I'm going through this exact same situation right now! My daughter submitted her FAFSA about a month ago and we're also just seeing those generic "estimated aid" numbers on studentaid.gov. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea that the actual award letters come from individual schools rather than directly from FAFSA. One thing I wanted to add based on our experience so far: when I called our top choice school last week, they mentioned that they prioritize aid packages for students who have already been accepted and submitted their enrollment deposit. Apparently some schools work through their aid awards in batches based on acceptance status. Might be worth asking about when you call the financial aid offices. Also, for anyone else dealing with this timing crunch - I found out that you can request a financial aid "pre-read" from some schools if you're facing an early decision deadline. It's not a guarantee, but they can give you a rough estimate based on your FAFSA data to help with planning. Not all schools offer this, but it's worth asking about if you're in a time crunch!

I'm a current college student who went through this exact frustration just two years ago! The waiting period between FAFSA processing and actual award letters is genuinely one of the most stressful parts of the entire college application process. Here's what I wish someone had told me: start treating this like a project management task. Create a simple tracking system with each school's name, their financial aid office direct phone number, when you last contacted them, and what they told you about timing. Call every school once a week starting at the 4-week mark after your FAFSA shows "processed" - most financial aid counselors are actually really helpful once you get them on the phone. Also, this might sound obvious but check EVERYTHING - your email (including spam), your student portals, and even physical mail. My family almost missed a crucial verification request that was sitting in our spam folder for three weeks. The school was waiting on tax documents we didn't even know they needed! The good news is that this chaos is completely normal and schools expect it. Don't hesitate to ask admissions offices for deadline extensions while you wait for aid packages - they deal with this timing issue every single year and are usually very accommodating.

As a parent who just completed this process for my college junior and high school senior, I can confirm the new system works much better! One additional tip I haven't seen mentioned - if you're using a tax preparer or accountant, give them a heads up that you'll need your tax information earlier than usual for FAFSA purposes. We usually don't get our taxes done until late March, but both kids' schools had FAFSA deadlines in early March. I had to get our tax documents organized much earlier this year to meet the deadlines. Also, if you have any complex financial situations (like owning a business or rental property), it's worth reviewing the FAFSA questions ahead of time so you're not scrambling to figure out what information you need when you're actually filling it out.

I'm a parent going through this exact situation right now! My oldest is a junior and my youngest is applying as a senior. One thing I learned that might help - make sure you have all your financial documents ready before either kid starts their application. The new system is much better but it still requires the same tax and asset information. I created a checklist with our AGI, taxes paid, asset values, etc. so when it came time to fill out my contributor section I wasn't hunting around for paperwork. Also, if your kids are at different schools, double-check that each school is listed correctly on their respective applications - I almost forgot to add a safety school my senior was considering to her list. The shared parent information is great but the school selections are still individual to each student's application.

As someone who's been through this exact situation, I completely understand your frustration! I'm a Navy spouse and we faced the same APO rejection issue when filling out my son's FAFSA last year. What ended up working for us was establishing a "virtual mailbox" service in our state of legal residence (Florida for us). These services provide you with a real street address that can receive and forward your mail, and they're specifically designed for military families who don't have a permanent physical address in their home state. The virtual mailbox address satisfied FAFSA's verification requirements because it's a legitimate street address in our tax state, and we were able to provide documentation from the service showing it's our official mailing address. Cost us about $15/month but saved so much headache during verification. Companies like PostScan Mail and US Global Mail specialize in this for military families. Just make sure whatever service you choose can provide official documentation that you can submit during verification if needed.

Just wanted to chime in as another military family who's dealt with this nightmare! We're Air Force stationed in Japan and ran into the exact same APO rejection issue. What finally worked for us was calling the FSA help line and specifically asking to speak with someone in their "special circumstances" department - apparently they have agents who are trained specifically on military situations. The regular customer service reps often don't know how to handle APO addresses properly. The agent was able to manually update our application to accept our APO address and added notes to our file explaining the military situation. She also told us that for future years, we should include a brief statement in the "Additional Information" section of the FAFSA explaining that we're active duty military stationed overseas and that our APO address is our legitimate residence address. One tip that might help with the phone wait times - try calling early morning (like 8 AM EST) on weekdays. We had much better luck getting through quickly during those hours versus afternoons when everyone else is calling.

I'm so relieved to find this thread! My son's FAFSA just went into review status this morning after we got his SAI two weeks ago, and I immediately started panicking that we'd made some terrible mistake. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly comforting - it's clear that these mysterious reviews are happening to so many families this year! The SSN mismatch issue that multiple people have mentioned is eye-opening. I never would have imagined that a simple data entry error on FSA's end could trigger such anxiety for families already stressed about college finances. Based on all the positive feedback here, I'm definitely going to try the Claimyr service to get through to FSA and find out what's actually happening. It's absolutely unacceptable that FSA provides zero explanation when applications go into review, especially during such a critical time for college decisions. Thank you everyone for sharing your stories and practical solutions - this community support is invaluable during what feels like a completely broken process!

I'm so grateful I stumbled across this thread! My daughter's FAFSA went into review status just yesterday after we received her SAI about 10 days ago, and I've been absolutely beside myself thinking we somehow messed up the application. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been such a relief - it's incredible how many families are going through this exact same situation this year! The SSN mismatch issue that keeps coming up in the comments is really eye-opening. I never would have thought that a simple data entry error on their end could cause so much panic for families who are already stressed about college deadlines and financial aid packages. Based on all the glowing reviews here for the Claimyr service, I'm definitely going to give that a try tomorrow to actually get some answers from FSA. It's honestly appalling that they provide zero communication about why applications suddenly go into review, especially when families are dealing with May 1st college decision deadlines. Thank you all for sharing your stories and creating such a supportive community during what feels like a completely chaotic and broken process!

As someone who just went through a similar parent signature nightmare last month, I feel your pain! The screenshot tip from Santiago is absolutely brilliant - I wish I had known about that. One thing that also helped me was having my parents log into their FSA ID accounts while I was on the phone with them, so we could compare their profile information to what I had entered on the FAFSA in real-time. We found THREE tiny discrepancies that way - my mom had used her middle initial on the FSA ID but I put her full middle name on the FAFSA, my dad's street address had "Street" spelled out on one and abbreviated as "St" on the other, and the zip code had an extra digit. It's honestly ridiculous how picky the system is, but at least once you know what to look for, these issues are totally preventable. So glad you got yours sorted out, Keisha!

Reading through this entire thread as someone who's about to submit my FAFSA for the first time - this is incredibly eye-opening and honestly a bit terrifying! The fact that such tiny details like one day off on a birthday or using "Street" vs "St" can cause weeks of problems is mind-blowing. I had no idea the system was this strict about exact matches between FSA ID profiles and FAFSA entries. The tips everyone shared are absolute gold - especially taking screenshots of parent FSA ID profiles before starting and doing real-time verification calls. I'm definitely implementing both of those strategies. It's also reassuring to know about services like Claimyr for avoiding those endless hold times with FSA customer service. This community support is amazing - seeing everyone jump in to help troubleshoot and share their hard-earned lessons makes this whole intimidating process feel much more manageable. Thank you to Keisha for sharing your journey and to everyone who contributed solutions. This thread is going to save so many students from similar nightmares!