<p>Agree, Limabeans, new users all probably work for this company! </p>
<p>“Paying for College Without Going Broke” Princeton Review, by Kalman Chany.<br>
I have been using this book for years & it has saved us $1,000’s of dollars.
At $19.95 per copy & buy it once a year, and it has its own website for any changes that may occur with financial aid after publication.</p>
<p>look: an almost identical thread in the FA forum <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/990690-college-made-simple-college-planning-network.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/990690-college-made-simple-college-planning-network.html</a> with some of the same posters.</p>
<p>CPN is linked with the Eagle College Planning of Columbus, Ohio. We are making this decision today. I haven’t heard anything either, but we’ll let ya know since we’re going with this company… $4K will at least double in aid…</p>
<p>“4K will at least double in aid…” No, it won’t, unless CPN is on intimate terms with the tuition fairy. Another first time poster shilling for CPN.</p>
<p>Is it really a bad investment??? I have doubts that I’m able to meet the time sensitive, multiple grant/application/financial aid packages. The lessons, online help seem worth the price. Guess it’s naive of me or just unsure of my son’s future…</p>
<p>FAFSA is not complicated, The CSS Profile comes from information from the last two years of returns and outside scholarship information really relies on things like studnt essays, etc. I would never pay to have someone help me when free information is available online for free. Scholarship money is generally based on income (or lack thereof), merit (which is the result of your child’s hard work), or affiliation with an organization. If your child is a junior, you have plenty of time to look for scholarship to apply for this summer. If your child is a senior, then you are late to the party.</p>
<p>I am in the exact same boat. I participated in a free phone consultation last night and would love to hear from people who have actually paid for the service. Random comments from peoples who know nothing about the company or the services they provide is of no help to me.</p>
<p>Doesn’t look like the CC nation has much experience with the company. It appears that only our very neeewest members have interest in the company. Sorry if we :have no experience" with a particular company. In particular, sorry that you would rather complain that we aren’t very helpful when the entire CC universe is open to questions about college planning in general and that we have great financial aid boards. Again, welcome new members.</p>
<p>I, too, am new here. But I only joined since I was gathering info on College Planning Network. I received a flier in the mail for their free webinar, and it was helpful.</p>
<p>However, aftre the webinar, they pressure you to sign up for a free phone consultation for a limited number of people. They asked for a bunch of info that took me hours to gather for the phone consultation.</p>
<p>When they called for the free consultation, I was expecting a financial aid counselor. Instead, it was a fast talking salesman who only asked for 3 out of the 6 areas of info I had to gather for the consultation. He started quoting EFC’s that my info would cause on FAFSA, but I already submitted FAFSA for this coming year and the EFC came out no where near as high as he estimated using only a few items of my financial info. He jumped around from topic to topic and said at the end that I was an extreme case of someone they could help, but I had to “act now” to sign up for over a $1500 “family fee” in addition to a montly fee per child. It would have been over $4000 for 3 kids in and out of college right now.</p>
<p>Monthly fee for 48 months? 2 years before my son graduates from HS? GAH.</p>
<p>I have heard through other Finaid articles that a financial aid consultant can be legit, but they usually charge around $100 for services. They help arrange your finances so don’t count against you for financial aid from the school or govt.</p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>I found this board after trying to find a review of CPN. I attended the on-line webinar and agreed to the “free” consultation. I told the interviewer up front that I considered our converstion partly an interview since I was also thinking of using the services of a local college financial advisor. She started asking a lot of questions about our situation, and asked if I had my latest tax return in front of me - would anyone seriously provide this information to someone they had no experience with over the phone? I asked what specific tools or strategies they employed - I was already aware of many after doing some research, but wanted to hear what she had to say. The reply: without getting into our financial situation, it was impossible for her to say. I asked what their fees were - again, a vague answer - between 0 and 5k I was told. I ended the call shortly after that. If anyone reading this board is thinking of participating in the “free” consultation, don’t waste your time - they are just sizing you up to find out if you can afford their fee.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts on this. I was about to attend a seminar, but the last thing I want is another high pressure sales pitch. There is no way I would be spending that kinda money anyway, so you all saved me an hour or so and all the aggravation that would have gone along with it. But one good thing, is that through searching for info on CPN I found this site, which appears to have some helpful info</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I am so thankful that I found this forum! I viewed the on-line video last Thursday for CPN, I was intrigued, so my husband and I got a “free” consult this aft via telephone. Alex from CPN asked a few questions about income from tax return, and what we expected to pay per year in family contributions. We are new to this college process. I said $10,000. He said he had to call us back while he ran the numbers. Called back, said he could get it to $11,000. Hmmm, how convenient he came up with that number. What if I had said $5,000??? For $29 a month for 48 months, and down payment of $1,500 we can sign up. My husband is falling for it. I’m not so I went on-line and found this forum! Now I know I won’t be signing up with this company. We are just going to have to be good at paperwork…Thank you to everyone!!</p>
<p>Agree w/QueenMedic – all of these negative posts seem to be from people who aren’t actually clients or even all that familiar with this company. I personally would like to hear feedback from someone who has actually used their service, has children enrolled in college now, and can share their experiences working with this outfit.</p>
<p>Alison 1987, it appears these comments about negative experiences are generally from people that looking at the CPN, and it came up short. CC is such a great resource for financial aid advice, college selection, etc that most of us parents here don’t need the service. But, hey, keep posting because when people google College Planning network, it brings them to this thread on College Confidential, where folks can get support in a great environment without spending a dime.</p>
<p>We used the College planning Network, they had the tips and common sense information but the real problem is the local people who in my opinion use the CPN to promote their life insurance selling policies for an upfront fee (here was around 1.8 K). So the local representative usually is a retirement advisor/College planning Specialist who has an insurance sales license. They get all your financial information and based on that they propose a “Savings plan” in which you are your own bank. Then the CPN gets the monthly fee of $29 billed to your credit card. When we didn’t buy the insurance policy (Universal Life), the level of coaching for the admissions to the university was lowered and vital information was not provided on time. Do not waste your time or money on this.</p>
<p>I would be suspicious, especially for those poster who has less than 5 posts. Please stop the scam!</p>
<p>From looking around on the web, it appears that the head of College Planing Network has a parallel company called “Strategic College Funding Solutions”</p>
<p>So, have you used the service?</p>
<p>Aren’t there rules in the TOS about posting business solicitation contact information? </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
<p>This thread should be closed. Posters with one post count are suspicious.</p>