January is here and the time has come to begin completing the financial aid process. You may have heard about this part being long, stressful and scary. And to be honest, that can be true. However, it doesn’t have to be! On Wednesday, January 14th at 4pm EST we provided major tips and advice to use to make your financial aid completion as smooth as possible. You heard from financial aid expert, Alexandra Rice at NerdWallet and got the scoop on best ways to understand and tackle the financial aid process. You also heard from a current first-gen student and I’m First! blogger , Khalil Johnson, on his experiences with completing financial aid requirements and how it’s different once in college. Here are a few key abbreviationsor links that we mentioned in the Hangout. Also, check out a entire video below!:

NerdWallet: http://www.nerdwallet.com/nerdscholar

E.F.C.: Estimated Family Contribution

F.A.F.S.A.: Free Application for Federal Student Aid

S.A.R.: Student Aid Report