Welcome! I'm also fairly new to this community but this thread has been absolutely incredible for understanding the divorced parent financial aid maze. You're so right about the documentation piece - I'm realizing now that having everything tracked through our co-parenting app might be one of the smartest things we've done, even though we originally just did it to avoid arguments about who paid for what! Regarding calling schools, from what others have shared here, it sounds like now (during the less busy season) might actually be the perfect time to call. Financial aid offices are probably less swamped than they will be during peak application season, so you might get more time to ask detailed questions about their specific divorced parent policies. I'm planning to call my son's top few schools in the next couple of weeks based on the advice in this thread. And I totally agree - this thread has been more helpful than any official website or guidance counselor meeting I've had! The real-world experiences and practical tips from parents who've actually been through this process are invaluable. It should definitely be pinned as a resource for other families navigating divorced parent financial aid situations.

Welcome to the community! This thread has been such a game-changer for me too. That's a really important point about early decision/early action financial aid deadlines - I hadn't even thought about those potentially being earlier than the regular CSS Profile deadlines! I need to check if any of my son's schools have ED/EA programs and what their financial aid requirements are for those. November 1st would be coming up fast! Your approach for talking to your ex sounds really smart - having the specific school requirements laid out from their official websites should make it clear that this isn't optional or something you're choosing to make complicated. I'm definitely borrowing that strategy! It's so much easier to have these difficult conversations when you can point to official school policies rather than trying to explain it all yourself. This community has honestly been more helpful than all the official resources combined. Real experiences from parents who've actually navigated this maze are worth their weight in gold! Thanks for adding another crucial detail about those early deadlines - that could have been a costly oversight for those of us just starting this process.

Thanks for the reminder - I double-checked both applications and all the information looks correct. I guess it's just the processing queue that's different.

@Natasha Petrova This gives me so much hope! Your story is exactly what I needed to hear as someone with similar stats and family income. I can t'believe a private school ended up being cheaper than state school - that totally changes how I m'thinking about this. I m'definitely starting the CSS Profile tonight still (can t'believe my counselor never mentioned it! .)For the local scholarships, did you just search online or go to specific places like the library or chamber of commerce? And when you looked for schools where you were above average - where did you find those stats to compare against? Also, I m'curious about timing - did you apply to all 15 schools at once, or did you add more after getting some results back? I m'worried I might be running out of time for fall 2025 but your success story makes me want to cast that wider net you mentioned! Thanks for proving that middle-class families like ours can actually make this work. I was starting to think I was missing some secret that everyone else knew!

@Natasha Petrova Your story is exactly what I needed to hear! I was getting so discouraged thinking that only super poor families or valedictorians could get good aid. Knowing someone with almost identical stats and income made it work gives me actual hope. I m'starting the CSS Profile application right now - I can t'believe I never heard about it before today! And I love your strategy of applying to schools where you d'be above their typical student profile. That s'such a smart approach that I never considered. For those local scholarships you mentioned - did you find them through your high school guidance office, or did you search online? And what did you mean by the weird "ones nobody talks about ?"I m'willing to apply to anything at this point but don t'even know where to start looking. Also, when you were researching schools with good middle-income aid, were there specific websites or resources that helped you identify which ones were actually generous versus just good at marketing? I keep seeing conflicting information and could use some reliable guidance. Thank you for proving this is actually possible for families like ours! I was starting to think everyone else got some secret handbook that I missed.

@Amina Sy You re'so smart to be thinking about this as a junior! I wish I had started researching all of this earlier instead of scrambling now. From everything I ve'learned in this thread, it seems like starting early gives you way more options. You should definitely begin looking into schools and scholarships now - many of the big merit scholarships have early deadlines, and some of those local scholarships @Natasha Petrova mentioned probably have spring deadlines. Plus starting early means you can really research which schools are generous with aid for stats like ours instead of just applying randomly. The CSS Profile and FAFSA open in October of senior year, but you can start preparing now by gathering tax documents and learning about the process. And honestly, just knowing about things like the CSS Profile and merit-based strategies puts you way ahead of where I was even a few weeks ago! It s actually'kind of comforting to know other people were feeling confused by all those full ride "stories too." This thread has taught me it s not'about missing some secret - it s about'understanding the system is complicated and requires a strategic approach. We ve got'this!

Just saw it! What a relief. Thanks for pointing that out - I might have missed it in my spam folder.

Welcome to the club of frustrated FAFSA parents! 😅 From what I've been reading here and experiencing myself, most schools are being pretty understanding about these technical delays. The financial aid office worker (Keisha) mentioned that many institutions are offering FAFSA processing extensions this year specifically because of these widespread issues. I'd definitely recommend reaching out to your daughter's schools proactively to let them know about the situation - having documentation of the problem seems to help. Also, that email Zainab mentioned about the weekend fix gives me hope that we might finally see some resolution soon!

Great news! Glad it worked out. The 'Processing' status is normal and can take 3-5 days before you get your SAI calculation. Make sure you also check your Student Aid Report when it's available to verify all information is correct.

This is such a helpful summary, thank you! As someone who's about to start the FAFSA process for my twins next year, I'm taking notes on all these tips. The spam folder issue seems to be a really common problem - I'll definitely remember to check there first. Quick question though - if both parents need FSA IDs, do they both need to be present when filling out the application, or can one parent complete everything and just get the signature from the other at the end?

@Evelyn Xu Great question! One parent can complete the entire FAFSA application alone - they just need to have access to both parents information' SSN, (tax info, etc. .)The second parent only needs to log in at the very end to provide their electronic signature. So no, both parents don t'need to sit together during the whole process. Just make sure the completing parent has all the necessary documents and information for both spouses before starting. The signature step is really just a final approval/verification step.