Join me for our new College Cash Chat LIVE on Thursday nights!

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited to host a live chat on twitter just for you! The College Cash Chat will be held every Thursday from 10:00 -11:00 pm EST beginning September 1.

Each Thursday we will come together and talk about financial aid tips and have live discussions focused on how you can easily navigate the financial aid process. As your Financial Aid Expert I have much to offer as do the many industry leaders I will bring to our chat as special guests!

This is an exciting way to engage and learn, while we build a community of education and support for all of us. Our chat will be open forum and you do not need to commit or rsvp. Simply observe only or observe and engage. Either way, I am sure you will enjoy the experience and take away valuable information!

In addition to our weekly live chat, you will find that conversation in our special stream found on Twitter under #CollegeCash will take place throughout the week as many people including industry professionals, students, parents and teachers will begin posting valuable information. I will monitor the conversations daily, so please feel free to post questions, concerns or a hello in our special stream at anytime as you are always invited to chat with me.

Our fist topic for September 1, we will discuss Getting Ready for the Financial Aid Process.

I understand Social Media is new for some of you and the thought of a live Twitter Chat may sound foreign, so I below you will find information on how to attend a Twitter Chat suggested by Dabney Porte, who specializes in online relationships and community building.

Here is some information about Use a “Twitter Aggregator” Program, or Free software

• If you do not have a basic platform outside of Twitter that you use to manage your twitter stream, you can download one of the free applications like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. I prefer Tweetdeck, but others simply love Hootsuite

• Both applications will help you to organize your tweets in a variety of ways. For the purpose of attending twitter chats, while engaging with others at the same time, they are invaluable www.tweetdeck.com www.hootsuite.com
  

• Once you have one of the above applications up and running, simply do a search for #collegecash. This will automatically produce a column of all tweets that mention #collegecash only.

• The hashtag or # symbol is the key to engaging in any twitter chat event. By including #collegecash in your tweet, your message will be added to the single stream called #collegecash. Without adding the hashtag, your tweet won’t be recognized as being part of our chat event.

• To add yourself to the #collegecash stream, all you need to do is be certain that you mention (type) #collegecash somewhere within your tweet. Most people add it to the end of what they have to say.

If you want to keep things simple while you attend our College Cash Chat, we strongly recommend starting with Tweet Chat, which is easy to use and keeps your entire focus on the chat via a single column format. All tweets made within our event will be listed.

When you reply to a tweet, the hashtag will automatically be added to your tweets, ensuring that you are actively participating. The greatest aspect of this site is you can slow the chat down with the pause button. Conversations move quickly in most twitter chats, and having the ability to go at your speed is beyond helpful.

Please keep in mind, you can run this stream 24/7 as we build our community. If you have information related to our area of interest, please feel free to post links to such! However, please do not use our community to promote subject outside of topics!

Remember, Find us in the stream or simply go to the link below anytime you wish to easily see what our community is talking about or to attend the live chat on Thursday evenings. Be sure to log in so that you will be able to participate.

http://tweetchat.com/room/CollegeCash

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly or post them here. I would love to hear your thoughts on what topics you would like discussed in our chats and suggestions for guests. I am beyond thrilled to build our online community together and look forward to experience! I look forward to hearing from you on Twitter and remember you can find me by using @JodiOkun.

Sending Kids to College

This time of year always takes me back in time as I recall the overwhelming process of preparing my children for college.

Preparing your children for college is an emotional experience to say the least and preparing your bank account is overwhelming. There are applications, and I shudder at the memories of my children picking an average of ten schools to send these to. The paper work, the fear of letting your children go…it is a bigger experience then most of us realize.

The biggest stress I faced, as do many of my clients is the financial aid process. Many of you may feel as I did; Where do I turn, what is available, how do I access aid? For me, I found it difficult to contact the financial aid offices for ten schools. It seemed like an impossible task.

For most of us and as I did, we turn to the High School Counselor. Although our Counselor is amazing and I loved him, he was simply not familiar with the financial aid process. Sound familiar? If so, stick with me, because I learned so much.

The biggest lesson I learned as I walked this Financial Aid Journey was this; There appears to be a great disconnect between colleges and high schools regarding the financial aid process. The information is incongruent and the many dollars out there for parents to access, seem impossible to find, but yet simple to do when you are guided appropriately.

What I longed for was to find an expert in the field who could guide me. Seeing that many parents felt the same way. I decided I would educate myself and become this person to many.

I enrolled in courses at UCLA and studied financial aid. My professor was the financial aid director of Occidental College and an amazing mentor I introduced myself, we had coffee and I told her of my goals to assist, educate and advocate for families who are uncomfortable with the Financial Aid Process. My experience working with my professor was amazing. As the director of Finacial Aide, she took me in, under her wing and I worked side by side with her in the financial aid office at Occidental for 2 years. She taught me everything she knew.

Do you feel overwhelmed by the Financial Aide Process? Are you afraid you simply do not have the money to help your child pursue the college dream? Are you looking for support and direction? That is what I do. I help families find the financial aid support needed. I have developed systems and processes to streamline the clutter of the process and am able to assist you to clearly determine your need. In working with me you will release the stress and clutter of the paperwork and questions allowing you to spend the last years your child is in high school actually appreciating time with them before they go to college

Many families have different unique situations and call me their “go to girl”. I love what I do and enjoy meeting many amazing families with amazing children, who now have the opportunity to follow their dreams and open doors that may never have been unlocked.

If you are sending your child off to college…let’s get together and talk about the process I have been where you are, I know how you feel and I know what you need and how to help!

Tips to Cut College Costs

Back to school for parents of college-age children means its time to examine extra college expenses.

With added costs such as lab fees, recreation fees, computer fees, materials fees and a bus pass, it feels like there are all sorts of fees that get added to tuition.

Here are few tips where you can cut college costs:

1. Room and Board: While some schools require students to live on campus for at least their freshman year, and financial-aid packages could help ease some of the cost of room and board, it’s still worth running the numbers to see if living off campus could be a better deal for at least part of a student’s time at college.
2. Books: Textbooks are the next big drain, with some coming in at close to $200 a book. One tip to save money is look into purchasing a used copy of an older edition of the textbook (always check with your professor first). Another newer option is to rent your textbooks.
3. Technology: A computer is essential to the college experience, but one piece of technology you can save on is a printer. Students may find free printing somewhere on campus, possibly at the library, student union or in classrooms.
4. Transportation: Leave the car at home. Not only will you save on gas, maintenance and parking costs, but you can also cut back on your insurance bills.

When sending kids off to college parents need all the tips they can get to help mange college tuition.