I'm in a very similar boat with my son and Bucknell! We have a -1800 SAI and they're still expecting us to pay $9,200 annually. It's so frustrating because their website makes it sound like families with negative SAIs should get full coverage. I've been lurking in this community for months reading about everyone's experiences, and based on what I've seen here, I'm planning to submit a formal appeal next week. We have some documentation about my wife's reduced hours due to caring for her elderly mother that wasn't fully captured in our CSS Profile. Reading through all these responses gives me hope that persistence really does pay off. Thank you everyone for sharing your strategies - especially the tip about getting admissions involved and checking for department-specific scholarships. My son is interested in business, so I'll definitely look into what the business school might offer. Has anyone had success appealing this late in the process? We're getting close to deposit deadlines and I'm worried we've missed our window.

As someone who's been through this process with multiple kids, I want to emphasize that you absolutely should not give up on appealing! I've seen families with similar SAI scores successfully get additional aid from Bucknell, but it requires being very strategic and persistent. A few additional tips based on what I've learned: 1. When you call the financial aid office, ask to speak with a senior counselor or the director - not just whoever answers the phone. The front-line staff often can't make decisions about additional funding. 2. Frame your appeal around "changed circumstances" rather than just asking for more money. Even if your financial situation is the same, emphasize anything that wasn't fully captured (like the medical expenses you mentioned). 3. If you have any connection to Bucknell alumni, now is the time to reach out. Sometimes a well-placed phone call from a donor or active alum can make a difference. The squeaky wheel really does get the grease in financial aid. Don't be afraid to be politely persistent - they have money set aside for exactly these situations, but they won't offer it unless you ask (repeatedly). Your daughter's stats must be strong if Bucknell accepted her, so they clearly want her there. Use that to your advantage in negotiations!

That's awesome that you got everything sorted out! It's such a relief when you finally get through to the right person and get a clear timeline. Thanks for updating us - this thread is going to be super helpful for other first-gen students who are dealing with the same confusion about the FAFSA process. Good luck with your aid package next week!

So glad to see this thread helping other first-gen students! I went through this exact same confusion last year and wish I had found a community like this. One thing I'd add - if your school has a student success center or first-gen student support office, they're often really good at walking you through these processes step-by-step. They helped me understand not just the FAFSA timeline but also things like work-study applications, scholarship opportunities, and even connected me with upperclassmen mentors who had been through it all. Sometimes they can even advocate for you with financial aid if there are special circumstances. Worth checking if your school has these resources!

As a newcomer to this community, I just want to say how incredibly helpful this entire thread has been! I'm getting ready to file my first FAFSA for my daughter next month and was completely lost about household size calculations. We have a 21-year-old son who graduated college last year and moved back home while he saves money and looks for a better job. He works part-time at a retail store, pays us $300/month rent, and covers his own car payment and gas. However, we're still paying for his health insurance, groceries, phone plan, and he's on our car insurance policy. After reading all these real experiences and especially the @Miguel Hernández "expense test," I think we're probably providing more than 50% of his support despite his rent contribution. If he moved out tomorrow, our grocery bills would definitely decrease significantly, and we'd save on insurance costs but lose his rent income. I'm planning to include him in our household size of 4 (me, spouse, college daughter, and son at home). This thread has given me so much more confidence about making this decision correctly! Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences - you've made this confusing process so much clearer for families like mine who are new to FAFSA.

As a newcomer to this community, I'm so thankful I found this discussion! I'm preparing my first FAFSA for my daughter and had the exact same confusion about household size. My situation: We have a 20-year-old son who's taking a gap year and living at home while working part-time at a local restaurant. He makes maybe $800/month and gives us $200 for "rent," but we're still covering his health insurance, most groceries, car insurance, phone bill, and basically all his other expenses. The @Miguel Hernández "expense test" is such a game-changer! If my son moved out tomorrow, our expenses would definitely go down significantly - we'd save on groceries, insurance, utilities, etc. Even though he contributes $200/month, we're clearly providing way more than 50% of his support. This thread has been more helpful than hours of reading confusing FAFSA documentation! I feel confident now that we should include him in our household size since we're financially supporting him, even though he has some income. Thank you to everyone who shared their real experiences - you've helped another confused parent navigate this correctly!

Welcome to the financial aid journey! As someone who just went through this exact same confusion last year, I totally understand how overwhelming it feels when you're staring at those FAFSA numbers with no context. Your SAI of 4,876 is actually really encouraging news! Here's what that means in simple terms: the government calculated that your family can reasonably contribute about $4,876 per year toward college costs. Since you're under $5,000, you should definitely qualify for Pell Grant money - which is completely FREE and never has to be paid back. Here's the reality though - each college will subtract your SAI from their total cost of attendance to determine your "financial need," but they're not required to meet 100% of that need. Some schools will cover most of it with grants and scholarships, others might leave gaps you'll need to fill with loans or out-of-pocket payments. My advice as a fellow first-gen student who survived this process: - Don't panic until you see those official award letters (they come with or after acceptance letters) - Start a comparison spreadsheet now: School | Total Cost | Free Money (grants/scholarships) | Loans | Net Cost - Check your state's grant programs immediately - many have March deadlines! - Call financial aid offices directly once you get offers - they're super helpful with first-gen families The waiting is torture, but you're asking all the right questions early. Your SAI puts you in a solid position for aid, and the real picture will be much clearer once you have actual offers to compare. You've got this! 🎓

Hey Ava! As another newcomer who just got their FAFSA results, I completely understand your confusion! I received my SAI of 3,950 last week and had the exact same panic moment - like what does this even mean for my actual college costs?? Reading through all these responses has been SO educational. Your SAI of 4,876 actually sounds really promising from what everyone's explaining! Being under $5,000 should put you in a good spot for Pell Grant eligibility, which is amazing since that's completely free money. I'm also first-gen and my parents keep asking me to explain all this stuff, but honestly I was just as lost as you until I found this thread! Now I can at least tell them we need to wait for those official award letters to see what schools will actually offer us. The spreadsheet idea that everyone's mentioning sounds brilliant - I'm definitely setting one up this weekend with those columns for comparing offers. And wow, I had absolutely no clue about state grant programs having separate deadlines! Going to research my state's options immediately before I miss anything important. It's both frustrating and reassuring to learn that aid packages can vary so wildly between schools even with the same SAI. At least now I know to expect that variation instead of being shocked by it! Thanks for asking these questions - you've helped so many of us newcomers understand this confusing process better! 🙏

As a newcomer to this community and the college financial aid world, this thread has been absolutely invaluable! My daughter will also be starting college this fall, and I was having the exact same concerns about whether to apply for loans semester by semester or for the full year. Reading through everyone's experiences has really helped clarify the process. I particularly appreciate the explanations about how the financial aid office and bursar's office operate on different timelines - that was causing me a lot of confusion too! One thing I'm still trying to wrap my head around is the Master Promissory Note process. For those who have completed this, is it something we sign once and it covers all the loans for the year, or do we need to sign separate documents for each semester's disbursement? Also, should I expect to receive confirmation emails or notifications when the spring semester portion gets disbursed, or does it happen automatically without much communication? Thank you all for sharing your experiences - it's such a relief to know that other parents have successfully navigated this process and that we're on the right track!

As another parent new to this process, I can't tell you how helpful this entire thread has been! My son is also starting college this fall and I was having the exact same worries about the timing and whether we needed to apply for loans twice. What really clicked for me after reading everyone's responses is thinking of it like an annual subscription that gets charged in two installments rather than two separate purchases. The FAFSA and loan approval process covers the full academic year, but the money flows when it's actually needed. I also wanted to mention something that helped reduce my stress - I called my son's financial aid office directly and they walked me through their specific timeline. They told me exactly when fall funds would disburse, when spring funds would come through, and what to expect for communications. Every school is a little different with their timing, so it might be worth making that call for your daughter's school too. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences here - it's so reassuring to know that this confusion is completely normal and that we'll all figure it out! Here's to surviving our first year of college financial aid! 🎓