CPN Partnership | Go College Planning

My SET For College Solution™ helps families successfully navigate the college admissions and financial aid planning process so their children can attend the college of their choice − regardless of the cost.

CPN has worked with over 822 colleges from all across the country — including every single one of the Ivies.

CPN’s average family receives $19,075 per year in college aid.

CPN’s average ‘under awarded’ family (after appeal by our team) receives an additional $4,809 per year in aid.

Step 1: Plan – How do we determine the best schools for our child?The Plan phase is an extremely important part of the college admissions process. Not navigating this phase properly is the reason why many students take 5 or 6 years to get an undergraduate degree nowadays – costing parents tens of thousands of unnecessary dollars. Determining the best schools for your child is key to ensuring a successful college experience and beyond.

In this phase, we seek to:

Discover what makes your student ‘tick’, what their interests are, what may be a fit and what might not be a fit
Discover what major/career path would be the best fit for your student so that they don’t change course and add unnecessary years/cost to their college experience
Figure out what your student needs to work on right now to get them on the right track and laser focused in the college planning & admissions process
Develop the ideal criteria for building (and narrowing down) the optimal school list for your student’s unique, specific criteria and needs
Determine which schools your child has the best shot of ‘getting in’ so that you can make the best and most informed application decisions
Coach your student on how to ask the ‘right’ questions when visiting campuses, what to look for at the visit and determining how many colleges is the ‘right’ number.
Motivate your student, determine their ‘niche’, and get them excited to engage in this process

Step 2: Package and Prep – How do we help our child get accepted to the schools of their choice?The Package & Prep phase is another extremely important part of the college admissions process. Now that you have determined what the ‘right fit’ school is for your student, you want to do whatever you can to ensure they get accepted. In addition, you also want to package & prep your student so that they look as good as possible on paper. By doing so, the colleges not only want your student to choose their school, but are willing to give additional funds to get them to go there!

We compare this to a small business that is on the market to be sold. The company wants to look as good as possible on paper to attract the highest possible price from interested bidders. Similarly, we want your child to look as good as possible on paper so that they attract the highest possible offers from the schools of their choice.

In this phase, we seek to:

Coach your student on how to build a ‘brag sheet’ that ‘matters’
Consult on how to get great letters of recommendation from your ideal references as well as how to ensure the letters match the student’s stated college goals & aspirations
Coach your student on the college essay and explore strategic ways to maximize their ‘hook’ so that the student stands out to a college admissions committee
Coach your student on the admission application and determine which admission decision makes sense based on your student’s specific needs
Coach your student to maximize their SAT & ACT test scores using little-known strategies for boosting scores
Coach your student on how to create confidence in executing a well thought-out and narrated perspective during a live college interview

Because you’ll also want to package & prep them for a career post college graduation, we also want to:

Provide tools to ensure your student is staying on track, keeping their grades up, taking the right classes and otherwise, holding them accountable to doing what they should be doing throughout college
Coach your student on how to land the ‘right’ internship to put them on the fast track to getting a job in their chosen field upon college graduation
Coach your student on building the perfect resume and other career placement strategies to attempt to increase their chances of getting a job in their chosen field upon college graduation

Step 3: Pay – How do we afford and pay for our child’s education?The Pay phase is a vital part of the financial aid and funding process. Now that you have determined what the ‘right fit’ school is for your student and they’ve gotten into that school, you need to make sure that you can afford to pay for it! This is where we seek to get as much funding as possible from the school for your specific situation.

In this phase, we seek to:

Determine exactly which merit-based college scholarships your student will be eligible for
Analyze whether or not ‘need-based’ financial aid will be a factor in your college planning and if so, how much you’ll be eligible for
Coach and advise your family on all applicable strategies to keep your out-of-pocket college costs as low as legally possible
Provide unlimited college financial aid award estimates for your family’s specific situation so that you can know in advance what to expect from each school you’re considering
Provide complete peace of mind knowing that our team of Financial Aid Forms Concierges will 100% complete all required financial aid forms for you (FAFSA completion is a free bonus for all of our members)
Coach your family on whether your award offer was fair or not (our expert Appeals Team spreadsheets and analyzes multiple variables to come to a conclusion on whether an appeal should be made)
Consult, coach and draft negotiation & appeal strategy for your family if an ‘unfair” offer was awarded

Step 4: Peace of Mind – How can we pay for college without sacrificing our other financial goals?The Peace of Mind phase is where we dig in to determine the best way for your family to pay for college – regardless of the cost…. and ultimately become more financially set for life. This is accomplished by delivering time tested, proven strategies to send your children to college… as well as help you grow more financially secure every single day – without taking unnecessary risks.

In this phase, we seek to:

Design and implement a realistic working college funding plan aimed towards allowing your family to more easily afford to send all children to college – regardless of the cost; and ultimately become financially set for life
Review and analyze your family’s financial plans for college and beyond… and determine what can be done to improve your family’s overall financial situation and get you on the right path to becoming financially set for life – without taking unnecessary risks
Analyze where your money is flowing and strategize any opportunities that can improve how you pay for college as well as improve your overall financial picture
Map out all of your dreams in life and the determine best path to take to ‘realistically’ achieve those dreams once college is funded
Architect your entire financial life down on a simple one-page plan that provides you with confidence and certainty of how you will pay for college as well as achieve your other long-term goals