075 How to Build a “Responsible” College List with Cathy Copeland Titus

Flourish Coaching

Jun 20, 2023

In this episode, Lisa and Cathy discuss:

Creating a responsible, not perfect, college list.
Reconciling what actions parents can do and what is the students’ responsiblity.
Defining success as a family for better communication.
Merit-based and need-based scholarships.

Key Takeaways:

College is different from when parents were in school than it is now. It is even wildly different just from pre-COVID to post-COVID college admissions.
Define success as a family so everyone is communicating in the same language before you begin building your student’s college list.
Have a budget in mind before your student starts looking at college campuses.
There is a mindset around the financial aspect of college education. Think of in-state tuition as your tuition discount.
When looking at colleges, establish the emotional parameters, but you can’t argue with the data on what the schools are looking for and their institutional priorities.

“It’s like many relationships in business, you get the money conversation done, and then you know where to go from there. A lot of parents don’t think of it that way because it is an emotional purchase. I’ve never met a parent that doesn’t think their child deserves the absolute best, and so defining best is crucial to the relationship.” – Cathy Copeland Titus

About Cathy Copeland Titus:

Cathy entered the higher education field as the founder and CEO of a multi-platform educational technology company designed to provide university enrollment managers with unique student candidate data. After years of supporting colleges on the yield side of the equation, she exited the company and enrolled in a certification program in admissions at the University of California Davis to begin helping students and families find their best college options.

Cathy joined Strategies For College in the spring of 2020 as an Admissions Advisor and continues to manage a small group of students each year. She also is VP, of Strategic Initiatives and spearheads the SFC Consortium, home of the List Hero software.