I went through almost this exact situation two years ago when my son's FAFSA incorrectly processed our income due to a system glitch. Here's what worked for me: First, don't panic about admission status - financial aid and admissions are completely separate processes at every university I dealt with. Second, when you call the universities, ask to speak directly with a financial aid counselor, not just general staff. They can place an immediate hold on any Pell Grant disbursements while you sort this out. Third, for the FAFSA correction, I found it helpful to call Federal Student Aid early in the morning (around 8 AM EST) when wait times were shorter. The agent I spoke with was very understanding about system errors and helped expedite the correction. The whole process took about 10 days to fully resolve, and my son's merit scholarships were completely unaffected. Your proactive approach to fixing this will actually work in your favor - schools appreciate families who are honest about these kinds of errors rather than trying to hide them.

I'm a college financial aid advisor and want to emphasize that you're absolutely doing the right thing by correcting this error immediately. This situation is more common than you might think, especially with the new FAFSA system and international income reporting. A few additional tips: When you contact the universities, ask them to send you written confirmation via email that they've received your correction notice and that it won't impact admission decisions - this creates important documentation. Also, keep detailed records of all your phone calls with Federal Student Aid, including dates, times, and representative names. Since you mentioned being in Singapore, be prepared that the verification process might take slightly longer due to international documentation requirements, but don't let that worry you. The key is that you're being proactive and honest about fixing the error before any funds are actually disbursed. Your daughter's academic achievements that earned her admission will remain the same regardless of financial aid corrections.

I just want to add some reassurance here - I went through this exact same situation with my son last year and was terrified I'd mess something up! But honestly, once I understood that ONLY my information was needed (since I had full custody), it was much more straightforward than I expected. A couple of things that really helped me: - I created a simple spreadsheet tracking all the child support payments I actually received in 2023, with dates and amounts. Made it so much easier when filling out that section. - I took screenshots of every page as I completed the FAFSA, just in case I needed to reference something later. - The FAFSA has a "save and return" feature - don't feel like you have to complete it all in one sitting! My son ended up getting a great aid package, and honestly, having only my lower income considered probably worked in our favor compared to if they had factored in his father's income too. You're asking all the right questions and clearly doing your research - your daughter is lucky to have you advocating for her! Don't let the process intimidate you. 😊

I'm in a similar situation as a newcomer to all this FAFSA stuff, and this thread has been incredibly helpful! My daughter is a junior in high school and I've been dreading dealing with the FAFSA because I keep hearing horror stories. I'm divorced with full custody too, and my ex is completely unreliable with child support (some months nothing, others partial payments). Reading all these responses gives me so much confidence that I can handle this when the time comes. The tip about creating a spreadsheet to track actual child support received is genius - I'm going to start doing that now for 2024 so I'm prepared next year. One question for anyone who's been through this - should I start gathering documents now even though my daughter won't be applying until next year? Like getting copies of the custody agreement and divorce decree organized in a folder?

Just wanted to jump in as someone new to this whole process! My daughter is a junior so we're still a year away from submitting FAFSA, but reading through everyone's experiences is both helpful and honestly pretty scary. The fact that your SAI of $21,450 only resulted in $740 Pell Grant really puts things in perspective for what we might be facing. Our family income is probably going to put us in a similar range. I'm definitely taking notes on applying to multiple schools since it sounds like institutional aid varies so much - the difference between your NJIT and Rutgers packages is eye-opening! Also bookmarking that Claimyr service someone mentioned in case we need help getting through to FSA next year. Thanks for being so transparent about the actual numbers - it's hard to find real examples like this anywhere else!

As someone completely new to the FAFSA process, this thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I'm helping my nephew navigate this for the first time and honestly had no idea how much the SAI calculation would impact aid eligibility. Your experience with the $740 Pell Grant at that SAI level really helps set realistic expectations. The variation between NJIT and Rutgers packages is fascinating too - it's clear that applying to multiple schools isn't just about academic fit but also about maximizing potential aid opportunities. I'm curious, when you submitted your FAFSA back in January, did you have any sense of what your SAI would be or did that number come as a surprise? Also, have you found any good resources for understanding how schools calculate their institutional aid beyond just the federal formulas? Thanks for sharing such detailed information - it's incredibly valuable for families just starting this journey!

Hi everyone! I'm completely new to this community and just beginning the FAFSA process with my daughter who's starting her senior year. This thread has been absolutely incredible - I can't believe how much I've learned just from reading through everyone's experiences! I haven't received any FSA security alerts yet, but after reading all the detailed advice here, especially @Sophia Long's comprehensive verification checklist and @Ravi Gupta's professional cybersecurity insights, I feel so much more prepared to handle them when they do arrive. I'm definitely going to set up two-factor authentication right away based on @Mia Alvarez's recommendation - it seems like such a simple but important security step. It's so reassuring to find a community where experienced members genuinely care about helping newcomers navigate this overwhelming process. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and making something that felt completely intimidating seem much more manageable!

Hi everyone! I'm brand new to this community and just starting the FAFSA process with my twin daughters who are high school seniors. This thread has been absolutely incredible - I feel like I just discovered a goldmine of information! I haven't received any FSA security alerts yet, but reading through everyone's detailed experiences and advice has made me feel so much more prepared. The verification checklist from @Sophia Long is fantastic and I'm definitely bookmarking it, and having @Ravi Gupta's professional cybersecurity perspective validate all the security indicators gives me real confidence. I'm going to set up two-factor authentication for all our accounts right away based on @Mia Alvarez's recommendation - seems like such an important step that I never would have known about otherwise! It's amazing to find such a supportive community where experienced members take the time to share their expertise with newcomers like me. Thank you all for making this overwhelming process feel much more manageable!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm also born in 2000 and have been dealing with this exact same looping issue for the past week. I was starting to panic about my approaching deadline. Just tried Ava's solution with Edge InPrivate mode and manually typing my birthdate instead of using the dropdown calendar - and it worked on the first try! I can't believe something so simple fixed what seemed like an impossible technical problem. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions. This community really came through when the official support system was failing us. Hopefully FSA gets this birth year calculation bug fixed soon so other students don't have to go through this stress!

Just wanted to add my experience to this thread! I'm also born in 2000 and was hitting this exact same loop yesterday. After reading through everyone's solutions here, I tried the Edge InPrivate + manual birthdate entry method that Ava discovered, and it worked perfectly! Got my FAFSA submitted this morning after days of frustration. One small addition to the solution: I also made sure to completely close all other browser windows before starting in InPrivate mode, just to be extra safe. Not sure if that made a difference, but figured I'd mention it in case it helps someone else. Thank you so much to everyone who shared their experiences and troubleshooting steps! This community is incredible - we shouldn't have to debug government websites for each other, but I'm so grateful we do. Hopefully FSA fixes this birth year bug soon so future 2000 babies don't have to deal with this stress!