit wokehomeschooling.com/podcast

Episode Transcript

Delina (00:00):
Are your teens thinking about college?
Are you thinking about how yourkids will navigate the college
admissions road?
Welcome to Homeschool Yourself.
I'm your host, delena.
If there's one thing that'schanged in the world since I was
a teen, well, besidessmartphones, the internet and,
okay, everything but seriouslygetting into college, I had no

(00:21):
idea how much it changed.
There's been a world of changein this.
There's been a world of change,and this is an area where those
of us with teens need tohomeschool ourselves.
If your teen's future includescollege, this is an area where
we have to learn a lot, and,guys, it's a lot.
I invited a college admissionscoach to talk to us about

(00:45):
everything that's different incollege admissions and
everything that we need to bethinking about in order to coach
our kids into college.
Take a listen.
There's valuable informationhere.
Hi Shakita, welcome toHomeschool Yourself.
I would love it if you wouldintroduce yourself.
Welcome to.

Shaquita (01:05):
Homeschool Yourself.
I would love it if you wouldintroduce yourself.
Hi, I am Shaquita Basilio.
I am a tutor, educator andcollege admissions coach.
I am a proud graduate ofFlorida A&M University and
Stanford University's GraduateSchool of Business.
I've had about 10 years ofexperience doing admissions

(01:27):
consulting and support.
I started out doing graduateschool business school
admissions consulting, which wasa paid gig, and now I work to
support families,underrepresented minorities and
young people in their quest tobe accepted to the college in

(01:48):
their dreams.

Delina (01:51):
Awesome, I love that.
Now tell me now, way back when,in the 1900s, when we went to
college, like the landscape haschanged dramatically.
So tell me what?
What are some of the thingsthat, um, people our age, maybe
they didn't go to college, ormaybe they went to college way

(02:11):
back when we did some.
What are some of the ways that,um, they're going to find this,
this space, different than they?

Shaquita (02:21):
Completely different, yeah, so, yes, ours was so
simple, right, we went, we tookthe SAT, the ACT or the PSAT.
Um, and then all of a sudden,brochures just showed up at our
house and we picked the one thatlooked like it was in the warm
climate and said that's whereI'm going to school, right?
Um, and it was pretty, prettysimple and straightforward, and
now it is far more competitive.

(02:42):
Um, you know, we, when we applyfor school, we apply primarily
senior year.
I remember it was December,january, when I was submitting
college applications.
Now, admissions happen earlierin, earlier in the cycle End of
junior year, that summer,between junior and senior year,
and, truthfully, by the time youget to November, you're almost

(03:04):
too late.
The state schools that used tobe, you know, the most reliable
schools, where you know that wasyour backup plan, right, those
are now truly competitive andthere's several reasons for that
.
The first one that comes to mymind is scholarship offerings.
So you have states likeLouisiana and Georgia and

(03:27):
Florida who have really madesome efforts to keep their
talent in state and not losethem, right?
So they say you know, oh, youget a 21 or 22 or 23 on your ACT
or you know a certain score onyour SAT and you're guaranteed
in-state tuition coverage, andso there's no reason for those

(03:50):
students to leave.
But now all those students arecompeting for the state schools
and that's really changed thegame.
The other thing is that thePotter scholarship money is
smaller and it goes sooner andit goes truly early, and the
best example I give for that ismy own alma mater and when I

(04:11):
went to FAMU I got myscholarship at school.
Actually, I wasn't even atschool the day I was given my
scholarship.
My guidance counselor put myname in a pot and I was one of
the students who met therequirements for GPA and SAT to
get a full ride to FAMU.
Now I would not qualify forthat scholarship.

(04:31):
The GPA requirement hasincreased so I would not be
eligible.
There's that.
But also I had a young lady whowas really interested in going
to FAMU and I called inSeptember thinking we're plenty
early for her to get scholarshipmoney and the woman in

(04:52):
admissions told me she needs tobe accepted to the university by
mid-October in order to beconsidered for scholarships.
That was accepted, not applyingaccepted, and so we have to
shift our mindset thatadmissions does not happen
during your senior year and, intruth, preparing for college

(05:13):
admissions starts freshman yearof college and we need to be
ready to go yes, I'm sorry, highschool.
Yes, we need to be ready to goat the end of junior year that
we're submitting applications,essays are drafted,
recommendations are in hand.
It is truly, the timeline hastruly shifted and the

(05:35):
competitive nature of the stateschools is very different now
than what we're used to.

Delina (05:40):
Wow, I'm going to try not to have a panic attack
during this interview because myson is a junior and, yes, I'm
just going to take it slow, takedeep breaths.
Yeah, so competitiveness andthe timeline has shifted.
And what about this landscape?

(06:04):
I keep saying landscape, butthis, this industry that has
cropped up around collegeadmissions.

Shaquita (06:11):
Yeah, so as parents have become busier, as we're
already stressed, right, youjust mentioned that Try not to
have a panic attack, right?

Announcer (06:20):
We've all the other things that are already on our
plates.

Shaquita (06:24):
This field of college admissions consulting has become
more prominent, kind of seizingon that opportunity to take the
work off the plate of parentsand families to be able to guide
them through this process.
That's a little bit rougher andmore difficult than what we
remember or know about, and sothere are there, and there, to

(06:47):
be very honest, there'sdifferent ways that college
admissions consultants andguidance pops up.
And the other thing I want toadd to that too is the other
reason is that where I mentionedmy guidance counselor was the
one who got my scholarship forme and helped me we have a
shortage of guidance counselorsin the schools.
Right, and they are stilldealing with post COVID trauma

(07:10):
and the trauma that was alreadythere.
Right, they're still trying tohelp students just graduate
through high school or get kidsfed or deal with mental health
challenges that they don't havethe capacity to be able to give
students the college guidancethat we used to be able to get
to back in, back in, you know, along time ago.
And so this, these collegeadmissions- time ago wait, wait,

(07:35):
wait.
Right, we were writing ourapplications on rock, so these
admissions consultants.
They kind of popped up to fillthe void for families and they
show up in different ways.
There are paid consultants whoyou can expect to pay about
$10,000 to be able to guide yourchild through crafting essays,

(07:59):
determining who's the rightperson for their recommendations
, creating their list ofactivities or their resume,
prepping them for interviews,and so that's where you've seen
them kind of try to fill in thatvoid.
But there's other ways to getsupport that don't have to look
like $10,000, right.
So there are some other places,there are some consulting groups

(08:23):
that will do, you know, justhave like a Facebook private
group where you may pay a smallfee to get in and get that
access or get some structurearound your college admissions
process but also connect toother parents.
And then let's not forget thatthere are free communities that
are on Facebook.
I know there's one that's HBCUScholarships and that's a great

(08:45):
parent community where it's freeand sometimes you just
listening to other parents orseeing what other parents are
going through and students areexperiencing the schools that
they are having you know greatcontact with, or schools that
are non-responsive.
That's helping you be able tobuild kind of that information
find out about.
You know admissions fair,college admissions fairs, or you

(09:07):
know virtual events or evenlocal events to get more
information about schools.
So it truly is an informationgathering experience trying to
get ready for college now,rather than you know you just
waiting for brochures to show upat your door, because that
doesn't happen anymore, ratherthan you know you just waiting
for brochures to show up at yourdoor, because that doesn't
happen anymore.

Delina (09:27):
Wow, wow.
So what do you think makes astrong application?

Shaquita (09:38):
So this is this is my strongest word, for this is a
story, a story, a story.
Yes, your application needs totell a story.
When I say that, I mean thedots need to connect.
So I have one student I alwaystalk about.
I won't say her name, but shewas accepted to.

(09:58):
I wouldn't even say it was aschool of her dreams.
It was a school that she didn'teven, it wasn't even on her
radar, that she didn't eventhink was something she could
achieve.
And I think about how her storymade sense.
So she suffered anxiety whenshe was making the transition
between middle and high schooland her family got her a therapy

(10:21):
dog and this dog was, I mean,she would take this, the dog
came to school, but sit in thishigh school that I taught in.
The school would come.
The dog would come, I'm sorryto school, lay next to her,
spend the day with her, and itwas such a life-changing
experience for her that shedecided to go train therapy dogs

(10:42):
for other people.
And so when you and then whenshe started thinking about going
to school and what am I goingto school for?
You know, I'm thinking aboutmental health and how I support
people and what I can do downthe road.
So you take these dots and youconnect them.
You know what am I?
I don't just choose out of thethin air that I'm going to go,

(11:04):
you know, major in.
I don't know environmentalscience just because it sounds
cool, or it looks cool, or oh, Ilike animals.
It's a different thing to beable to say you know, I've spent
my summers caring for animalsat our local zoo.
You know I've already put inthe effort and the time and
making that connection to anadmissions counselor that I'm

(11:25):
truly passionate about what Iwant to do.
There's two things I think aboutwhen I think about why a story
is so important.
One college admissions staffhave to hold certain numbers,
right.
They have to admit students whoare going to finish, they may,
they want the money.

(11:46):
Right, they the, the, the moneyis.
You know, you're going to come,you're going to write a check,
you're going to do all that.
But the end of the day, what'smy graduation rate, what's my
retention rate?
Right.
And so if I'm just acceptingstudents who are coming because
mom and dad said I had to gobecause it looked cool, because
my girlfriend is coming to, youknow, university of Texas or
University of Florida oh, it'swarm here.

(12:07):
I want to get away from home.
That doesn't signal to me thatyou are passionate about your
education, that you're going toput in the extra work when it
gets tough.
When you tell me I've beendedicating the last two to three
years of my life for a certainexperience or a certain you know
goal, then that says to meyou're going to come, you're

(12:29):
going to do the work, you'regoing to contribute to my
community.
Because it's not just this isI'm not just giving you a degree
right, I need you to come and Ineed you to connect with
faculty and make my school lookgreat by awards and honors and
going out and speaking atconferences.
And then, as an alum, who'sgoing to give back?
Right, because they're not justlooking at the four years of
dollars you're giving them, youknow, for the degree, you're

(12:51):
going to be a successful alumand you're going to give back.
That's the very first thing Ithink about with why that story
is so important.
The second thing I think aboutis we talked about how
competitive the landscape is andhow many students are applying
to these schools.
So that's the other thing.
Right, you've got this huge.
You got more students applyingto school.
You've got, um, you know, alarger population, right, and

(13:13):
you have students that areinternational, that are coming
in, that can apply to ourschools.
I remember when I was in um ingrad school, there was uh, one
of the admissions people Nowthis was a grad school there was
, uh, one of the admissionspeople now this was a grad
school, but, um, bear with me,he was.
He was leaving to go home andhe had one of those rolly
suitcases, like the carry-onsuitcase, and he's like walking

(13:35):
to the elevator and I'm like,hey, you know, I was like are
you?
You know what's all that like,are you going on a trip?
And he said, no, these areapplications.
I take this home with me andI've got to get through these
applications.
You know, it's a short period oftime, right, and I'm thinking
he is not reading all thattonight.
He's gonna read them, right, heis not.

(13:56):
He is not getting through allthat.
What he might get through isthe first paragraph, and if that
first paragraph and that firstpiece of application is not
capturing him, that applicationis going to the side and it's
done, right, and so we can'tjust put out these little
applications like we used to do,you know.
So it has to have.

(14:18):
It has to have a story ofinitiative, of leadership, of
passion, of who am I and thatI'm going to come to your school
, I'm going to have atransformative experience and
I'm going to contribute back tothis school in some way and I'm

(14:40):
going to be successful.
That's what a strong collegeapplication looks like, in my
opinion.

Delina (14:46):
Wow, Wow.
But okay, I'm going to say whatI think many parents of teens
might be thinking my child is ateen and they're not passionate
about much.

Announcer (15:01):
Tell the truth or they're not.

Delina (15:02):
You know they're're not gonna have like three years of.
You know, I volunteered herebecause this specific I mean
it's hard enough to say, okay,choose a major think about what
career you might want to have inthe next 10 20 years so what do
?

Shaquita (15:20):
we do, so you, you say it as if I'm not.
I'm not in the choir with you,right?
I'm over here with my sophomoredaughter in the same bucket,
who doesn't even want to thinkabout college, right?
And the one thing I want to say, though, is don't panic, and
it's not too late, right?
So there's a, there's a fewdifferent things that I suggest.

(15:41):
You know, I think, trying towork to get them excited in the,
in the, in the subtle ways.
We've had to do that, right.
We had to do that withvegetables.
We've had to do that with, youknow, getting your homework done
all those things.
So I think there are ways to getthem excited about the
possibility of school and thenand I think some of that comes
with connecting them to studentsalready so that they can see

(16:05):
like, oh, this is what you know,oh, this is what you did when
you applied and you know thingslike that.
So for me it's visitingcampuses, meeting students that
come when they come back fromcollege, things like that, to
try to kind of build up that,that interest and desire.
It's not too late, you know.
I think that you can craft astory.
It's going to take a little bitand it may take some deep

(16:27):
digging on both the parent andteens part to say you know what?
There is a little bit of threadhere.
You know you've done, you'vedone this sport or this activity
.
What made you do that sport oractivity Can?
Is this something you can dowhen you get to this, to get to
college intramural orprofessional, you know whatever
NCAA, whatever um to make thoseconnections and and try to build

(16:49):
that story.
But there's also other things,like there are schools that
don't.
You know they aren't aspassionate about that.
It may be looking at some ofthe smaller schools that aren't
necessarily on um everybody'sradar.
You know, maybe it's not.
You know, um, I don't know.
Maybe it's not.
You know, I don't know, maybeit's not UT Austin, it's.
You know, ut in a smaller placeor somewhere like that, where

(17:10):
you're going to get just asgreat education but it's not
going to be as competitive.
But I also say this let theschool tell you no, you know,
even though your student may notfeel like I can get into that
school, still apply.
You know the application feesthey can add up.
You know you have to be mindfulof that.
There's ways to get waivers.
But let the school tell yourchild no, don't take that

(17:33):
opportunity away from thembecause you don't think that
their package is strong enoughor take the time to bolster it
up.
You know there are there's aton of pre-summer programs
available for students atcolleges that they can
experience and also may helpbuild up their interest.
I know we did one this pastsummer for writing for my

(17:55):
daughter and now all of a suddenshe keeps mentioning that
school.
You know that school.
So it's not the school Inecessarily wanted her to think
about, but she's at leasttalking a little bit about
college.
So there's ways like that.
You know, if you can get liketo get them connected into
something that's happening on acollege campus, we're not going
to be the ones to convince themcompletely.

(18:16):
I think you know, like I said,you use those subtle kind of
resources around you to get themto kind of build their interest
and then trigger that oh, Ineed to start doing these things
.

Delina (18:29):
so that I have a strong college application.
That's good advice.
That's good advice Now, if youneed someone to.
You mentioned $10,000 before,but if you need someone, to help
you with essays.
Do you recommend that?
Do you recommend like someonewho helps your student craft
these essays and craft the story?

Shaquita (18:48):
That's not my first recommendation, no, um, so there
are.
So, first off, let's say we arewe.
We are very fortunate that weare in the age of the internet.
There are a ton.
Don't do that y'all.
But there are resources onlineto help with like crafting the

(19:12):
crafting essays.
That's just a Google search.
You know college essay supportor recommendations or things
like that.
There's one.
I follow the college essay guy.
I think he's got some prettygood tips and tricks about how
to write college applications.
I think that you get connectedto those free groups.

(19:33):
I mentioned the HBCU parentcommunity.
There's the Common BlackCollege app has a parent
community.
That's also on Facebook.
I think there's that.
I do small groups of studentstogether and there are a few of
us out there who do that, who dothose small groups less
expensive options where we'rejust bringing together kids to

(19:57):
be able to connect with oneanother, to support each other
through the journey and learnfrom each other.
Maybe you visited FAMU andmaybe you visited Georgia Tech
or something and maybe we cantalk about it.
What did you see?
What did you experience?
But I don't think that the$10,000 route is the way to go.
First, I think.
I think that the students whoneed the greatest support and

(20:19):
help really aren't in a positionto pay $10,000.
Right, that's not what we'retrying to just pay for tuition,
you know.
We're trying to save up forthat.
So, to the extent that we canuse free resources, they are out
there.
Grab a book, grab, you know.
Get together with a group ofparents that you can sit down
and support and help each otherthrough the process.
What have you heard?

(20:39):
What have you learned?
You know, I don't think thatthat needs to be the way to go.
Local sororities actually, oneof the local sororities here
does college admission supportand help with guiding kids
through the process, and so youcan reach out to them.
Do you have a group?
Do you have, you know, a youngmentor group that you do to be
able to help students throughthe college application process?

(21:00):
There's definitely otherresources that we can use for
that.

Delina (21:05):
Yes, that's good to know .
So do you still think collegeis so expensive?
Do you still think it's a goodinvestment?

Shaquita (21:12):
You know I have toyed with this question myself over
the last couple of years.
As I look at, the tuition ratesrise.
I think, yes, with a plan,that's my stance on it and what
that means is that we don't getto just go to college to explore

(21:37):
anymore.
And I say that as I'm not surethat for you know, black, brown
families, that that was ever anoption to just go and explore.
But it's most certainly not anoption now.
You know, when I look at collegetuitions in state where I live,
the state school the tuition is$11,000 a year.

(22:01):
The state school, the tuitionis $11,000 a year, and then
that's not counting.
You know, room and board,getting them home from school,
things like that.
And I don't think that we havethe luxury to go to college and
just say I'm just going tochoose a major, you know my
junior year or my, you know atsome other point, because and

(22:21):
just learn right, I think youreally do need to say what am I
going to school for?
Am I going for a, you know, amajor that is going to be
lucrative on the end.
So you know, am I going toschool for psychology or
literature?
Like that's not really anoption, right?

Announcer (22:39):
Art history right.

Shaquita (22:40):
What's the plan here?
Yep, you need to getinternships.
You cannot go and just chill inthe summer.
That's not an option.
One of the things I think oneof the biggest mistakes we make
is telling students that acollege degree is enough.
In truth, you still need workexperience, right, and you need
work experience in your field.
You going, coming home andworking at Old Navy in the

(23:02):
summer that's not going to cutit, right, unless that's what
you're going to do, right, butthat's not.
That's not ideal.
You need to be.
You know.
Your hustle needs to start withthose summer internships, all
four or all three summers,however many you're there.
Right, you need to get, youneed to have a plan.
You know, on average, we'restill in a place where people

(23:26):
who have a college degree willearn more on average, right, but
that amount I think it's about160,000, but that's over the
lifetime, right?
So that amount is reallystarting to narrow over the
lifetime, right?
So that amount is reallystarting to narrow.
I don't think it's about thefinancial return on investment.
I think it's about the options.

(23:47):
I think a college degree stillgives you options that someone
who doesn't have one doesn'thave.
I think about things like, youknow federal government jobs.
They still require a bachelor'sdegree.
It doesn't matter what thatbachelor's degree is in, but
they require it.
Are you going to go back andget one?
Is it harder for you to get oneas an adult, when you probably

(24:09):
started a family or somethinglike that?
Even substitute teaching in alot of states requires having a
bachelor's degree.
So can you you even at you know, when you, you know, when we're
starting to think about havingneeding flexibility because you
started a family, do you havethe option of even being able to
do something like that?
I think there's still a level ofcredibility that a college

(24:32):
degree offers that says I canlearn, because that's truthfully
, all it comes down to, right isI am capable of learning
information and being able touse it.
I think a college degree givesyou a network that, to be honest
, a lot of us don't have, youknow, before we get to that

(24:54):
point.
So it does give us aprofessional network In a lot of
ways, though I don't think it'senough.
I think that for a lot offamilies, a college degree is
the first step and then thegraduate degree is a necessity
for most fields, right, and so Ithink, when I think about

(25:14):
whether or not, from a financialperspective, it's a good
investment.
I think you need to gun forscholarships for undergrad to
make it worthwhile, because youare likely going to need to go
to grad school.
That's the way I think about itwhen I think about return on
investment.
The one place, though, that Iwill say that I am seeing where

(25:34):
I am starting to see and feelmore of a waste of dollars is
how you go to school.
So, living on campus, you knowwe, we've often said like, oh,
you want to go live on campus.
So you get to, you know you,you become an adult and have to
do things on your own, andthings like that.
Living on campus, that's thepiece that nobody is really
talking about.
It's insanely expensive.

(25:56):
So, again, I go back to mystate $11,000 and say listen.

Delina (26:04):
I need them to go spread their wings, OK they do need to
spread their wings.

Shaquita (26:09):
So here's another thing I'm seeing and I've seen
this with families who arethinking a little bit more are
thinking like forward thought,thinking about how they go away
in a way that's more lucrative.
So things like do you, shouldyou buy a property rather than
wasting money on a dorm?
Does it make sense to get asmall condo where they can rent

(26:30):
out other rooms to somebody else?
That, to me, is where I'mseeing a lot of waste is how are
you going to school and then,and, and you know, are you
throwing away dollars withthings like that and then not
being smart about how you know?
Are you throwing away dollarswith things like that and then
not being smart about how I'mcoming home or when I'm coming
home?
That's the wasteful piece.
So we, we, we need to budgetcollege in the way that we

(26:52):
budget the rest of our lives andthat's the way I think that we
keep that, that we achieve kindof that return on investment.
But college itself, yes, with aplan achieve kind of that
return on investment.

Delina (27:05):
But college itself, yes, with a plan, hbcus are becoming
more and more competitive.

Shaquita (27:10):
Why do you think that is?
I'm so glad, I'm so glad, I'mglad, I'm not glad.
Actually, I'll take a littlebit of that back.
I'm going to say why in aminute.
The one thing that makes meunhappy about it I think we are
recognizing that we need thatspace, that as Black people, we
need to be together and we needto grow from one another, that

(27:34):
we are brilliant, we areexcelling, we are achieving and,
you know, we need to build upour own self-esteem together.
And it's so interesting becausewhen I went to grad school, I
went to Stanford for grad schooland one of my friends who did
not attend HBCU undergrad saidto me you are the most

(27:57):
comfortable person in every roomand I'm like that's because I
had four years of being able tobe comfortable and safe and so I
don't care about these people.
Like this is this I don't care.
I am going to be myself, becauseI've been a been allowed to be
myself in a space for four years.
I think we're wrecking andyou've seen how being yourself,

(28:20):
it was enough.
It was more than enough, right,it was more than enough, more
than enough.
And so I think we'rerecognizing and you've seen how
being yourself was enough, itwas more than enough, right, it
was more than enough, more thanenough.
And so I think we're startingto recognize that.
I think you know I think wehave some social media to thank
for that that people are beingable to see the insight and
seeing the experience of beingtogether and what that looks
like together and what thatlooks like.

(28:40):
I think that we have.
We've proven it, we've provenourselves.
You know, when I was first goingto go to FAMU, one of my family
members said you know well, youneed to learn how to operate in
a space where, you know, noteverybody looks like you.
And I really didn't.

(29:03):
I was too young to really eventhink about it or know about it.
But now, as an HBCU grad, Ialso see that that's the most
lucrative place for us to beright Companies have.
The reality is they havediversity goals, right,
hopefully they keep.
I mean, I know a lot of themare pulling back their
initiatives, right, but still,at the end of the day, they
still know that their workplaceneeds to look diverse, right,
they may not want to say it outloud, but they also recognize
that there is value in havingdifferent people in the room and

(29:23):
at the table.
And so when they're looking for, you know, black students,
where is your biggest pie?
I'm going to go to an HBCU.
And so when I came out of FAMUand when I've seen other
students come out of FAMUthey're coming and they've come
out with multiple offers.
They're coming out with theseconnections with companies

(29:45):
because they're getting thesupport there are intentional
events to help them secure joboffers, to get them in front of
these companies.
Go to a PWI and ask them when'syour college fair?
Nobody knows.
Or your career, I'm sorry, yourcareer fair?
Nobody knows if they're evenhaving one that the Black

(30:08):
students are even aware of.
And so I think that we've, youknow, we've kind of we've proven
ourselves.
We're graduating, you know thegreater number of engineers, and
then they're getting employed.
We're graduating, you knowpre-med students and they're
getting fed into these, intogreat med school programs.
So we're.
We've done the work and noweverybody gets to see it, and so

(30:28):
we're cashing in and we'regetting our students back.
The one thing that makes me sadabout HBCUs being more
competitive is that there arestudents who don't have the
grades necessarily coming out ofhigh school, but it doesn't
mean that they're not capable ofbeing successful in college,

(30:50):
and I've been exposed to acouple.
You know they, for whateverreason, haven't gotten the
support that they needed.
They've been in a school wherethey don't get support as Black
students, and so they may comeout with a 2.5 or a 2.6.
And I think our HBCUs stillneed to make space for them,
because there's still peoplethat are capable, that are

(31:13):
passionate about having a greatfuture.
They're passionate about theirgoals, they're passionate about
having an education, but maybealong the way they just didn't
get some kind of support orthings were happening at home
and they just weren't able tohave what their ability reflect
in their grades, and so I thinkwe need to figure out some kind
of way to keep them in our fold.

(31:35):
Our HBCUs need to make spacefor that.

Delina (31:39):
So, and probably the story that you write to for
college admissions a story aboutyour journey to college makes a
big difference in thosesituations as well.
So what is our role?
To play our role as parents,because it's their college

(31:59):
journey, it's their collegeexperience.
But to get them there like what?
What's our?

Shaquita (32:04):
role Like today or tomorrow, like I don't know
Theoretically what is our role.

Announcer (32:12):
The role you want to play.

Shaquita (32:15):
So, yeah, this is actually something I've been.
I've been dealing with myself.
It's so funny.
I had a young lady that Imentored.
She came to visit a couple ofdays ago and her mom said
something about well, I want herto do this and I want her to do
that, and I don't understandwhy she's not.
And I said she's not you.
And then I had to pause andthink I go through the same.

(32:41):
They're not me, right?
And so my child is not me andshe's going to do things
differently, and I think we haveto remember that their journey
is their journey, it's not ours.
And so that's tough, right,because I want her life to look
the way I dreamed it when shewas, you know, before she was
even born.
I dreamed it when she was, youknow, before she was even born.
So I think there's a there's atime where we have to we, and we

(33:03):
have to figure this out.
We know our kids, and it'sdifferent for every child.
There is a time where we haveto kind of step back and let
them explore a bit, but we knowwhen they're getting ready to
burn their hand, right, and so Ithink that you know that

(33:37):
there's that, and then there'salso, I think it's helpful for
us to be to do what we want themto do or need them to do, and
when we can step back and letthem explore.
So I think you know when I, asa as a high, as a parent of a
high school team, I think we tryto get them involved in things

(33:58):
that will help them build theirstory.
I think that's some of the workthat we have to do, because I'm
not sure that they're thinkingabout it right.
I don't think that they areable, at the age that they're at
for the most part, to make theconnections and the dots.
I think that comes later forthem.
But I think as parents we cansay hey, you know, you've been

(34:18):
talking a lot about I't know,dentistry, I I saw this program
or I saw this college program orsomething.
Maybe you want to think aboutapplying for it and then
recognize when you aren'tgetting through and you might
need to pull in another adult ora friend or somebody else to
help kind of drive that pointhome, um, to help them build the

(34:42):
story right now.
Um, but then also we need torecognize if they're who they
are right.
We may think they're ready forcollege and they may not be Um,
and that's a hard pill toswallow, right Cause you're like
my kid is following the paththat I followed.

(35:03):
I want them to follow that, orthe path that looked like the
one I did, right.
But maybe their path looks likegoing to community college for
two years because they need thatexperience, which also is
another way to bring down costslet's not forget that to get
those gen eds out the way.
But we have to recognize thattheir journeys may not look like

(35:24):
ours.
Be supportive, give them thespace to explore some things,
make some mistakes that aren'tdetrimental, so that they can
learn Right, and then justsupport them.
I mean, and it's hard it's hardto say that because you know to

(35:48):
support them to a point rightTo also say like, yeah, like
there's sometimes they're likeif you do this, this is going to
, this is where it's going tohurt you down the road.
I can't let you do this.
And there's like so there'ssome places where it's just
non-negotiable.
But I think we have to givethem space.
It's just, it's just not easy,it's not easy.

Delina (36:16):
Yeah, it's just not easy .

Shaquita (36:16):
It's not easy, yeah, it's hard to have that balance
it's your life, but when youmess up, it's all right.

Delina (36:21):
This is true, that's the truth when yes, when you waste
twenty thousand dollars.
It also hurts me right, rightright it to.
Yeah, when you lose thatscholarship because you were out
doing shenanigans, right, andyour GPA is 2.0.
You know, right, it's hard.

Shaquita (36:42):
Well, and I think so.
That's the part where I say youknow, there's the points where
we get down to negotiate, butit's also the point of
recognizing what is true, whatyour child truly needs.
Right, and being honest withourselves and that's not easy,
not every child is ready to gooff to school, not every to be

(37:05):
away for school.
Right, they may need a couplemore years, they may need more
time.
And I think the other thing is,too, is making sure that you
are tapped into, where you cankeep an eye.
So one of the things back tolike, like you know in college,
you know there's FERPA, so onceyour student goes off to school,
you don't have access to their,you can't get access to their

(37:26):
grades unless they give youaccess to seeing their grades
and their portals and thingslike that.
And what would be helpful is tohave that conversation before
you get into school, right,because once school, once
they're in and they're startingto fail, they're not showing you
their portals.
They're not right.
But before they go, hey, Ilisten, I'm supporting you

(37:48):
through school, but what I needis visibility to see your grades
so I can see when you need help, because you may not want to
get help or reach out tosomebody.
But I can help you with that.
But having that conversationlong before you get into the
place of emotion is reallyhelpful, because I've had
parents reach out to me and say,hey, I popped into, he needs

(38:09):
coaching, I need some academicsupport, things like that.
And then oh, and that's theother role, I need some academic
support.
You know things like that, andthen oh, and that's the other
role.
I would say, the things that weassume that they know, they
don't know, they don't know, andso, like reading a syllabus,

(38:29):
putting their classes on theirschedule, on their calendar,
setting up a Google calendar sothey can see their work.
It may feel like someadministrative task, like you're
their secretary, but it willpay off in the long run to sit
with them and do those thingsand teach them.
They're not getting that inschool, and so we have to kind
of fill in those gaps too of howyou.

(38:53):
So we have to.
We have to kind of fill inthose gaps too of how you.
The life skills of operatingthrough the college process,
right Time management.
Yeah, how do you?
You know, because yourprofessor isn't telling you
these things what's that switchbetween high school and college?
Do they know what thedifferences are in the
expectations when they go toschool?
And again, all these things arebetter done before emotions
enter the room, so before theygo sitting down and having those

(39:17):
conversations, Yep, that's,that's good advice.

Delina (39:22):
How are things still changing for black and brown
students and black studentsspecifically, because there's
been you supreme court cases.
There's been, you know,different environments changing
in college, different likestates that are eliminating
their dei initiatives, and howare things changing?

Shaquita (39:43):
more, yeah, yeah, this is also driving some of us at
hbcus, um, so, um, well, we, wehad the the dobbs decision
reversed.
That made the affirmativeaction decision was reversed, um
, and so students have to find adifferent way to signal that I

(40:10):
am Black student and, althoughadmissions are supposed to be
blind, I think that gives theadmissions office some way to be
able to bring students in ofdifferent backgrounds.
The reality is the numbers aredown.
I, harvard's numbers are downunder enrollment.

(40:34):
They didn't dip as much as theythought that they would dip, so
, um, but they did dipsignificantly.
Um, I know Stanford's droppedquite a bit um enrollment,
admissions and enrollment ofblack students, admissions
numbers, um, numbers inundergrad.
And the other thing that'smaking a big impact is states

(40:57):
are removing legacy admissionsand that is hurting because in a
way, you know, a lot of us wentto these schools not just to
have it on our own resume, butto open that door for our kids,
and now that door is beingclosed again.
And so in the you know, the IVsand the prestigious you know,

(41:23):
quote unquote prestigiousschools, right?
Quote unquote.

Delina (41:28):
Schools.

Shaquita (41:31):
The numbers are dropping because of having to be
quote, unquote, colorblind inthe admissions process, and this
has impacted Black students andHispanic students.
Asian numbers have not droppedas much in the application
process, because you know thereality is, and you know the

(41:52):
reality is, we don't test thescores.
Our scores aren't as high onaverage.
It's not because we aren'tcapable, but we know all the
things that play into the roleof why the testing puts us at a
disadvantage.
So you know.
I think that what it says,though, to our students is the

(42:13):
rest of your story needs to bestronger.
Your leadership needs to bestronger.
The rest of the package thatyou're bringing, the activities
you've been in, the reason whyyou've been in those activities,
not just oh, I signed up forthis club, right?
Why did you do that?
All those things makingconnecting those dots becomes so
much more important in puttingthat best foot forward.

(42:34):
If those are the schools thatyou want to go to, or we have a
wealth of HBCUs, that willbetter position you, in my
opinion, for the future.
And that's where it's hurtingus.
Legacy is hurting in some veryunexpected ways.
So California repealed theirlegacy admissions, but it's

(42:58):
possible that this will spread,and I it wasn't too long ago I
went back and I did a littleresearch.
I didn't realize.
Like Howard University useslegacy, so some of the HBCUs
even use legacy in theiradmissions process, and so in
some ways though in that way Ithink it opens up some doors for

(43:19):
our students who may not havebeen able to get into Howard or
get into Hampton, those thoseprivate HBCUs, spelman things
like that because their parentsweren't Spelmanites or Howard
students weren't Spelmanites orHoward students.
And so I think in that way ithelps students who didn't have
that legacy chain be able to beadmitted.
It's tough, it's been tough forus and again, I think that

(43:44):
that's contributing to usdeciding to go to HBCUs where we
are welcomed and celebrated.

Delina (43:51):
Let's talk about some of the things that we don't often
talk about students withdisabilities.
What are some of the additionalconsiderations that they have
to think about when thinkingabout?

Shaquita (44:03):
college, yep, so I'll go back to start early.
This has to start early, and solet's, let's separate the two,
right.
You've got physicaldisabilities, um, and mobility
challenges, and then the um, andthen like, uh, learning,
learning differences andlearning challenges, so physical

(44:24):
disabilities, um, things likethat.
You know, we have there's lawsin place, obviously, with ADA,
things like that, but it doesn'tjust because a building is
accessible doesn't mean it'ssafe, right, and so when I think
about that, like, I think aboutthe fact that the ramps are
often in the back of thebuildings, so you open up
students for assault, thingslike that, and so this really

(44:49):
does like you've got to startearly, if that's something that
is something that is on yourmind.
Exploring the campus Are there?
Are there disability servicesthat are available there?
Every college has an office fordisability and accommodation,
you know.
Do they offer rides to campus,to class?
You know, what mobilityservices do they have?

(45:09):
Do they have dorm rooms thatare accessible, safely
accessible?
Where are the classrooms?
Where are the ramps?
What are the pathways?
Does it mean my child is goingto need to get to, you know, be
on campus or leave for class 30,40 minutes earlier, even to be
able to navigate.
And then the other thing iswhat are their virtual class

(45:30):
offerings?
Because maybe that's adifferent way for a student with
physical disabilities to beable to manage that and
especially if it's somethinglike, you know, a POTS a student
who has, like POTS or somethingwhere they have flare ups,
lupus, things like that so theycan continue to stay engaged and
be able to get to class and orhave accommodations with their
professors.
On the other side was learningdifferences.

(45:54):
So I mentioned every school hasa center of disabilities but
they have a student supportcenter and I don't know that a
lot of parents know that that isoffered on college campuses
where they have tutoring, freetutoring for students.
They offer they help to devisean accommodation plan.

(46:15):
They may allow a student to godo testing in a testing center
that is quiet and away fromother students.
They have differenttechnologies for students that
have dyslexia or dyscalculia ordysgraphia, and so it's again
going early, going to visitcampuses asking those questions.

(46:37):
If your student has an IEP, youwant to keep it and document it,
especially right now withdifferent states and they all
have different rules andinterpretations of students'
IEPs and the potential for thedismantle of the Department of
Ed.
You absolutely want to document.
You know your IEPs that you'vehad in the past.

(46:59):
Where has the accommodationbeen supportive?
How has it helped?
When the accommodation wasn'tin place, what was happening
with your student?
What were they experiencing?
Any official diagnoses, thingslike that?
A lot of people they shy awayfrom having an official
diagnosis.
Having an official diagnosis islike it's clutch for when that

(47:22):
child is getting ready to A dotesting because you can get
accommodations for the SAT ACTas well.
I'm not sure if everybody likepeople know if your child has a
testing accommodation for an IEP, you can get testing
accommodations for SAT ACT.
You have to start that processabout a year early.
But colleges Is it?

Delina (47:40):
is it just time, like extra time, or what?
What kind of accommodation?

Shaquita (47:44):
You can get extra time , you can get moved to a
different space, so like, sothat you're not you know, not
distracted by other students inthe room.
Um, sat is fully digital now,but if you have a student who
does, who needs to be um pen andpaper, that they can do that Um
and for um.

(48:05):
Well, now the SAT is completelycalculator.
At one point there weresections where you couldn't use
a calculator, but if a studenthad an accommodation for a
calculator, they would still beable to use a calculator.
Um, and then like things likelarge print for students who
need that, braille, things likethat, they can do those types of
accommodations as well.
Yeah, um, and then the schoolscan do it as the same right, but

(48:29):
they need that diagnosis andthe information, this this also
comes back to FERPA.
Your child has to initiate anyaccommodation requests and so
helping them learn to advocatefor themselves, go back to the
role we have to play that theyhave to advocate for themselves,
not just in requesting thoseaccommodations, but ensuring

(48:52):
that those accommodations aremet throughout their time in
school, because some professorsare like, whatever, you're here
in school, yada, yada, no, Ihave an accommodation and I need
to take this test in a quietspace that they need to know how
to do that, absolutely.

Delina (49:09):
How do you homeschool yourself?
How do you stay up on all ofthis for college, because it
seems like every year, somethingelse you know needs to be
learned, and what do yourecommend for parents to
homeschool themselves in thecollege admissions?

Announcer (49:27):
Yeah.

Delina (49:27):
So, first.

Shaquita (49:30):
I go back to starting early, but also not starting
necessarily with the intentionof application.
So what I mean by that issaying you have a child who's
eighth grade, seventh grade,ninth grade, visit campuses.
Don't wait, you know, and youdon't have to visit campuses and
go to the admissions office andset up an interview.

(49:50):
Some of it is just going tocampus.
Just go get some merch.
Walk around the bookstore.
You'd be surprised what youlearn from just the bookstore.
Is it inclusive?
I was shocked.
I went to one bookstore andthey had hair scarves and do
rags and I was like listen, thisis a sign that you recognize

(50:12):
you have students of color whohave needs, who can't get off
campus, things like that.
Um.
So visit the campus.
Talk to a student who's walkingby.
You know what class are youtaking, where are you headed?
Like all these, you know what'sit like being here.
Visit campus, um, visitcampuses when you're on vacation
.
It does not need to be anadditional expense.

(50:32):
Just stop and talk.
College fairs so churches andcommunities offer college fairs.
Schools put on college fairs.
Don't wait, go visit.
You can talk to an admissioncounselor there.
What's different?
What challenges are you allfacing this year?
What are the students like?

(50:52):
How have they changed over thelast couple of years?
Just ask.
Just ask, they'll talk to you.
Get a car, keep in touch, youknow, and follow up and have
that contact.
There.
There are, I mentioned there'sparent groups on Facebook.
You don't need to be a seniorright now that you can join HBCU

(51:14):
parent scholarship communitycommon black college application
group.
Jump in and just see what'shappening.
Sometimes I mean there arecollege representatives that I
don't need right now, but I knowtheir names.
I know they give outscholarships.
I know they give outscholarships to students at the
last minute who are looking fora place to go, and so I don't
need to wait to my daughter'ssenior year to figure that out.
I know who they are now and I'mfollowing them.

(51:35):
One of them just moved toanother school and, like I know,
he gives money and he finds away for students and so get
locked in there.
There are books.
There is a great book, theBlack Family's Guide to
Admissions.
It's by a couple of men fromMorehouse who wrote that with a
specific focus on Black andBrown families.

(51:57):
So that's another great waythat we just continue to learn.
And then social media, for allthe bad things and bad raps that
it gets, for all the bad thingsand bad raps that it gets.

(52:19):
There are people I follow onInstagram.
There's a woman I think what isit?
Debt-free tea?
Every morning she just postsfrom her car with her cup of
coffee or tea and she's justtalking about scholarships.
So that kind of keeps me loopedin on what's coming out, what
the timing looks like for thesescholarships.
So that kind of keeps me loopedin on what's coming out, what
the timing looks like for thesescholarships.
What are the things that mydaughter's going to need in
order to put together a greatscholarship package?

(52:40):
And the other thing I would sayis you know, you do your own
reading, you do your ownresearch, get connected to
parents.
This is not so much for alearning, but because it's
important.
Go meet your student'scounselor freshman year.

(53:00):
Set up a meeting One.
That way they'll know that yourchild is college bound and they
know to get you information andcan send it to you so that you
are hearing what's going on.
They can put you on theirnewsletter, things like that,
because they don't just do itautomatically, they don't just
send it to everybody, and thatway you can stay up to date on

(53:26):
any updates that they get, anyscholarship lists that they have
that might be specific to theschool.
But the other thing is Imentioned like so they know your
child is college bound.
When students get to highschool, there's tracks.
Not every student is on acollege bound track.
That's not the expectationanymore.
I'm not sure if it ever was.

(53:46):
It wasn't my high school, I'mnot sure if that was the case
where everybody goes.
But there are tracks.
So your, your counselor, needsto know so that they can advise
your child to be on a collegebound track.
Where that would deviate isthings like four years of math,
two years of the same foreignlanguage, things like that.
And so they need to know sothat they make sure that your

(54:08):
student meets the requirements.
But also they need to know sothat they can say when they are
choosing students for collegefairs, because that's what it is
.
When they're choosing studentsto go to college fairs, when
they're choosing students to bein front of admissions people
who are visiting.
They know your child wants toattend college and that keeps
that information flow open.
The other thing is subscribe toall the things like FAFSA.

(54:31):
The other thing is subscribe toall the things like FAFSA.
For the FAFSA application, goahead and sign up for their
webpage, for their Facebook page, so that you get the updates on
what's happening, so that youknow when the dates are changing
to be able to submitapplications.
Most states have a collegefoundation.
Subscribe to it, go on.

(54:51):
They have a Facebook page orthey have a website.
Go sign up for their newsletter.
Continue to get thatinformation fed into your inbox
so that you're always in theloop about what's happening.
And then the last thing is someof the official research places
.
So and this is a fortunate, ablessing that came out of the

(55:12):
pandemic, if you're going to sayit like that there are always
virtual events that colleges arehosting so you can go online
and sign up for virtualadmissions, and it doesn't have
to be a school you're thinkingabout.
Just go, listen, you know, andthey will give you information
about what's happening.
And then the last thing is thecommon data set, and I do go out

(55:32):
and look at those from time totime for different schools.
Every school has a common dataset.
It's like their raw data ofwhat's the GPA for a student to
be our average GPA, what ourdiversity numbers look like,
what our graduation rate is,what our retention rate is,

(55:52):
number of students who neededacademic support.
It's a huge thing and they'rerequired by law to file it every
year.
So if you want to go find it,like for Georgia Tech, for
example, you go search GeorgiaTech Common Data Set, you'll get
it.
It's a, it's a big PDF.
Just go out and read the onesfor your state, even any schools

(56:13):
that you're looking at, andthey'll just give you some
information and insight intowhat the schools are looking
like yep, I love that.

Delina (56:22):
I heard you speak once and you said to become BFFs with
your, your high schoolcounselor, because, yes, they
need, you need to.
They have a lot of people toserve.
And your child needs to be inthat mix.

Shaquita (56:40):
In the mix and not forgotten.

Delina (56:41):
No.

Shaquita (56:42):
People don't realize when they do.
When you fill out the CommonApp for College, the person who
does your child's recommendationis the counselor Most students
have never, even if they haven'tgotten in trouble for something
, they don't know theircounselor.
When have they ever met withthem?
And so how does that counselorfill out a positive

(57:05):
recommendation for your childand not know you or not know
them Right, or know them?
Yep, absolutely.
Yeah, get to know them, yeah.

Delina (57:15):
Right, or know them?
Yep, absolutely, yeah, get toknow them, yeah, so tell me some
of the things that you offerfor parents that are um you know
in this process with theirteens and how can people get in
touch with you?

Shaquita (57:26):
Absolutely so.
My company, beacon EducationGroup, we, um, we do a couple of
things.
Every year.
We host a free parent webinarin August before families are
headed back to school, and it isopen for all grades so that, in
truthfully, I would prefer tosee 9th, 10th and 11th graders

(57:47):
than seniors, because, as Imentioned, august is almost too
late, right, and it is free.
We advertise it on our Facebookpage.
So if you go to Facebook BeaconEducation Group, it's there.
You can also find outinformation about it on our
website, which iswwwbeaconeducationgroupcom.
So that is a great way forfamilies to get just get

(58:12):
information, and we shareeverything from admissions
process to financial aid tips toscholarship information.
You can also sign up for mymailing list on my website.
And then also I do a collegenavigator program my website and

(58:37):
then also I do a collegenavigator program.
Now I, uh, right now I'm in themix with finishing up the
seniors Um, they have gottentheir college applications in,
yay, oh, it was a pull.
It was a pull, um, causethey're all so busy and things
like that, but we're right nowwe're drafting scholarship
essays.
Um, because scholarship seasonis is coming up and essays need
to be at the ready.
So that's what we're doingright now so you can also learn

(58:59):
about that on Beacon EducationGroup to sign up for that, and
we do that for 9th, 10th, 11thand 12th graders.

Delina (59:07):
Thank you so much, you're welcome.

Shaquita (59:08):
You are welcome.
This was a joy.

Delina (59:12):
Yes, it was great.
It was great.
I tried not to stress.
I'm just going to take deepbreaths and do one thing at a
time and see how that works itwill, it will, it will be fine.

Shaquita (59:23):
I think we'll get through it.
You know it's different.
Just like anything else, it's alearning process and you know
there's just there's so manyopportunities for our students.
Sometimes that in itself canjust feel overwhelming, but
we've got this.
It's like everything else.

Delina (59:41):
I'm so thankful for Shakita's knowledge and wisdom
in this area.
There's definitely a lot tolearn as we prepare our kids for
next steps.
What did you learn from thisepisode?
I would love to know.
Email me at podcast atwelcomehomeschoolingcom.
Until next time, I learnedsomething today.

Announcer (01:00:08):
Homeschool Yourself is a production of Woke
Homeschooling Inc.
For show notes and links tothings mentioned in the episode,
visit wokehomeschoolingcomslash podcast.
Woke Homeschooling empowersparents to teach their kids an
inclusive, truthful history.
We invite you to visit ourwebsite and download a sample of
the history curriculum we offerfor kids.

(01:00:29):
Visit us atwokehomeschoolingcom.