I'm currently going through my own SAP appeal process and wanted to add something that really helped me - if your school has a financial aid workshop or counseling appointments available, definitely try to schedule one before submitting your appeal. At my school, they had a financial aid counselor review my draft appeal letter and documentation before I officially submitted it. She caught a few things I missed and helped me strengthen my explanation. Some schools also have writing centers that can help with appeal letters if you're not sure how to structure it. Also, since you mentioned you're in nursing school - many nursing programs have their own student success coordinators who are familiar with SAP issues. They might be able to provide a letter of support or connect you with resources specific to nursing students. Your situation sounds very promising given your GPA and proximity to graduation. The fact that you've been successful since returning to the nursing program is exactly what they want to see. Best of luck with your appeal!

I went through a SAP appeal last year and it was approved! One thing that really helped me was creating a timeline showing my academic journey - including the reasons for my major changes and how my grades improved once I found the right program. For your appeal, I'd definitely include: - Your current nursing program GPA (if it's different/higher than your overall GPA) - A letter from your nursing advisor confirming you're in good standing and on track for May graduation - Documentation showing you've been successful since re-entering the nursing program in fall 2023 The fact that you're so close to graduation with a solid GPA works strongly in your favor. Financial aid offices generally want to help students cross the finish line when they can demonstrate they're on the right track. Just be thorough with your documentation and honest about your journey - they've seen it all before and understand that students sometimes need time to find their path. You've got this! Being one semester away with a 3.4 GPA puts you in a much better position than many SAP appeals they review.

Update: It went back to "processed" today! That was much faster than I expected after reading some of your comments. All 3 new schools now show up in his account too. Thanks everyone for the help and reassurance!

That's awesome that it resolved so quickly! This thread has been really helpful - I'm bookmarking it in case I run into the same issue when my daughter applies next year. It's so reassuring to see how the community comes together to help each other navigate this confusing process. Thanks for sharing the update!

This entire thread is gold! As someone who works in a high school guidance office, I see this DRT issue constantly during FAFSA season. I'm definitely going to compile these troubleshooting steps into a handout for our students. The incognito browser trick, clearing cache/cookies, checking parent FSA ID login status, and that Claimyr service for getting through to FSA - these are all solutions I wish I had known about sooner. It's ridiculous that the official FAFSA help resources don't clearly outline these common fixes. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions - you're helping way more students than you probably realize!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm currently a college freshman and went through this exact same nightmare last year. The FAFSA system really needs better error messaging - it's crazy that students have to play detective just to figure out why a basic feature isn't working. I ended up having to manually enter everything because I couldn't get the DRT to work no matter what I tried. One thing I'd add for future students reading this - if you do have to enter tax info manually, triple check every number because any mistakes can delay your aid processing for weeks. Also, keep copies of all the tax documents you reference so if you get selected for verification later, you have everything ready. The whole process is stressful enough without these technical glitches making it worse!

Glad you're feeling better about this! One final suggestion - after making your corrections, consider using the Federal Student Aid Estimator tool on studentaid.gov to get a rough idea of what your new SAI might be. It won't be exact, but it can help you prepare for what to expect and give you some peace of mind in the meantime.

Don't beat yourself up about this - FAFSA asset reporting is genuinely confusing and you're definitely not alone in making these mistakes! I work at a high school and see students mix up retirement accounts vs investments all the time. The good news is that correcting it is pretty straightforward, and since you caught it before your aid packages are finalized, you should be in good shape. Just make sure when you're making the corrections that you have all your documentation handy (tax returns, investment statements, etc.) so you can input the accurate numbers. Your future self will thank you for taking the time to fix this now rather than dealing with aid adjustments later!

Update: I finally got both twins to add me as a contributor, and I can now see both applications on my dashboard! You were all right - each student has to initiate their own FAFSA and add me, rather than me adding them. The process is working much more smoothly now. Thanks everyone for your help!

I'm going through the exact same process with my daughter and son (they're a year apart but both applying for 2025-2026). One thing I learned the hard way - make sure both twins complete their student portions of the FAFSA BEFORE the priority deadlines for their schools! Even though you'll fill out your contributor section for both, each student needs to submit their individual application by their school's deadline. Some schools have early priority dates in February/March, so don't wait too long for the second twin to get their application started. Also, double-check that both applications show "Submitted" status - I almost missed that my son's was still sitting in "In Progress" even after I completed my contributor portion.