Can't reach FAFSA? Claimyr connects you to a live FAFSA agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the FAFSA
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the FAFSA drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
Just want to echo what others have said about contacting the financial aid office directly - that was a game changer for me too! I was in almost the exact same boat (household income around $95K) and had given up after three years of basically nothing. But when I called about my daughter's final year, they told me about an emergency fund for families affected by the pandemic that I never would have known about otherwise. Got $2,800 that literally saved us from taking out another loan. The new FAFSA really is easier too - I was shocked when I finished it in under 30 minutes this year compared to the multi-hour ordeal it used to be. And with those SAI changes everyone's mentioning, it seems like they're finally recognizing that middle-class families need help too. Definitely worth one more try, especially since you've already identified specific programs at your daughter's school!
This is so encouraging to hear from everyone! I had no idea there were emergency funds and pandemic-related assistance programs still available. It's frustrating that schools don't make these opportunities more visible, but I'm grateful for this community sharing real experiences. Santiago, your 30-minute completion time gives me hope - I've been dreading the usual 2+ hour marathon session. I'm definitely motivated to tackle this weekend's FAFSA with a much more optimistic outlook now. Thanks for sharing your success story!
Omar Hassan
I'm new to this community but reading through everyone's experiences has been so eye-opening! I'm in a very similar situation - household income around $102K and I've been putting off the FAFSA for my daughter's sophomore year because I assumed we'd get nothing again. But hearing about these SAI formula changes and the hidden scholarship opportunities that require FAFSA completion has completely changed my perspective. The fact that so many of you found success by directly calling financial aid offices is brilliant - I never thought to be proactive like that. I just assumed they'd contact us if there were opportunities. And Layla, I'm so glad you decided to give it another shot and found those major-specific scholarships! Question for everyone: when you called your financial aid offices, did you just ask generally about programs requiring FAFSA, or did you mention your specific income range? I want to make sure I'm asking the right questions when I call my daughter's school this week.
Join the conversation
has anybody elses college sent them options for if they get less aid? my daughters school sent this email about alternative payment plans and parent plus loan info...felt kinda ominous tbh!!
YES! We got something similar - felt like they were preparing us for bad news. And they were right - our aid dropped significantly. Now they're pushing Parent PLUS loans which have higher interest rates than other options. It feels like they're saying "sorry about your aid, here's some high-interest debt instead!" Just wonderful. 🙄
Kevin Bell
This is all so helpful but also terrifying! I'm in a similar boat - middle income with two kids who will both be in college next year. Reading through everyone's experiences, it sounds like we need to prepare for a significant reduction in aid. The elimination of the sibling discount seems like it's hitting families like ours the hardest. I'm grateful for the advice about contacting financial aid offices early and being proactive about appeals. Has anyone had success with private scholarships or other funding sources to help make up the difference? I'm starting to think we need to cast a much wider net for alternative funding options.
I'm in almost the exact same situation as you! Two kids heading to college next year and we're already starting to look at outside scholarships. I've heard good things about fastweb.com and scholarships.com for finding ones that match your specific situation. Also check if your employer or local community organizations offer any scholarships - sometimes those have less competition than the big national ones. My friend's daughter got a $2000 scholarship from their local credit union just for being a member's child. It's definitely smart to start casting that wider net now rather than waiting to see how bad the aid reduction is!
Join the conversation
As a newcomer to this community, I want to echo what others have said - your SAI won't prevent your daughter from getting merit scholarships! I'm currently going through this process with my twin sons, and despite our SAI being over 120k, they've already received merit offers from several schools. One tip I haven't seen mentioned yet: look into automatic merit scholarships. Many state universities have published grids showing exactly what GPA/test score combinations guarantee specific scholarship amounts. These are completely separate from need-based aid and your FAFSA results don't matter at all. Also, regarding your employment change - I'd suggest keeping detailed records of your caregiving situation with your mom, including any medical documentation if available. Financial aid officers are often more sympathetic to family caregiving situations than people realize. Some schools even have specific provisions for families who've had employment gaps due to eldercare responsibilities. Don't give up hope! The merit aid landscape is much more favorable than the doom and gloom around high SAI scores would suggest.
Thanks for mentioning the automatic merit scholarships! I had no idea some schools published grids showing guaranteed amounts. That sounds much more straightforward than trying to guess what might be available. Do you know if there's a good resource for finding which schools offer these automatic scholarships, or is it just a matter of checking individual university websites? The point about documenting the caregiving situation is really smart too. I do have some medical records from my mom's treatments that show the timeline of when I needed to step back from work. It's encouraging to hear that financial aid offices might actually be understanding about these kinds of family circumstances. Your point about merit aid being more favorable than expected is exactly what I needed to hear. All the doom and gloom online had me convinced we were out of luck for any help at all. Thank you for sharing your experience with the twins - it gives me hope that there really are opportunities out there!
Lola Perez
Hi everyone! I'm new to this community but going through the exact same situation. Our SAI came back at 138k and I've been losing sleep over it! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly reassuring though. I wanted to add something that helped us - I found that calling the admissions offices (not financial aid) at schools my daughter was interested in was really helpful. The admissions counselors were much more accessible than financial aid staff and could give me specific information about their merit scholarship programs and what stats typically receive awards. Also, for anyone dealing with the frustration of contacting Federal Student Aid - I had success using their live chat feature during off-peak hours (early morning worked best for me). It took a few tries but I eventually got connected to someone who could explain our specific SAI calculation. One last tip - don't forget about departmental scholarships! Many academic departments have their own scholarship funds that are completely separate from general merit aid. These often have later deadlines and fewer applicants. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences - it's given me so much more confidence about our options!
Join the conversation
Josef Tearle
As someone who's new to navigating financial aid, this entire thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I had no idea that FAFSA is just the application and not where all the grants actually show up. The distinction between what appears on StudentAid.gov versus the school portal makes so much more sense now. What really struck me is how much the timelines vary - it sounds like patience is key but also being proactive about following up. The advice about asking for a pending aid hold and getting written confirmation of what financial aid offices tell you seems crucial. I'm definitely taking notes on all these tips for when I go through this process with my own kids in a few years. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's so helpful to see real examples of how this all plays out rather than just trying to decipher official websites that don't explain the practical realities!
Jamal Wilson
•You're absolutely right about the FAFSA just being the application - that was one of my biggest misconceptions too! I thought everything would magically appear in one place once we submitted it. Learning about all these different portals and systems felt overwhelming at first, but this community has been such a lifesaver for understanding how it all actually works. The proactive approach really does make a difference. I've learned that being politely persistent and asking specific questions gets you much further than just waiting and hoping everything works out. And documenting everything - whether it's spreadsheets or email confirmations - has saved me so much stress. It's great that you're learning about this process early! Even though every school and state might have slightly different timelines, understanding the general flow and knowing what questions to ask will put you way ahead of where most of us started. This community is such a valuable resource for navigating all the confusing parts that the official websites don't really explain clearly.
As someone completely new to this financial aid process, I'm so grateful to have found this thread! Reading through everyone's experiences has been incredibly educational. I had no idea that different grants come through on such different timelines - I was expecting everything to appear together once the FAFSA was processed. The distinction between what shows up on StudentAid.gov versus the school portal is something I never would have understood without this discussion. And all the practical tips about creating spreadsheets to track everything, asking for pending aid holds, and getting written confirmation from financial aid offices are going to be so valuable when I go through this with my own daughter next year. It's really reassuring to see that the stress and confusion around these timelines is completely normal for first-time parents. The fact that schools are used to working with these delays and have systems in place (like pending aid holds) to accommodate them gives me a lot more confidence about the whole process. Thank you all for sharing your real-world experiences - it's so much more helpful than trying to piece together information from official websites!
Rudy Cenizo
As someone who went through this exact process two years ago with similar income ($89k), I can share what actually worked for us. The new FAFSA formula did help - our SAI was about $3,000 lower than what our old EFC would have been. Here's what I wish I'd known earlier: 1. Run the Net Price Calculator on every school's website BEFORE your son applies. This gives you a realistic estimate of what you'll actually pay, not just the sticker price. 2. Look into schools with generous merit aid for middle-stat students. Places like Denison, College of Wooster, and many regional universities often give significant merit scholarships to students with your son's profile. 3. Don't overlook honors colleges at state universities - they often come with automatic scholarships and smaller class sizes while keeping costs manageable. 4. Time your FAFSA filing strategically. We filed in early January using prior-prior year taxes, then made updates once current year taxes were done. The middle-class squeeze is real, but there ARE affordable options out there. My son ended up at a private college that cost us less than our state flagship because of their merit aid. Cast a wide net and don't assume anything based on sticker price alone!
0 coins
Daniel Rogers
•This is incredibly helpful - thank you for sharing your real experience! The fact that your son ended up at a private college for less than your state school gives me so much hope. I've been so focused on sticker price that I haven't been thinking strategically about merit aid. I'm definitely going to run those Net Price Calculators - that's such a smart way to get realistic numbers before we get emotionally invested in schools. And I love the idea of honors colleges at state universities. My son has been so focused on "prestigious" schools that we hadn't really considered that route. Can I ask what his stats were like compared to the school he ended up choosing? I'm trying to get a sense of how much "above average" he needs to be to get significant merit aid. With his 3.7 GPA and 1420 SAT, I'm wondering if we're in the right ballpark for schools like Denison that you mentioned. Also, when you say you made updates to the FAFSA after filing - was that a complicated process? I'm terrified of messing something up and losing aid opportunities.
0 coins
Axel Far
•Those stats sound very competitive for merit aid! My son had a 3.6 GPA and 1380 SAT, and he got substantial merit scholarships from several schools where those numbers put him in the top 25-30% of their incoming class. For Denison specifically, your son's 1420 SAT is right at their 75th percentile, so he'd be a strong candidate for merit aid there. I'd also suggest looking at schools like Earlham, Beloit College, and Ohio Wesleyan - they're all known for good merit packages for students with his profile. Updating the FAFSA was actually pretty straightforward - there's a "make corrections" option that walks you through it step by step. The key is keeping good records of what you initially submitted so you can track the changes. Most schools expect families to make updates, so don't stress about it too much. One more tip: when you get financial aid offers, create a spreadsheet comparing the real out-of-pocket costs, not just the aid amounts. Sometimes a school offering less total aid actually ends up cheaper because of their lower sticker price. We almost made that mistake ourselves!
0 coins
Dmitry Petrov
I'm new to the FAFSA process too and this thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I had no idea about the changes to the new formula or that retirement contributions could help. One question I haven't seen addressed - for those of you who've been through this, how far in advance should we start preparing? Our daughter is currently a junior in high school, and I'm wondering if there are things we should be doing now to position ourselves better for next year's FAFSA filing. Also, I keep hearing conflicting advice about whether it's worth applying to expensive private schools at all with our income level (we're around $95k). Reading some of your success stories gives me hope that it might actually be worth casting that wider net rather than just assuming they're out of reach financially. Thanks to everyone sharing their real experiences - it's so much more helpful than the generic advice you find on most websites!
0 coins