FAP798: Citibank, Sallie Mae, How to Become a Rockstar

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Student Financial Aid News
+ Consumerist: Citi tightens down student loans. Citibank (ticker: C) is adopting the zero-tolerance approach to late payments favored by the credit card industry—miss a payment due date and you’ll lose any interest rate discount(s) you currently enjoy.
+ We are writing to inform you about important changes to the terms of your student loan. To retain your borrower benefits with us, you must make and have your payments posted to your account no later than the scheduled due date. Any payment posted after the due date will result in the termination of such benefit. Interest rate reductions and other benefits do not apply during periods of deferment and/or forbearance and automatically terminate for payments returned for insufficient funds, loan delinquency, default, and/or the purchase of your loan by a guarantor.
+ Had a story yesterday on the blog about our friends Sallie Mae (ticker: SLM) from the Post Gazette. The AP picked it up from the Post as well: Because of a computer error at Sallie Mae, thousands of people with student loans from the company had their credit scores decimated. The problem was fixed Tuesday night, the company said Wednesday.
+ Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student lender, reported erroneous delinquencies for thousands of its customers to credit-reporting agencies. The company erroneously reported graduated or extended repayment plans for student loans as arrangements for partial payment, causing the Equifax agency to falsely code some borrowers’ accounts as delinquent.
+ iTunesU has really beefed up!

Scholarship Update
+ “Where do I want to go to college?” Scholarship
+ College Toolkit is giving away a $1,000 scholarship to a high school student. We want you to share with us what colleges you are most interested in.
+ To enter, all you need to do is pick at least 3 colleges you are considering, and rank them in order of preference.
+ The award is open to anyone who will be a high school student this upcoming fall. You must be 14 years of age or older and a U.S. resident to enter.
+ The deadline to enter is August 31, 2008
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site

JobCast
+ Today we release the sneak preview of the How to Write a Killer Cover Letter eBook. It’s a simpler version of last Thursday’s JobCast.
+ How to become a more established authority
+ Your chances of getting hired for any kind of job increase the more recognition you have
+ How do you get started? The usual tools – blogs, writing articles, etc.
+ Publish some eBooks or white papers in whatever your vertical is, whatever your specialty is
+ Find conference speaking opportunities – PodCamps, BarCamps, etc. – that let you get some public speaking experience – Toastmasters is good as well
+ Find out who in your local media covers that beat
+ Sign up for sites like HelpAReporter.com and send stories to reporters as appropriate
+ Find local PR firms who need outside talking heads for clients they’re working with
+ You are essentially becoming your own PR department, using public relations methods to increase your visibility
+ The ideal? Being able to say you’ve been published in various outlets, etc. that you can add to your resume
+ Which would be more impactful, sending someone a paper resume, or your TV appearance?
+ Ideally, in your vertical, in whatever industry you choose to specialize, your personal brand might become so well known that should you change jobs, you won’t even need a resume

Promo
+ Exciting new stuff rolling out at our private student loan site, AlternativeStudentLoan.com!

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Reminders
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+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Open an FDIC-insured savings account today!
+ Private student loans available at any time – visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com
+ Student credit card information at StudentPlatinum.com
+ FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com
+ Edvisors Jobs
+ Grad student? Get graduate financial aid information at the GradLoans.com blog!
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.

I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208.

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