One last important point: Make sure you understand the difference between being a dependent or independent student for FAFSA purposes. At 23, you're likely independent unless you're a graduate student or meet other specific criteria. As an independent student, you don't need to report any parent information anyway - just your own. The FAFSA considers age, marital status, degree level, and other factors to determine this.

I'm so glad you asked this question because I was in a similar situation last year! I'm a college financial aid counselor and I see this confusion ALL the time. The advisor at your school gave you completely incorrect information, and I'm honestly frustrated that this keeps happening to students. You are absolutely NOT required to report your grandmother's income or assets on your FAFSA just because you have POA or are on her account. The FAFSA only requires you to report assets that you actually OWN, not accounts you manage for someone else. Your grandmother's money remains her money regardless of your access to it. Since you're 23 and independent, you only need to report YOUR income and assets - period. Please don't let this bad advice mess up your aid eligibility. I'd strongly recommend getting a second opinion from another financial aid officer or calling the Federal Student Aid helpline directly to confirm this. Document everything in case you need to appeal later. You've got enough stress managing your grandmother's care - don't let incorrect FAFSA advice add to it!

Quick follow-up question - does anyone know if I need to complete the CSS Profile for NJ schools as well? I'm applying to Princeton (longshot, I know) along with Rutgers and Rowan.

Just wanted to add that if you're planning to transfer between NJ schools later, you'll need to update your NJFAMS account with your new school information. I transferred from community college to a 4-year school mid-year and almost lost my TAG because I forgot to update my enrollment status in NJFAMS. The system doesn't automatically sync with your school changes like federal aid does. Also, keep your NJFAMS login info safe - I've seen people get locked out right before deadlines and it's a nightmare to recover your account during peak season!

my brother actually DID have to show receipts once but it was cuz he got randomly selected for verification or something. they wanted proof he was actually a student and living in the dorms. super random tho, most ppl never deal with that.

As someone who's been through this process, I can confirm what everyone else is saying - you don't need to keep receipts or document how you spend your Pell Grant money! I was in the same boat my freshman year, super anxious about doing everything "right" with my financial aid. One thing that helped me was understanding that the Pell Grant is need-based aid that you've already qualified for through your FAFSA. The government has determined you need this money for educational expenses, and they trust that you'll use it appropriately. Just focus on the things that actually matter for keeping your aid: staying enrolled at least half-time, maintaining satisfactory academic progress (usually 2.0 GPA minimum), and filing your FAFSA each year by the deadline. Those are the real requirements that will affect your future financial aid eligibility. Congrats on getting your first Pell Grant - it's such a relief when that money hits your account! You've got this 👍

As someone who just went through this process with my youngest, I'd also recommend checking that your FSA ID verification is complete BEFORE your daughter starts her FAFSA. You can log into studentaid.gov with your FSA ID to make sure everything looks good. I thought mine was verified, but when my daughter tried to add me as a contributor, I got an error message saying my account needed additional verification. It delayed our whole application by a week while we sorted it out. Better to catch any issues early!

This thread has been incredibly helpful for understanding the FSA ID and FAFSA linking process! As a newcomer to all this, I really appreciate everyone sharing their real experiences and detailed step-by-step instructions. The official FAFSA website makes it sound simple but clearly there are lots of potential pitfalls like verification delays, name matching issues, email problems, etc. I'm definitely going to create my FSA ID at least 2-3 weeks before my child starts the application and test the password recovery process as suggested. One quick question - for those who went through verification delays, did you get any email notifications about the status, or did you just have to keep checking your account to see if it was approved? Want to make sure I don't miss any important communications during the verification process.

I work in admissions (different school) and I can tell you what happens behind the scenes. When FAFSA data comes in, we use the SAI to determine eligibility. Then our system checks the housing status in our INTERNAL records to assign the correct COA budget. If housing status isn't updated in our system, we default to whatever was there before (in your case, commuter status). So you absolutely should contact both housing AND financial aid to ensure they have the correct status on file!

Just wanted to add my experience as another data point - my son switched from commuting to dorms between his freshman and sophomore years, and we ran into the exact same confusion! What ended up working for us was creating a simple checklist: 1) Submit FAFSA (done), 2) Complete housing application with deposit (sounds like you did this), 3) Call housing office to confirm they have her listed as a resident for fall, 4) Email financial aid office to request they verify her COA reflects dorm costs, 5) Follow up if the aid package looks wrong. The key was being proactive and contacting both offices before the aid package was finalized. Good luck!