<p>i have heard that there are people who are in the business of being financial aid consultants/advisors. are these people worth hiring? </p>
<p>i understand they charge a couple of hundred dollars. i don't need to hire a person to fill out forms. to me, the value of hiring someone like this is for them to tell me about all of the hidden scholarship money that is out there untapped and to provide my child with a list of those available scholarships that she should apply for.</p>
<p>is this what these people do? has anyone utilized such a person and had success?</p>
<p>Read through the FAQ thread at the top of this forum, and then scroll down through the rest of this forum, and you will learn enough to hang up your own shingle.</p>
<p>We had one speak to the parents at the HS when my oldest was in 10th grade. Learned a lot - not really about scholarships, but a lot about financial aid. And, yes, the same info can be found in these forums. One size doesn’t fit all.</p>
<p>I also recommend reading through the forums as well.</p>
<p>Also as you start looking at colleges become familiar with their policies and procedures. Every school is different. For example, at some schools admissions awards scholarships, the scholarship office awards scholarships and even the financial aid office awards scholarships. At other schools the financial aid office handles everything.</p>
<p>Get yourself a copy of “Paying for College Without Going Broke” by Kalman Chany.
It will be the best $16 you ever spent. He explains all of the nuts and bolts of financial aid in a very easy to understand format.
It’s probably worth getting a copy well before your child will be applying to schools because there are a lot of things you should know when saving (e.g. the differences between 529 funds and UGTM accounts) and then a fresh copy just before your child applies, because the book gets updated each year with the most recent changes to financial aid formulas.</p>