One last tip: When your son's FAFSA is processed, the SAI will reflect having two students in college, but your daughter's SAI won't automatically update. If the schools practice professional judgment, they may adjust her aid package once they see the linked FAFSA for your son. Different schools handle this differently - some will automatically check for siblings in the federal system, others require you to notify them. I'd recommend contacting your daughter's financial aid office after your son's FAFSA is processed to make sure they're aware there's now a second student in the family.

Just want to add from personal experience - make sure you keep detailed records of both applications! I had to help my twins with their FAFSAs a few years back and keeping a spreadsheet with all the exact figures I entered for each kid was a lifesaver when verification issues came up later. Also, don't be surprised if your son's community college processes his aid much faster than a 4-year school - community colleges tend to be quicker with summer session aid. Good luck with everything!

UPDATE: I think we finally figured it out! After reviewing both applications again, we realized my daughter accidentally reported her 529 college savings account (about $18,000) as HER asset instead of MY asset. Because student assets are assessed at a much higher rate (20% vs 5% for parents), this alone added about $2,700 to her SAI! The financial aid office said we can submit a correction and they'll recalculate her eligibility. Thank you everyone for your help!

Wow, what a journey! This thread is such a perfect example of why the FAFSA system is so confusing for families. I'm a newcomer here but deal with similar financial aid questions all the time. The 529 asset reporting mistake is SO common - I've seen families lose thousands in aid eligibility because of that exact error. It's crazy that where you report $18K can make such a huge difference in aid calculations. Really glad you figured it out before it was too late! For anyone else reading this, always double-check asset ownership reporting - it's one of the biggest gotchas in the FAFSA process.

My nieghbor works in a college financial aid office and she said there swamped with these SAI correction issues. She said its best to email AND call and use the phrase "SAI correction" in your subject line so it gets flagged as urgent.

This is such a stressful situation and you're definitely not alone! I went through something similar last year (though not quite this close to the deadline). A few additional tips that might help: 1. When you call the schools, ask to speak with a "financial aid counselor" rather than just whoever answers the phone - they tend to have more authority to make immediate changes. 2. If a school says they can't update before May 1st, ask them specifically about getting an extension on the decision deadline. Many schools are being more flexible this year because of all the FAFSA issues. 3. Document everything! Keep notes of who you spoke with, when, and what they promised. This has saved me multiple times when following up. Your new SAI of 6130 should definitely result in better aid packages, so it's worth the effort to get those updates. The timing is terrible, but don't let that school that "finalized" everything discourage you - keep pushing back through different departments if needed!

Hi! I'm new to this community but wanted to share my recent experience since it sounds exactly like what you're dealing with. I made the same retirement account mistake about 6 weeks ago - accidentally reported my stepdad's 401k rollover IRA as a regular investment account and our SAI was absolutely insane! Here's what I learned going through the correction process: 1. The correction system on studentaid.gov is actually much more user-friendly than the original FAFSA. It clearly highlights what you're changing and walks you through each step without all the confusing navigation. 2. My correction processed in 6 days and my SAI dropped by $17,500! I went from thinking I wouldn't qualify for any need-based aid to actually getting offered a decent Pell Grant and some state aid. 3. One thing I wish someone had mentioned - when you're in there making the correction, definitely have your parent's most recent tax return handy. The system might ask you to re-verify some income information as part of the correction process. 4. After I submitted the correction, I sent a brief email to each of my schools' financial aid offices explaining the situation and asking them to watch for the updated FAFSA. Most of them responded within a day saying they'd flag my file for review once the correction processed. 5. Screenshot everything! Your original SAI, the correction confirmation page, and the new SAI when it updates. Having that documentation ready made all my follow-up communications so much easier. With 2 weeks until your priority deadline, you have plenty of time for this to process. Don't let the anxiety delay you any longer - this is such a common mistake and totally fixable. You're going to be so relieved when you see how much your SAI drops! Good luck! 🍀

Hi! I'm completely new to this community but wanted to share my experience since I literally just went through this exact same situation last week! I accidentally reported my mom's 403(b) as a regular investment account and was absolutely panicking when I saw our SAI. Here's what happened with my correction: 1. The correction process on studentaid.gov is actually way more straightforward than the original FAFSA - it clearly shows you what you're updating and guides you through each section step by step. 2. My correction processed in just 3 days (faster than I expected!) and my SAI dropped by over $19,000! I went from thinking I'd get zero aid to qualifying for grants I never imagined. 3. One thing that really helped - I emailed my school's financial aid office immediately after submitting the correction with my student ID and a brief explanation. They put a note on my file to expedite the review once the updated FAFSA came through. 4. Pro tip: Take screenshots of your original SAI before making the correction, then screenshot the new one when it updates. Having that before/after documentation made my conversations with financial aid offices so much smoother. With 2 weeks until your priority deadline, you're in perfect shape timing-wise! This mistake is incredibly common - my high school counselor said she sees retirement account reporting errors multiple times every year. The financial aid offices are totally used to handling these corrections. Don't let the stress keep you from logging in tonight and fixing this. You're about to save yourself thousands in aid eligibility! You've absolutely got this! 💪

UPDATE: You all have been so helpful! I took several of your suggestions and finally have some progress to report. I downloaded my SAR report and scheduled an in-person meeting with a senior financial aid counselor (not just the front desk). I showed them the report which clearly showed all parent information was complete. The counselor dug deeper and found that the specific error was related to my parents' contribution calculation. Apparently, when my school's system tried to import the SAI score, there was some kind of mismatch with how specific parent asset data was being categorized. The counselor manually reviewed the data in both systems and found that my school's system was incorrectly flagging my mom's retirement account as missing documentation, even though it was properly recorded in the FSA system. The counselor submitted an override request, and my Pell Grant has been provisionally restored while they fix the technical issue on their end! I'm still going to follow up daily until everything is 100% confirmed, but this is such a relief. Thank you to everyone who shared advice - having that SAR report and speaking to a senior counselor in person made all the difference!

That's such great news! I'm so glad you got it resolved. Your update gives me hope for my own similar situation. I've been dealing with a "parent tax information incomplete" error for weeks even though FSA shows everything as processed correctly. I'm definitely going to follow your approach - get my SAR report and schedule an in-person meeting with a senior counselor instead of just calling the general number. Thanks for taking the time to update us on what worked!