Join us for our monthly Twitter Office Hour. On Thursday, April 2nd at 7pm EST, we’re inviting first-generation college students, those who aspire to be, and everyone who cares about first-gens to meet us on Twitter to ask questions and share answers on important topics using our hashtag #FirstGenOfficeHour.

This month, we’ll continue our focus on preparing you for the college application process by helping you understand and compare your financial aid award letters!

Who

Our staff, first-gen student bloggers, first-generation college-bound students, their parents, counselors, college access providers, and mentors, and colleges.

Below are our awesome College Partner co-hosts for this event:

1. Hanover College

2. Lafayette College; @k_zerbe

3. St. Joseph’s College; @asilvaSJCNY

4. University of North Carolina Greensboro

5. University of Southern California; @RankinUSC

6. University of Rochester

7. Lasell College

8. Williamette University

When

Thursday, March 5th, 2015 7:00pm EST

How to Participate

Log on to Twitter and follow @ImFirstGen and hashtag #FirstGenOfficeHour! To ask a question or share an answer, add #FirstGenOfficeHour to your tweet!

Twitter Chat Questions

Q1. What is a financial aid award letter and what makes up that award letter? (grants, loans, work-study, etc.) #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q2. What goes into figuring out the amount of financial aid awarded to a student? #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q3. If a student submits the same FAFSA to each school, why are financial aid packages so different?  #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q4. In comparing award letters between colleges, what are some factors a student should take into consideration?  #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q5. What exactly is an EFC?  What are a student’s options if the need to finance the EFC? #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q6. If a student and their family feels they should be awarded more money, can they appeal their award letter?  #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q7. Will being awarded outside scholarships affect how much financial aid an institution awards a student? #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q8.  Who should a student reach out to in case they are questions or need clarification about their award letters? #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q9. If a student and their family accepts the financial aid award letter from an institution, what are the next steps? #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q10. What does a fin. aid award letter look like for DACA students and Dreamers? #FirstGenOfficeHour

Q11. What are your top 3 need-to-know pieces of advice you’d like to share with students and their families? #FirstGenOfficeHour

 

Share This! 

Follow @ImFirstGen and help us promote the Twitter Office Hour using the following sample tweets: