getting into college

Brad Baldridge
This episode is all about what it takes to get accepted at the Ivy League and other competitive schools.

Presenter
You have kids, they grow up, and before you know it, it's time to plan for college. Where do you start? How much is it going to cost? Will you qualify for financial aid? Should you be looking into scholarships? When will you be able to retire? What about student loans? The list of questions is never-ending. The good news is, all the answers are right here. Welcome to the Taming the High Cost of College Podcast. Here is your host, certified financial planner, Brad Baldridge.

Brad Baldridge
Hello, and welcome to Taming the High Cost of College. I'm your host Brad Baldridge. In today's episode, we have a great interview with Julie Kim. And she's an admissions expert that helps students get accepted to the Ivy League and other very competitive schools. She's gonna give us a lot of great information on what it takes and some tricks and tips that families may need to understand. And then for Brad Recommends, I'm going to get into net price calculators and why you would care about them as well. Alright, let's go ahead and jump into the interview with Julie. Alright, today I'm sitting down with Julie Kim of Julie Kim Consulting. Welcome, Julie,

Julie Kim
Thank you so much for having me.

Brad Baldridge
I guess we get together because you have a podcast and do a lot of work with students around the admissions process. So again, you tend to work with students, I tend to work with parents. So I think there's a lot that we can learn from each other. So I just wanted to bring you on and talk a little bit about some of your expertise. Can you tell me a little bit more about what you do and how you do it and why you do it?

Julie Kim
Yeah, so I help high school students get accepted into their dream colleges using what we call a Passion Project System. And so it allows students to identify and explore their academic interest, their personal hobbies, strength, their personality, and values. And so using that as the first step, students create projects, initiatives, even a podcast, whatever they really want to work on, so that they can work on their college admissions process, feeling more excited than just feeling like they have to do a lot of different things just to stand out. So yeah, that's what I do.

Brad Baldridge
Right. A lot of your students that you're working with are targeting some of the higher end competitive schools?

Julie Kim
Yeah, most of our students are aiming for the Ivy League colleges, as well as top tier colleges like UC Berkeley, USC, NYU, University of Michigan. Basically, if a college has an acceptance rate of lower than 30%, that's where a lot of our students seek for advice. However, we do have a portion of students who just want to use their passion to work on something. And their goal is not necessarily to go to an Ivy League school, but they just want to turn their passion to an action item or a tangible result. So they also join our program as well.

Brad Baldridge
Right. So I run into a lot of parents that are a little confused by the high end schools, again, if your family has had people in the past, go to the schools, sometimes you have a little better understanding. But I think a lot of parents are not all that familiar, maybe they went to, didn't go to college at all, or they just went to the local state school or whatever it might be. And now all of a sudden, their sophomore, junior, senior has these dreams of Harvard, or Yale or NYU, or whatever it might be. And I guess, one thing I hear is a lot of shock on the price. And then quickly followed by, 'Well, can they even do it? Wouldn't it, it seems like they're elite, is my students strong enough? How do you know

Julie Kim
Right.

Brad Baldridge
...what it takes and whether you're on track for that?

Julie Kim
One thing that I tell my students and parents is that it's not really about, 'Do I want to go to an Ivy League? Am I cut out for this process?' But it's more about what do you want out of this education? Because for some student, for example, like this student might really want to go to Brown Clinic, which is a fast track medical program, because Brown focuses on, humanities and medicine and research together, and they have open curriculum. And so maybe for this particular student, she wants to get into that school because it's such a great fit for her. Right, but that's not to say that everyone else has to aim for Brown or Harvard or USC. So I don't like to look at the aspect of like the external aspect of this process, which is like, do you have the grades? Do you have the SAT scores, okay, then go to an Ivy League school, no matter what the price is. I think it should really come back to like, what are your values like where do you want to spend your money? And what do you want out of this education where you'll be spending four years investing your money and time and energy into it. So when I asked that question, it completely reframed the way that students and parents approached this process. Because I don't want to just say, 'Yeah, let's go to an Ivy League.'

Brad Baldridge
Right.

Julie Kim
Right? Yeah.

Brad Baldridge
Well, and again, I guess what I'm, what I'm also trying to figure out is, I'm talking with parents. So I'm just, sometimes I'm trying to get that reality check. And so is the parent around well, again, when my kid was in seventh grade, he said he was going to go to the NBA. Unfortunately, he stopped growing. He's five seven.

Julie Kim
Yeah.

Brad Baldridge
And we know that that's just not realistic. He's not going to the NBA. Now, we haven't told him that yet. He can dream. He's young, we don't care. But, and I see this a lot, too, where parents say things like, 'Well, my student wants to be a doctor. And they're failing out of their biology courses as a sophomore in high school.' And it's just like, 'Okay, well, those those don't go together

Julie Kim
Right.

Brad Baldridge
...you need to have a reality check.' So, if we're doing a reality check around Ivy League schools, I mean, what are they looking for? And how do we know, can you give us some numbers or stats, or?

Julie Kim
Yeah, I could definitely give you and your listeners a reality check here. Obviously, your GPA is going to be important. So if I were to pull up your transcript, we would like to see straight A's or nearly straight A's. I've had students in the past for other two B's or one C get into these colleges, but if you want to be on the safe side, then definitely straight A's is a prerequisite. And SAT and ACT scores. Now with COVID 19 pandemic, a lot of colleges are making these exams optional. And they're saying that it's now recommended, you can submit if you want to, you don't need to submit if you don't want to. So we don't have enough data yet, because it's probably their second year of accepting students without SAT and ACT tests. However, we are still seeing the trend that if you do have a strong SAT score, ranging, 1520, 1530 to 1600, and ACT scores 34, 35, 36, that good range to be at. So those are the two main statistics. But because of SAT at ACT becoming optional, there's definitely going to be more emphasis on the GPA. So what are the greater getting at school, so that's going to be really important. Another thing that they really look for is intellectual curiosity. Because after all, you're going to these colleges to study, I know you're going to be partying and having fun and all that, but you're basically going there to get a degree. So how much did you dive into your academic interest? So if you're interested in being a doctor, are you doing research? Are you taking advanced biology classes? Are you volunteering at the hospital? Is there a certain area in medicine that you're particularly passionate about? So what that basically means is that you need to have a lot of experiences and perspectives and thoughts around your academic interest, which is your major. So that's another big component. And yeah, I mean, but the thing is, now I feel a lot of Ivy League and top two colleges saying, 'Stats are not the only thing that we're going to look at.' And I hope that it transitions that way. Because I would have never imagined three years ago that these colleges would say, 'We're not going to accept SAT and ACT scores.

Brad Baldridge
Right.

Julie Kim
Because trust me, like when I was in high school, I was like, 'Can you guys, please get rid of this test?' Because I am failing. And now it's happening. So I don't know, I feel like we are heading towards a better future, hopefully, where the students are not just rejected because the FSC and AP Bio class, right?

Brad Baldridge
Yes.

Julie Kim
But like you said, if you want to be a doctor, and that's where you want to go into, and you have a C in AP Bio, I don't rule it out completely, because maybe it has to do with your mindset. Maybe it has to do with your time management skills. Maybe the AP Bio teacher is not really teaching that. Well, there's so many different factors, right? So

Brad Baldridge
Right, and again, there may be factors, but the point, essentially, is they need to turn it around and figure out, it's just again, it's not realistic. There are a few people that have played in the NBA that were under six feet tall, but it didn't happen very often. I mean, it's theoretically possible though it has happened, it's kind of the same thing with getting into these more challenging schools I feel is, their at tip, when you mentioned those test scores, well, that's top 1 or 2% of test takers. When you mentioned those grades, that's 1, 2, 3% of the high school class typically. And to say, and again, you don't have to be there, as an example, if you can score touchdowns, Harvard's got a few spots for football players, where they will make pretty substantial exceptions and in a lot of categories, because you excel on the field. And of course, they will probably do something similar for kids that are really strong in science are really strong in academics, are really strong in music, right? I mean, if you're traveling with a world renowned symphony, though, I mean, that's the kind of stuff they say, 'Oh, well, we can make exceptions for that.' If your first chair in your band at high school, again, there's 26,000 high schools, and there's a first chair at every one of them in many different instruments. So again, just kind of that relative concern that I think parents don't quite understand.

Julie Kim
So I think that's why, just make one point, I think that's why just, you really need to be intuitive and be honest with yourself in this process, because, like, colleges are at the end of the day looking for a well-rounded class, right, so if they're gonna choose a pianist, or if they're gonna choose a world renowned debater, like, they will want a student who is a band captain and a little quiet, but this student has a lot of strong perspective about life, right? So that's why what I see happening is, 'Okay, if I want to get into these competitive colleges, and I need to kind of like, act like I am strong and competitive and outgoing.' And when you do that, the moment you decide to be not yourself, that's the exact moment that you lose your chance of getting in, because you've got to be authentic. And I know it's hard, it's like, how do you be authentic? It's like, you have to be more grounded with yourself. And, you know, the example that I like to share mine as, because I had a couple of B's and C's, in my transcript, my SAT score was like, you know, I didn't even show it to my parents, because it was so low at I thought they were gonna judge me. And what I had to do was make a decision, like, 'Okay, I need a different strategy.' And that strategy is to just be really myself, and be vulnerable, and just show who I am and share why I think. But of course, whatever you say, the claims that you make, you need to support it with evidence. So I wasn't just like, 'Okay, I'm going to just be myself and share what I feel and what I think.' I put myself out there and try to compensate my GPA and SAT scores by showing that I have a lot of grit, I am very passionate about education, I reach out to professors, so definitely hard work is required. But even before hard work comes into play, you really need to come to a strong identification with yourself.

Brad Baldridge
Right. Another thing that I can sometimes detect that I guess, and you sometimes detect too, is where these top tier school is not really the student's goal, it's the parents goal, where the parents are saying, you know, I really want my kid to go to Harvard, Yale, or grow up and be a doctor or engineer or hear some of those jokes about there's only three professions and certain cultures, you know, there's doctors, lawyers and engineers, and you pick one, those are the choices. And I mean, when you detect that, obviously, is that make it more challenging, or what happens when you feel like maybe the students not fully on board?

Julie Kim
So thankfully, we have a lot of students where it's their goal, and it's their mission to get into these colleges for a really good reason. However, we do have a few where the parents are a little bit more like, 'This is where she should go, or this is where he should go.' And what I tell my parents is to step aside, this is not your college admissions journey. This is not your life, you're already living your life, and you already went to college, right? So I just have to be very honest and straightforward with the parents that at the moment you set a sort of an expectation for your kids, then you're actually stressing your kids out, because now the student is lost. 'What do I want? Wait a minute, what are my parents want?' So that's a moment where a lot of the times students lose their values. So instead of telling your kids, 'Hey, like go to this school or that school,' you want to ask good questions. Good questions, leads to good answers. So, where do you want to go? Did you research some schools, what's really important to you and your education and in your life? And so let questions guide the discussion, versus setting them a rigid expectation of where they should go.

Brad Baldridge
Right. Now, I think another challenge when we get to the top tier schools, and it's that top tier school alone, but the price tags are for many family shocking. A couple of the top tier schools now all in are over 80,000 a year. Of course, you and I know that isn't necessarily what you're going to pay. But again, let's talk a little bit about that. Do you hear a lot of talk about well, is it worth it to spend X or Y or... And if you do hear, how do you answer that?

Julie Kim
I think it's ultimately up to the family's values and decision. What I do recommend to a lot of the families is that to apply to 15 to 20 schools and look at all the financial aid packages and from there, you and your family could make a decision about which one's going to be the best investment for you. It's literally an investment because you're putting in money and there's going to be a result

Brad Baldridge
Right.

Julie Kim
There's going to be a return. So some families, they're okay with the price tag and some families, they're not. And so, I've had a student where she got into NYU early decision, and there's no way that we're going there, she saw the financial aid package, and you know, the awards that they get, and there's no way we're going there. And she ended up going to UC Berkeley, because they're in California. So it was like 60%, more affordable than NYU. So that's the decision that they made. So ultimately, it boils down to the family. I don't think I have a say and like, 'You should go to this school, because it's going to pay off.' And to be really transparent, I don't think, I wouldn't pay 80K per year or 70K per year to go to these Ivy League colleges, because I've actually attended a community college before I went to UCLA, I went to USC, I went to Harvard, and education is education.

Brad Baldridge
So you had a wide sampling, then.

Julie Kim
I had a why sampling. And that's what I can actually say like, because a lot of my students asked me like, 'Oh, how great was Harvard?' And I was like, 'You know, actually like, the best classes that I took were at a community college.' And I still remember the professors and how passionate they were. And, so and now that I'm looking back at my entire education, I'm like, they all just kind of feel the same.

Brad Baldridge
Right.

Julie Kim
You know? And I know this is really weird for a college consultant to say, but whatever I've learned at USC, I don't use any of it today.

Brad Baldridge
Yes, I mean, that's always interesting, I have an engineering background. And I very quickly went into financial planning, and then ultimately at the college planning, and I think a lot of people have that sharp left turn in their career path. So

Julie Kim
And even if you don't have a sharp left turn, you get retrained, when you start working for a company, like if you majored in finance in college, and you go into a corporate finance company, what you learn is totally different, because you have to kind of go with the company system and roles. And so you're like, 'Okay, so what I learned in college, it just wasn't transferable.' And I think the best part about college is the experience, going into a dorm, meeting friends, building relationships. And so those things are priceless. But do you have to pay 70K, 80K for that, right?

Brad Baldridge
Right, exactly.

Julie Kim
That's what you need to think about.

Brad Baldridge
Right? So on the flip side, a lot of these highend colleges are very generous with need-based aid. So families that show a need, so if your family's earning 500,000, a year or more, and you only have a couple kids in college, you're probably going to pay full price. And of course, a lot of our listeners out there saying, 'Well, if you earn a half million a year, you can afford to pay full price.' And that's true. I mean, that's the bottom line, right?

Julie Kim
Yeah.

Brad Baldridge
And Harvard and Yale, etc, they know that too, right? If you're in that kind of money, probably can pay if you want to, again, some families don't want to, that's different. But again, when they're handing out aid, they're just trying to be fair and say, well, for many families, college is going to be a stretch at any level because of the way the aid system works. Now, if you're earning, say 100,000, a lot of times the cost of an Ivy League school and that group could be very comparable to your state school. And if you're earning less than 100,000, there's a good chance the Ivy League school will be less than your state school. So understanding how the process works now, and then we can put another layer of complexity in there in that there was a batch of the high end schools that essentially say 'we don't offer any merit aid whatsoever' because, again, I'm making this up, they haven't said this out loud to me, but my general opinion is they say, 'Everybody here is a rock star, how can we possibly decide who's better than someone else and offer them even more aid?' So instead, they just said, 'We're just gonna entirely do it based on need. And then we don't have to pick based on academic performance or whatever it might be.' But then there's also a batch of schools that will do both where they're committed to meet your need if you show one, but they also may provide some merit aid. And some of the schools offer very limited merit aid. They don't make because that they might have a wealthy alumni that provided some big scholarship that says, Well, we're going to give this particular scholarship to a nursing student from my home city. And it's not based on any sort of neat criteria. So if you happen to meet that unique profile of wanting to get into nursing and are coming from LA or whatever it is, you happen to win that merit aid. That's the only merid and in the whole school. So there's varying degrees of that as well. So but I've put together some lists where schools that have been 100% with and without, and that's available on my website, we'll put links in the show notes. But let's talk about Plan B, right. I mean, if you have the academic chops to be looking at this top tier school, then you could be a standout candidate at a lot of state schools, as you mentioned, kids in California, have a unique advantage, and that they got a lot of very highly rated UC schools that they get the state price for. But that's in many other states also have some strong state schools, right? You mentioned Michigan, and Illinois, and Wisconsin and Virginia, etc, etc, right. So there's lots of that option. But the other thing that these students could do is, they could be that presidential scholar that gets the full ride at University of Denver, or Marquette, or Villanova or something like that, instead of paying large amounts of money to go to one of the other schools, again, because now all of a sudden, now they'd qualify for large merit awards. If you're talking to students that are in that dilemma, any advice? Or well, I mean, how would you help a student think through that dilemma of, 'Well, I could go here for free, or I could go to Harvard, Yale, whatever it is, but it's gonna cost 50,000 a year.'

Julie Kim
Yeah, it's really about the fit with the school. So looking into the schools class sizes, the professors, the classes offered, how easy is it to land an internship, because for some schools like UCLA, if you were to go there, and you're trying to obtain an internship, it's like so hard. Whereas if you go to USC, there's a lot more opportunity. So you might want to take a look at and assess the fit step by step and, and look at like, which school will grant me more opportunities? That could also be with research too. Some colleges are very active with research, and you get to work with XYZ professors. Whereas maybe at another school, that opportunity is very limiting. So what's more important to you, right? And the third thing is, some people do just want that brand name. They're like, Yeah, 'I'll pay 20k more and get the brand name. And that's what I want. And I want to live in a city or whatever.' So if that's your preference, then you do you, right? I don't have anything to say about that. And it's honestly really been 50-50, like a lot of my students, one student, she got into Harvard and USC. From USC, she got full ride. So she was like, 'Oh, to die going to USC, full ride. So she didn't go to Harvard. And then some students, they would reject the full rise and go to the Ivy League. So it's like, again, going back to your fit with the school academically, that's what you need to look at. Because the social scene is a social scene, you're not paying 20k for a social scene for a year. So that's why you need to do a lot of research about these schools like go in, because the question that I asked my students is, 'Hey, why do you want to go to UCLA?' And a lot of the times are like, 'Oh, because it's in LA,' it's like, no, you have to have a specific reason why you want to go there. Because it's not what you think it is, like the introductory classes, there's 400 students in one class. So can you excel in that kind of a class size, right? A lot of the classes that UCLA teaches that are taught by TAs, are you okay with that? So that kind of research really needs to be done.

Brad Baldridge
Right, absolutely. And from the parent perspective, when I'm coaching parents, I often tell them, 'If it were me, I would say your student needs to come up with, make it this little project for them,' right? Again, they're, pretty bright kids most likely, if they're in this situation, so they should be able to handle the project of 'will you explain to me why this school is worth 50,000 a year more than that school?' And see if they can articulate something of better than, 'Oh, I like it better.' Or 'I like it, because it's in downtown New York, or whatever it might be,' right? Or, 'They have my major.' It's like, well, yeah, lots of schools have your major that's not...

Julie Kim
Yeah

Brad Baldridge
So make them do the research, and do that deeper dive to really understand.

Julie Kim
Yeah, you have to do that.

Brad Baldridge
Right. And to give you give an example of deeper dive things, I had a student who was wanting to study jazz trumpet. So his deep dive was to figure out if the trumpet instructors at the various colleges were jazz trained, or classically trained, as he didn't want to try and learn jazz from a classically trained instructors. He wanted someone that was already on the jazz scene and could give him that leg up. So what is it for your student whether again, as you mentioned things like internships or any other ideas that things that might differentiate one school from the next.

Julie Kim
Honestly, a lot of the schools are similar.

Brad Baldridge
Okay.

Julie Kim
Yeah. You take the introductory classes, like, you take, you are major related higher division classes, you just fulfill the credits and you're done. There's not a drastic difference. But like, for example, like Brown, they have an open curriculum. And that curriculum allows students to take any classes as they please. So there's a lot more flexibility and freedom. So if you like that, then, Brown might be a good fit, but there are also colleges that do not offer open curriculum, they can still exercise that freedom because, yes, they have general education requirements, but within the general education requirements, you can still take different classes, right? So, yeah, as long as like, you know what your academic interest is, and you have a good idea of like, your strength, then college is a college. Right?

Brad Baldridge
Yeah. Another thing to think about is the students that are in this boat, again, are the high academic achievers, again, generally, and for a lot of them, they're not stopping at undergrad anyway, they're going to go on to Masters or PhD and various things. So and I think this is what you've done. I mean, you have an advanced degree from Harvard. Right?

Julie Kim
Uh-hmm.

Brad Baldridge
Right. So you chose to go to Harvard for your advanced degree. And where did you do your undergrad?

Julie Kim
USC

Brad Baldridge
USC. Okay.

Julie Kim
Yeah.

Brad Baldridge
So like USC, you had a couple of students already that mentioned that just a few minutes ago that did the similar thing. So is it required that you go to that high end school to do high end grad school?

Julie Kim
No, that's a huge misconception.

Brad Baldridge
Okay.

Julie Kim
And I'm so glad you brought that up. Because I do have students asking me that question like, 'I want to go into UPenn Wharton, so I need to get into UPenn undergrad.' I'm like, 'No, you could go to a, you know, a state school where you get full ride and then still go to UPenn Wharton like, it doesn't work that way. So, yeah, not at all.

Brad Baldridge
Right. And if you look at a lot of these schools, their undergrad is a small piece of the school like Harvard, and Princeton, and so forth. They have a lot more graduate programs and graduate work going on than they do undergraduate. So

Julie Kim
Yeah.

Brad Baldridge
I think the opportunities are perhaps a little bit easier. And or you might have a better idea or focus, because now you're going to study something pretty focused, typically, if you're doing a grad level degree. Okay. So obviously, you're coaching a lot of students that are trying to figure this out. So let's learn a little bit more about what you offer. And I know you've got a free training. So can you tell us a little bit about what that is, and how it works?

Julie Kim
Yeah, so we have a free training, it's about 60 minutes long, and it gives a good introduction to my story, why I do what I do. And then I go over the three essential strategies that my students use to get into their dream colleges. And so I also break down a lot of misconceptions and mistakes that students make in this process. And one of them being people think you have to do a lot of different things to stand out. But that's absolutely not true. So like, those are a couple of things that I do go over and the training, and at the end of the training, I share a little bit more about how the student could work with me if they are interested. So that free training is the link to that free training is www.juliekimconsulting.com/masterclass

Brad Baldridge
Right, so they can take your master class now, you said it's about an hour long. Can parents take it, or students take it or anybody or how does that fit into the mix?

Julie Kim
I highly recommend the student and the parents who watch it together, so they're on board.

Brad Baldridge
Ah, yes.

Julie Kim
Yeah.

Brad Baldridge
I think that doesn't make sense. I think, again, the parents that I'm talking to, a lot of them are a little confused about how the process works. And even if you think you know, it's probably changed. So I have a hard time this something I do for a living, and I have a hard time keeping up with a lot of the changes as well. All right. Well, I really appreciate your great input. Any other final thoughts as far as families that are going down this journey?

Julie Kim
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for having me, Brad. And the last thing that I want to share is, I mean, college is important, but it is not everything. So, I don't want students to lose their integrity and to lose their values in this process. Stay strong to who you are, and use those foundations to make decisions about your academic and trust your colleges and your future.

Brad Baldridge
All right. Thank you, Julie.

Julie Kim
Thank you.

Brad Baldridge
All right. That was a great interview with Julie Kim. Hopefully you learned a ton. Again, all her contact information and information about her website is in the show notes at tamingthehighcostofcollege.com/139. I also mentioned a list of schools that will provide merit aid and will not provide merit aid but will meet 100% of need. I also provide a list of schools that provide 100% of need. And I mentioned that while we were talking with Julie, that's a blog post, the title of it is Why Your Assumptions About College Costs Are Probably Wrong. And then at the end of that post, there are two lists, a list of schools that meet 100% of need, and do not offer merit aid. There's another list of schools that meet 100% of need, but also offer merit aid as well. So those two lists are useful if you're pursuing the high end schools especially, you'll get a feel for whether merit aid is available at the schools you're considering. Stay tuned for Brad Recommends, where we talk about the net price calculator.

Presenter
The latest tips, tricks, and tools you can use today. This is Brad Recommends on Taming the High Cost of College.

Brad Baldridge
Today, I'm recommending the net price calculator. Now every college is required to have a net price calculator on their website. What a net price calculator does is it helps you figure out what a college will cost based on your own financial situation. This calculator helps you calculate need based aid. Now, especially if you've just listened to this program, and you're interested in the high end schools, it's really important you understand the net price calculator, because a lot of these schools will be very generous with need based aid. And the net price calculator will help you understand how they calculate aid, and approximately what they may offer your family based on your financial situation. Again, a lot of the high end schools, the Ivy League in their contemporaries do offer a lot of aid. So you may qualify for a full ride or maybe a 60,000 or $40,000 scholarship at a school that costs 80,000. And of course, that can bring the price down to be very competitive with some of your other options. So to find that price calculator, you can just google the name of the school, New York University net price calculator, write in Google, and then follow the link that goes to their website. And usually it'll be the first couple choices. Or you can go to the website itself. And then while you're on the website, use their search function. Once you find the net price calculator, you're going to have to go through a process and enter a bunch of data. And that will then provide you with an estimate of aid. Now it can get a little bit complicated if your family situation is complicated, as well, as an example, if you've got blended families or divorce and that type of thing, you're going to have to read the fine print and really pay attention to the net price calculator, how it works and the rules. And of course, you can always contact the college themselves and ask them about the net price calculator if you have questions around if you're inputting the information properly, and that type of thing. Now, there's another version of the net price calculator at many of these schools called My Intuition. And I mentioned that in a Recommends a while back. But my intuition is a second version of a net price calculator. It's much more simplified and typically only asked 6, 8, 10 questions depending on the school. So it's much quicker, and that gives you a range instead of an answer. But again, it's something that you can do quickly. And for colleges that use the My Intuition, typically, they're going to have both available on their website so that you can choose to use the more streamlined My Intuition or go directly into their net price calculator. And they can get relatively complicated as well, by the way, so they may ask you 30, 40, 50 questions, almost like you're filling out a financial aid form. And you need to make sure you enter that reasonably accurately in order to get reasonable, accurate results. So that's the net price calculator, again, certainly at the high end schools, but any school out there is going to have a net price calculator. And it's a great way for you to start learning a little bit more about how the need based aid side of things is gonna work at any particular school.

All right, that's all we have for today. I really appreciate you listening. Any reviews that you can do wherever you found this podcast would be great, whether it's Spotify or Apple. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out, I can be reached through the website at tamingthehighcostofcollege.com. And you can find a phone number or send us a message however you'd like. That's all for now. We'll see you next week.

Presenter
Thank you for listening to the Taming the High Cost of College Podcast. Now it's time for you to take action head to tamingthehighcostofcollege.com for show notes, bonus content and to leave feedback for Brad. The next step on your college journey starts now. Brad Baldridge is a registered representative of Cambridge Investment Research and an investment advisor representative of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, a registered investment advisor. Securities are offered through Cambridge Investment Research Incorporated, a broker dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Brad owns two companies: Baldridge Wealth Management and Baldridge College Solutions. The Baldridge companies are not affiliated with Cambridge Investment Research.

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