letters5

Letters from our Clients - Page 5

My College Answers
Strategic Planning for College Admissions & Aid

November 10, 2001

Lori, I would like to thank you for all of your assistance recently with the mix-ups on Amber's
tuition. I am confident that your input helped to put things straight!

We contacted you for your help "late in the game" as Amber had already selected her college
of choice and was accepted. She had been given several scholarships and things were
looking pretty good. The only problem was that the "estimated" costs and the "real" costs
were not as close as we had planned. Your guidance has dropped the family contribution
from around $10,000 per year to approximately $5,000. Your help with completing all of those
confusing forms and your follow through to make sure everything was taken care of was
especially appreciated. We are counting on your help and guidance next year and I am
advising all of my friends with college bound students to contact you, the earlier the better!!

Thanks for all of your help.

Sincerely,
Mary Ann Igoe
Blackfoot, Idaho
(reprinted by permission)

October 25, 2001

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to write a letter of recommendation for Lori A.
Warren. This recommendation is based on the outstanding services we received beginning
in September 2000 to August 2001. Lori has been a superior help with the financial aid for
our daughter, who is just entering into her first year of college.

I had no knowledge and felt so overwhelmed with all the different forms to be filed, how to
begin to choose a college that would best fit our daughter's need, how to obtain financial aid
and how to negotiate with the different colleges. Lori has proven without a doubt that she
knows her business. We are so excited to say that our daughter gets to attend her first year of
college with all expenses met 100%. No cost is coming from her father and I. I have to say
that Lori has helped beyond our expectations.

Lori A. Warren is trustworthy, hardworking, and very effective with the services she offers. I
need to also say that she makes you feel that you are important to her and she truly wants to
do all she can to see that you receive the best financial aid package available to you. I would
recommend her without reservations. We are very pleased and plan on coming back to her in
the fall.

Sincerely,
Sharon Johnson
Firth, Idaho
(reprinted by permission)

11 October 2001

As the time for our daughter to attend college approached, both excitement and apprehension
began to set in. Excitement for the opportunities that would be unfolding for her.
Apprehension for how we would pay for it.

So we made an appointment to meet with Lori.

Lori explained the traps and pitfalls that are associated with financing a college education.
She told us that as well intentioned as the financial aid counselors at colleges and
universities are, many of them do not fully understand the rules and regulations involved with
government aid. She explained that what they don't understand costs the student time and
money.

Being leery of rushing into any business commitments, we left her office without writing a
check or signing an agreement. We spent a few days thinking about the options we had and
what we were facing in figuring it all out. It soon became apparent that what we were about to
undertake was more than we could handle without professional help.

Lori's fee seemed like a lot of money at first. After weighing what it would cost if we made
mistakes verses what it would save if done correctly, we made another appointment to see
Lori. This time we wrote a check and signed an agreement with her to help us.

Lori went to work. At first my daughter's intention was to just apply at our local college, like
every one else. Lori encouraged her to apply at least five schools. She taught us that by being
accepted at multiple schools, we would be in a position to choose from among their financial
aid offers and possibly leverage the offers against each other..

Taking Lori's advice, she applied at five schools and was accepted at four of them. Armed
with choices, Lori began walking us through our best options, matching them with an
academic program that was best suited to our daughter. After weighing the options carefully,
the choice was narrowed down to two schools that met the requirements. One was only five
miles from our home; the other was five hundred miles away in another state.

Lori made numerous telephone calls to representatives at the schools and was able to speak
their language thus providing us with accurate information so nothing was left unturned.
When it drew near to decision time, the local college was more affordable until the other
school came through with a scholarship, which waved the out of state tuition.

Our daughter is now attending school in another state, five hundred miles away. She is in the
school that is both best suited to her academic need and to our pocket book.

Through Lori's help, she was able to get the maximum amount of student aid, the right
student loans, and a work-study program. Lori handled the legwork and led us through the
maze of choices and decisions. Without her, it could have been a headache followed by
nightmares resulting from not knowing what we were doing.

In the beginning, the price for Lori's services seemed like a lot of money, but in the end her
efforts paid off. We saved six thousand dollars from what it would of cost had we followed our
initial intentions.

We would recommend the services of Lori Warren to anyone faced with coming up with the
money to send a child to college. Lori's professionalism is top notch with a competent staff to
support her.

Glen & Bonnie Buttars
Rexburg, Idaho
(reprinted by permission)

February 15, 2002

My daughter had dreamed of going to school back east since she was in eighth grade. One of
the most difficult things I've had to do was to discourage Mac from getting her hopes up about
attending college outside Idaho - simply because I thought there was no way I could afford to
help her.

A big hurdle was to convince MacKenzie, a stubborn, independent teenager, that we needed
your help. When we walked in, Mac sat down with her arms crossed and her chair backed
away from your desk. Thirty-five minutes later, we walked out of Lori Warren's office excited
about Mac's college aspirations!

Throughout this school year, I have been, in turn, dazed at the amount of paperwork, relieved
that you knew the answers, and thankful for the advice given to Mac. Lori, you and your staff
took what seemed like a Sisyphean task and made it manageable. I am so grateful to have
been a client of yours, and even though I have seen, first hand, the amount of time, energy,
and patience you have exerted on our behalf, I am amazed when I come to the office and see
the same efforts being put forth with all of your patrons! In this day when poor customer
service seems to be the norm; I am delighted to be able to recommend Lori Warren as a
throwback to the days of a Mom and Pop business where everyone is treated like a good
friend, and there is never a "stupid" question, comment or request made by the customer. I
know you have often had to explain things to me more than once, but it is always done with
kindness and enthusiasm, just as if this was the first time you have answered it.

Because of Lori Warren, MacKenzie is attending her "dream university" in upstate New York! I
don't know which one of us is more excited!

Thank you for everything,

Kelli Mays
Idaho Falls, Idaho