An interesting article was brought to my attention today and I wanted to share it with everybody. The article discusses a particular case where a mother searched the internet to fill out the FAFSA form, found what she thought was the FAFSA web site, but was charge $79.99 to fill out the “free” FAFSA form.

“It’s been 11 years since I graduated from college, and I just assumed they started charging a fee,” said Moyes, a York mother of four.

One of the things that I emphasis on the College Cost page of SMB College Life is that there are many web sites out there who claim to be the official FAFSA web site and actually scam people into paying to fill out the complete FAFSA form. Who knows what else these web sites could be doing with your information. Please, if you are planning on filling out the FAFSA form, be very weary of where you go to fill it out. The REAL FAFSA web site can be found at fafsa.ed.gov, which is a government run agency who will collect and PROTECT your sensitive credit information. The Daily Collegian at Penn State University covered the story where Mrs. Moyes had a lot to say about web sites who are scamming hundreds of uninformed parents into paying to fill out the free FAFSA form:

“It’s a scam. They charge you money for something you could do for free,” Moyes said.

“I don’t understand … What is the government doing?” Moyes said. “It’s the federal government that’s getting screwed.”

“Everything from my e-mail address to the adjusted gross income — everything I put in [at FAFSA.com] — was either blank or needed a correction,” Moyes said.

A spokesman of PHEAA, Short for Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, made a very important statement that should be heard by all:

“They should see a red flag whenever there’s a cost associated with the FAFSA,” Reiber said. “There’s free help available, so they don’t have to pay that $80 or a couple hundred dollars to have help completing that form.”

Parents and students: Please read the article about the FAFSA scam, which is located at http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/01/31/applicants_confused_by_fafsa_s.aspx

Also, please be informed, and make wise decisions when it comes to planning, applying and financing a college education! It’s easy to fall into being scammed into paying for things that should be free, not receiving proper financial assistance for college, and paying ridiculously high interest rates on student loans. At SMB College Life we provide you with all the information that you need to successfully plan, apply, and finance your college education and we frown upon the many people out there who try to take advantage of the uninformed parents and students.

Thanks for being informed by SMB College Life!

SMB College Life Blog

I’ve been trying to get back in the swing of things for the new semester so it has been a few days since I’ve posted. I really wanted to take some time tonight to share this new video which I’ve picked to be the video of the week in the Entertainment section of SMB College Life. I personally think this video is great, the song has a great message and we can forget to just let things go sometimes. I first heard this song when I watched “Meet The Robinson’s,” the new Disney movie. It might not seem like the typical movie that a college kid would watch, but I guess I’m not a typical college kid.

For those who have not seen the movie I highly recommend renting, no buying because I think you will like it so much that you will want to watch it again. The first time I saw it I liked it so much that I played it a second time. I guess I really relate to the story line and feel as though it’s me they are talking about sometimes.

As a kid I’ve always had crazy ideas and have always been interested in fixing things, making things better, or figuring out how stuff works. As I grew older I found myself always thinking and trying new things. I love inventing things, making things better and trying new business ventures. Unfortunately I’ve always felt as though people, or things were holding me back from a lot of the things that I wanted to create.

College was probably the best thing that happened to me because it lets me work at my true potential. College has also opened multiple doors in my life and helped me to find passions that I never knew I could have. My college education has provided me with the knowledge, resources, and desire to accomplish the things that I’ve always wanted to do. One of the things that college helped me to accomplish is the creation of SMB College Life. I’ve wanted to create and operate my own website since I was about 12 years old, and have finally be able to accomplish it thanks to my college education.

Through the creation of SMB College Life I found a real passion for helping people. The main idea, the core or foundation of SMB College Life is the fact that I want to help students plan for their college education, pay less for their education, and save money on everyday things that they may need. The drive to get this website published was that I had a very hard time planning for college and paying for college. Basically my parents wouldn’t or couldn’t help me with college so I was on my own. I had to go through the process entirely on my own, without guidance, cosigners, scholarships or anything. I felt abandoned, and still do, but realized that I could do something about it by trying to help other students who may be in similar situations.

So basically, through the creation of something that I’ve always wanted I was also able to find a way to help others, and I feel great doing it. People always ask me why I spend so much time on the website and my answer is simple; I want to make a college education easier and less expensive to achieve. I don’t want to see people have to struggle through the process or pay as much for their education as I have. The website is only one of the many opportunities that my college life has made possible to me.

My college life and education has been the break that I needed in life. It has allowed me to liberate myself from the things that held me back, provided the knowledge and resources that I needed to achieve some of my dreams, and opened the doors to endless possibilities in my life. Through my college life I was able to create something great, something that helps me feel better about myself, and helps other students achieve their college education.

My point here is the same as the song, and the movie. Let things go, don’t stop fighting to achieve your dreams, and create something…no matter how big or small it is. I’m always thinking of new ideas and have created a lot of things in the past few years. I have failed more times than I can count and have succeeded only a handful of times. No matter how many times you fail, you have to get back up and try again.

Start taking action and turning your ideas into creations. You may succeed, or you may fail but at least you will be able to say that you tried; that you took action and accomplished something that you believed in. Most people can’t get past thinking or wishing they could create something and never take action. That will not make your life fulfilling! Taking action on your ideas and creating something will make your life richer than you could ever imagine. In some cases this could mean money rich, but I’m talking about FEELING rich inside. I can wake up most mornings and feel absolutely amazing because I’ve been able to take action through my college life and create something. It just so happened that my creation is one that helps hundred and hopefully thousands of students just like me. You creation could do this too but you have to take action.

Listen to the video and watch “Meet The Robinson’s” and my message might become a lot clearer.

Thanks for using SMB College Life!

SMB College Life Blog

So to follow up from yesterday’s post I want to present the Target Ten Challenge being held by Nittany Nation. What they are trying to do is get 10,000 student to show up for the basketball game, where Penn State will face Ohio State on January 29th. I just found out about this tonight through a Facebook invitation. If you are a member of Facebook you can also check out the group that has been started to get students involved. Check out this link: TARGET TEN CHALLENGE. This is the perfect opportunity to grab a couple of friends to do something new by going to see a basketball game.

The tickets are only $5 dollars and if we get 10,000 students to attend then ALL of the proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to Thon! That’s $50,000 towards helping children with cancer. Guys, honestly, this isn’t much to ask at all. The basketball games normally last two hours; I hope this isn’t too much time to ask for helping a good cause.

Ok, so maybe you don’t have the time to go but if you still by a student ticket it counts! Spending $5.00 for a ticket, which gets donated towards a good cause will probably be the best $5.00 you’ve ever spent. If you think about it, you could pay one less cover charge at a bar in State College, which goes to the rich bar owner anyway, and that money could be used for the student ticket. It’s a great cause and a great opportunity for us, as students, to come together and support something other than ourselves this semester.

You don’t even have to be a student to by a ticket that will count towards the Target Ten Challenge. I checked it out earlier today, and you can actually purchase a student ticket through Ticketmaster without a student ID. It’s the same price, and it counts towards the 10,000 tickets they are trying to sell. This is the exact page that I used earlier to test this:
Student Tickets to Benefit Thon

I hope you decide to come out, and I hope you decide to bring all of your friends. I know I’ll be there, or if I can’t make it, I’ve at least put out the $5.00 that will help children with cancer. Honestly, what better way can you think of to spend $5.00?

Thanks for your support and thanks for using SMB College Life!

SMB College Life Blog

Not only do we provide a lot of useful information for college students at SMB College Life we also would like to encourage students to get involved in some sort of cause, by volunteering, donating, or making some sort of contribution. There are many organizations that you can get involved with on a collegiate level to help in the greater good of others. To find an organization all you have to do is look around. Almost all colleges and universities have some sort of campus groups or organizations to support different causes. The easiest way to find a cause to support is to look close to home.

From personal experience I was able to find an organization in which I support called Thon. For those who don’t know Thon is an organization which helps collect money for children with cancer. The money they collect through various fund raisers and activities goes to helping children with cancer and research and development of a cure for cancer.

In the past year I’ve been a lot more interested in Thon due to a family member being diagnosed. I’m pretty sure that a lot of universities have Thon and it is a great organization to support so please ask around your university or check out Thon.org for more information. The Pennsylvania State University will be holding their annual “Dance Marathon” where students, faculty, staff, athletes, and community members gather to show their support in a 48 hour event. Last year Penn State Thon raised over $5,000,000 to donate towards helping children with cancer. The event will be held between February 22-24 so if you are around or near State College Pennsylvania please stop by!

This video shows a student a Berkley who is helping to support Breast Cancer. Her cause was found after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then she has been doing her part to get involved and show her support for the fight against breast cancer.

It’s too often that we say we will get involved in something great, or help some great cause, but fall short of acting. We have hopes of one day donating to support a cause but never do. We only have one question:

Why Not Today?

We want to know what is stopping you, or holding you back from getting involved in the fight for a better cause. Maybe you think that you don’t have the money, but even donating one dollar will help to find a cure for cancer, or help support any other cause you may have. Don’t wait until your family is affected before you decide to get involved. They need you now! Please pass this message onto someone else as a minimal effort to get involved.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for using SMB College Life!

SMB College Life Blog

A new semester has finally arrived and now is the time to prepare, organize and stock up on school supplies. It’s also time for high school seniors to begin filling out the proper paperwork to make the transition from high school to college. Whether you are in college, a high school senior, or a parent of a student you should always be concerned with financing college and saving money on everyday items that you may need. Fortunately, we not only provide great information about the details of preparing for college, we also provide savings through integrated partnerships to help everyone save money.

If it’s school or office supplies that you need you should check out our savings page for different products, sales and coupons offered through various merchants. Visit http://smbcollegelife.com/OfficeSupplies.html for a list of merchants who offer savings on things like ink cartridges, printer paper, notebooks, backpacks and much more through SMB College Life. Below is short list of a few merchants that have current coupons or sale running:

For the full list of merchants please visit the Office Supplies page.

Textbook are another large semester expense…or is it? If you search various resources properly then you will be able to potentially save hundreds on textbooks this semester, and perhaps make a few hundreds on old textbooks. To get the best prices on old textbooks and save hundreds on new textbooks check out SMB’s Textbook page which is dedicated to helping students find and sell textbooks. Some people are more comfortable using one source for textbook sales and purchasing, but we have found through experience that it is best practice to expand your horizons to using multiple sources. This yields higher returns on selling textbooks, and higher savings on buying textbooks, but, as our mission statement states; “It’s your choice to decide the best products and services.”

For parents and high school seniors:
You’re probably looking for any information you can find on college planning; particularly college costs, scholarships, college applications and more. You don’t need to worry about this anymore as wee cover a lot of the information that you will need to make the successful transition from high school to college. Click over to our College Planning section for more information, downloads, and links that will aid your college preparation this year.

As always, if there is anything that you need; any information that we do not provide on the site, more links or more details on certain topics, or guided direction please email contact@smbcollegelife.com and our team will try to answer your questions as quickly as possible.

One last thing. Please be sure to check out our college cost calculator which was newly integrated into the site. It is part of our College Cost page, where you will find valuable information and answers to common misconceptions about the costs involved in going to college.

Thanks for using SMB College Life for all your college needs!

SMB College Life Blog