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I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! My FAFSA has been stuck on "In Process" for about 3 weeks and I was starting to panic about missing deadlines. This thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea that the processing times were this extended across the board this year. The advice about contacting schools directly with your confirmation number is brilliant. I just checked and I still have my original submission email from when we completed everything. It's such a relief to know that schools can see we submitted on time even without the SAI calculation being finished yet. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it really helps to know we're not alone in this!
I'm so glad this thread helped you too! It's amazing how much stress this whole process causes when you don't know what's normal. I was literally losing sleep over it until I found these responses. The confirmation email is definitely key - I'm going to make sure to mention that specific submission date when I contact my schools. It's reassuring to know that so many people are going through the exact same thing and that schools are being understanding about the delays. Hopefully we'll all get our SAI calculations soon!
I'm experiencing the exact same thing! My FAFSA has been stuck on "In Process" for almost 4 weeks now and I was getting really anxious about it. This thread has been so helpful - I had no idea that these extended processing times were happening to so many people this year. The advice about contacting schools directly with your confirmation information is really smart. I just dug up my original submission email and I'm going to reach out to my top choice schools tomorrow to let them know I submitted on time but am still waiting for the SAI calculation. It's such a relief to know that schools can see we submitted even without the final processing being complete. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and advice - it really helps to know we're all dealing with the same frustrating delays!
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Coming at this from a parent who just survived the 2024-25 FAFSA nightmare with twins! We filed in early November last year (after waiting for the bugs to get worked out) and it was still a mess, but manageable. Here's what I learned: 1) The "simplified" process still requires the SAME documents as before, so don't let that fool you into being unprepared. 2) Screenshot EVERYTHING as you go - we had our application mysteriously reset twice and having screenshots saved us hours of re-entering data. 3) If you have divorced parents, start gathering those documents NOW because the contributor determination process was the biggest source of delays last year. 4) Consider filing a practice run on the FAFSA simulator first to catch any weird situations with your family's finances. My twins got into their top choices and we didn't miss out on institutional aid by filing in November, but I'd probably aim for late October this year just to be safe. The anxiety is real, but you've got this!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with twins - that must have been incredibly stressful! The screenshot tip is brilliant, I never would have thought of that but it makes total sense given all the technical issues people faced. Quick question about the FAFSA simulator - is that different from the preview worksheet that Diego mentioned earlier? I want to make sure I'm using the right tools to prepare. Also, did you end up needing to file any corrections after your initial submission, or did the November timing help you avoid most of the major glitches?
First-time FAFSA parent here and honestly feeling overwhelmed by all the horror stories! My daughter is a junior now so we have one more year to prepare, but reading through everyone's experiences is both terrifying and incredibly helpful. A few questions for the group: 1) For those who mentioned printing everything - are you literally printing every single page as you fill it out, or just the final submission confirmation? 2) Has anyone tried calling their state's financial aid agency for guidance, or is it better to stick with the federal resources? 3) I keep seeing mentions of "verification" - is this something that happens to everyone or only certain applications? Really appreciate this community sharing real experiences rather than just the official government guidance that makes it sound so simple!
Great questions! I went through this last year and can help with your verification question - it's not random. You get selected for verification if there are inconsistencies in your data (like your FAFSA info doesn't match IRS records), if you're chosen for a random audit, or if you left certain fields blank. About 1 in 3 applications get verified, so it's pretty common. For printing, I'd recommend saving PDFs of each completed section plus your final submission confirmation - you don't need every single page, but having proof of what you submitted is crucial if there are disputes later. And definitely reach out to your state agency if you have one - many states have their own grant programs with separate deadlines that the federal folks won't tell you about. You're smart to start preparing now!
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I'm having this exact same issue! I've been trying to use the DRT for three days now and keep getting the same error message. Reading through everyone's suggestions here has been so helpful - I had no idea this was affecting so many people. I'm going to start with checking my address formatting since that seems like the simplest fix to try first. If that doesn't work, I'll try switching browsers and disabling my extensions. Really hoping I don't have to resort to that 3 AM attempt, but honestly at this point I'm desperate enough to try anything to avoid manually entering all those tax numbers again! Has anyone heard any updates on that 72-hour fix that was mentioned?
I haven't seen any official updates on that 72-hour fix yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I'm in the exact same boat as you - been fighting with this DRT error for days now. I actually just tried the address formatting fix after reading Giovanni's suggestion and I think that might have been my issue too! I had "Unit 5" on my FAFSA but "Apt 5" on my tax return. Going to give it another shot tonight and see if that small change makes all the difference. If you try the address fix, let us know if it works for you too - it would be amazing if such a simple solution could save us all from hours of manual data entry!
I'm dealing with this exact same issue and it's driving me crazy! I've been trying for 4 days straight and the DRT just keeps timing out with that same "Unable to retrieve tax information" error. After reading through all these suggestions, I'm definitely going to try the address formatting fix first - I just realized I might have "Street" abbreviated as "St" on my FAFSA but spelled out fully on my tax return. If that doesn't work, I'll try Firefox with all extensions disabled since I've been using Chrome this whole time. Really hoping that Department of Education fix comes through soon because the thought of manually entering all my W-2 and 1099 information again makes me want to cry! Thank you all for sharing your experiences - at least I know I'm not alone in this struggle!
I'm going through the exact same nightmare! Been trying the DRT for almost a week now and getting nowhere. The address formatting tip is genius - I just checked and I have "Ave" on my FAFSA but "Avenue" on my tax return, so that could definitely be my problem! I'm also going to try that Firefox suggestion since I've only been using Chrome. It's so frustrating that something as simple as address formatting could cause such a major roadblock, but at least now I have some concrete things to try before giving up completely. Really hoping one of these solutions works because the manual entry process looks absolutely brutal. Thank you everyone for all these helpful suggestions!
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I'm going through the exact same frustrating situation! My FAFSA was processed about 3.5 weeks ago, my SAI is around 11,100, and my NJFAMS dashboard is completely empty too. I've gotten financial aid packages from two NJ schools but zero mention of state grants anywhere. Reading through everyone's responses here has been SO helpful - it sounds like we're all experiencing the normal (though painfully slow) HESAA timeline. I'm definitely going to try calling my schools' financial aid offices tomorrow since that seems more productive than trying to reach HESAA directly. I'm also going to hunt around for that hidden status checker tool Isaac mentioned - I had no idea that existed! Thanks for posting this because I was also starting to panic that I'd missed some critical deadline or form. It's reassuring to know we're all in the same boat waiting for HESAA to catch up!
I'm in the exact same situation too! My FAFSA was processed about 3 weeks ago, SAI is around 10,800, and my NJFAMS dashboard is also completely blank. I've been refreshing it daily hoping something would appear! It's such a relief to read through all these responses and realize this is just normal HESAA timing rather than us doing something wrong. Your SAI of 11,100 should definitely still be in the range for at least partial awards based on what others have shared. I'm also planning to call my schools tomorrow and hunt for that status checker tool. We should all report back with what we find out - this thread has been more helpful than any official HESAA information I've found online!
I'm dealing with this exact same issue! My FAFSA was processed about 3 weeks ago, SAI is around 10,600, and my NJFAMS dashboard is completely blank too. I've received financial aid packages from Montclair and Stockton but no mention of NJ state grants anywhere. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly reassuring - it sounds like we're all experiencing the normal (albeit frustrating) HESAA timeline of 4-6 weeks after FAFSA processing. I'm definitely going to look for that hidden status checker tool Isaac mentioned and try calling my schools' financial aid offices directly tomorrow. Thanks for posting this because I was also starting to think I'd missed some crucial step or deadline. It's so helpful to know we're all in the same waiting period!
I'm so glad you posted this too! Your SAI of 10,600 should definitely put you in good position for NJ grants based on what everyone's been sharing. I'm also dealing with the exact same timeline - FAFSA processed about 3 weeks ago and that blank NJFAMS dashboard that tells us nothing! It's been driving me crazy refreshing it every day. Reading through this whole thread has been such a lifesaver because I was also convinced I'd messed something up or missed a deadline. The fact that so many of us are experiencing identical timelines really confirms this is just HESAA being incredibly slow. I'm also planning to hunt for that status checker tool and call my schools tomorrow. We should definitely all update this thread with what we find out!
Diego Rojas
I'm in the exact same boat with three kids who will need FAFSA accounts! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful. It sounds like Google Voice is definitely the way to go based on everyone's success stories. I'm curious though - for those who used Google Voice, did you run into any issues when it came time to actually submit the FAFSA applications, or did the phone numbers continue to work smoothly throughout the entire process? Also, has anyone had experience with what happens if you need to update or change information later - do the verification codes still come through reliably? Thanks for sharing all this information - it's so frustrating that families have to find workarounds for what should be a straightforward process!
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Liam Cortez
•I can share my experience from last year with Google Voice - the numbers worked perfectly throughout the entire FAFSA process! We didn't have any issues with verification codes during submission, and even when I had to make corrections later in the year, all the text messages came through reliably. The only thing I'd suggest is keeping the Google Voice app on your phone so you get notifications when verification codes come in, since sometimes they don't forward to your main number immediately. It really is frustrating that we have to jump through these hoops, but at least Google Voice makes it manageable for families with multiple kids!
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PaulineW
Just wanted to jump in as someone who's been lurking and following this thread because I'm about to face this same issue with my twins next year! Thank you all SO much for sharing your experiences and solutions - this is exactly the kind of real-world advice that the official FAFSA site doesn't provide. The Google Voice solution sounds like the clear winner based on everyone's feedback. Quick question for those who successfully used it: when you set up the Google Voice numbers, did you need to provide a backup/forwarding number, or can they work completely standalone? I want to make sure I understand the setup process before I dive in. This community has been incredibly helpful!
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