Upcoming Webinar

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A Practical Workshop for Families Navigating the College Search

The most stressful part of the college process usually isn't the application itself. It's not knowing where to start, who to listen to, or how to tell the difference between a school that's genuinely right for your teenager and one that just looks impressive on paper.

This 90-minute live workshop cuts through the noise and gives you a clear, practical framework for approaching college admissions the way it should be approached: with your student's actual life in mind.

We'll cover how colleges actually evaluate students, what the data tells you that the rankings don't, and how to build a college list that makes sense academically, socially, culturally, and financially — for your family, not someone else's.

This isn't a lecture about how hard admissions is. It's a working session that sends you home with a real plan.

• Why fit matters more than selectivity — and how to define fit for your student
• How colleges actually evaluate applicants (hint: it's not just GPA and test scores)
• The higher education landscape: public vs. private, UC vs. CSU vs. community college vs. out-of-state
• How to read admissions data so you're building a realistic, balanced list
• The real timeline: what to do in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade
• Financial aid basics — and why some "expensive" schools cost less than your local state school
• How to support your teenager through this process without taking it over

All participants will receive the Fit-First College Evaluation Guide — a practical, fillable framework designed to help your family define what fit actually means for your student across three dimensions: academic, social/cultural, and financial. Work through it on your own or use it to spark a conversation.

Access to the webinar recording is also included for 30 days.

This workshop is designed for families with students in grades 8 through 11 who want to get ahead of the process, reduce stress, and make decisions from a place of clarity rather than anxiety. Families with seniors are welcome too — it's never too late to get oriented.

Wednesday, April 22nd 

6:00–7:30pm Pacific 

Live on Zoom

Most families go into the college search guessing — guessing at majors, guessing at possible career paths, and guessing at what their student is actually built for. The Clarity Upgrade changes that.

Using the research-backed YouScience Aptitude + Interest Assessment, your student will discover how their brain naturally works — not what they've learned in school, not what sounds impressive, but their genuine wiring. Their natural strengths. The kinds of problems they're built to solve.

Then you'll sit down with Lizette for a private 30-minute session to make sense of it all — what the results mean for your student specifically, what they suggest about direction and fit, and which questions to start asking as you start to build your college list.

Less guessing. More clarity. A real place to start.

Available as an upgrade at registration. Best for families with students in grades 9–11.

Lizette Paredes, M.S. is a college counselor with over 15 years of experience in education, including time in the USC Office of Admission and as a high school counselor. Her approach is fit-first and developmental — she thinks about who your teenager is becoming, not just where they're applying.