I'm dealing with a very similar situation and wanted to share what I've learned through this frustrating process. When my mom remarried two years ago, our SAI jumped from around 7,000 to over 20,000 even though my stepdad's income was modest. What helped us was being very thorough with the Professional Judgment appeal. Beyond medical expenses, we included documentation showing: - My stepdad's existing debt obligations from before the marriage - Proof that he wasn't financially supporting me before they married (bank statements, etc.) - A letter explaining that their marriage was recent and household finances weren't fully integrated The financial aid office reduced our SAI by about 4,000, which brought back some Pell Grant eligibility. It wasn't perfect, but it made a real difference. The key was being persistent and providing lots of documentation. Also, don't overlook your state's grant programs - some have different income calculations than the federal FAFSA and might be more generous for blended families. Worth checking into!

I'm so sorry you're going through this - it's incredibly frustrating when a positive life change like getting married ends up hurting your daughter's financial aid eligibility! What you're experiencing is unfortunately very common with the new FAFSA formula. One thing that might be worth double-checking: did you include your husband's retirement account contributions (401k, IRA, etc.) as untaxed income? A lot of people accidentally report these twice - once as untaxed income and again when they're already factored into the AGI. This can artificially inflate your available income calculation. Also, since you mentioned your husband only makes $42k and you've been married just 6 months, you might have a strong case for a Professional Judgment appeal based on the timing. Many schools will consider that your household finances haven't had time to fully integrate, especially if you can show you're still maintaining separate accounts for most expenses. The medical expenses for your son's therapy that others mentioned are definitely worth including too. Keep all your receipts and get a letter from the provider if possible. Every bit of documentation helps!

Update: I finally got through to the financial aid office! They said the appeal is still under review but should be completed by next Wednesday. They also confirmed that signing the MPN doesn't commit us to anything, and we can still request an extension on the deposit deadline if needed. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

That's such a relief that you got through to them! The waiting game is so stressful when you're trying to make such an important decision. I hope the appeal comes back with good news on Wednesday. It sounds like you handled this perfectly by getting clarification on the MPN and keeping your options open with the deposit. Best of luck to your son - getting into his top choice school is already such an amazing accomplishment!

Just wanted to jump in here as another parent dealing with this exact same nightmare! My twin boys are both starting college in the fall and we're hitting the DRT failure issue with both of their FAFSAs. What's particularly frustrating is that I'm pretty tech-savvy and KNOW I used the IRS tool correctly - I even took screenshots during the process because I was paranoid about making mistakes. But sure enough, both schools are now saying the tax info shows as "manually entered." Reading through this thread has been incredibly reassuring though. It's clear this is a widespread system failure, not something families are doing wrong. I'm going to follow the advice here and skip trying to reach FSA entirely. Instead, I'll be calling both schools' financial aid offices tomorrow morning with our tax transcripts ready to go. One thing I wanted to add - for anyone else with multiple kids affected, I'm planning to ask each school if they can expedite the review process since we're dealing with two students at different institutions. Hopefully having documentation ready upfront will help move things along quickly. Thank you to everyone who's shared their experiences here, especially @Savannah Vin for the insider perspective from the financial aid office side. This community has been a lifesaver during what's been an incredibly stressful process!

I'm going through this exact same situation right now! My daughter's FAFSA shows "manually entered" even though I definitely used the DRT back in January. I was so careful about clicking the right buttons because I've heard horror stories about manual entry errors. This thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea this was such a widespread issue. I've been beating myself up thinking I somehow messed up the process, but it's clearly a system problem on their end. Based on everyone's advice here, I'm going to skip trying to reach FSA and go straight to my daughter's financial aid office tomorrow. Already requested our tax transcript from IRS.gov and have our W-2s ready to send over. It's such a relief to know that schools are understanding about this and have procedures in place. The timing stress is real though - we need that aid package to make our final decision! Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions.

Just wanted to jump in as someone who went through this exact process two years ago with my son who was also a QuestBridge finalist! That IDOC question about submitting FAFSA before November 15th had us completely confused too - we actually called the college's financial aid office in a panic thinking we had missed some critical deadline. What I learned is that these systems (CSS Profile, IDOC, FAFSA) were built at different times and unfortunately don't always sync up perfectly, especially with all the FAFSA delays in recent years. The admissions counselor we spoke with just laughed and said they get this question constantly during ED season. For what it's worth, my son didn't Match through QuestBridge but got into his ED school with an incredible financial aid package - better than we ever imagined possible. The CSS Profile really is the key document for these private schools, so focus on making sure that's complete and accurate. One practical tip: keep a detailed record of every document you submit and when. We had to resubmit tax forms twice because they got "lost" in the system, but having our submission confirmations saved us a lot of stress. Your daughter sounds like she's in an amazing position as a QuestBridge finalist - that recognition alone opens so many doors! Wishing your family the best of luck with the ED process.

As a newcomer to this community who's just starting to navigate these financial aid waters, I want to say how incredibly helpful and reassuring this entire discussion has been! My family is in the early stages of preparing for college applications, and reading about everyone's experiences with QuestBridge, CSS Profile, IDOC, and all these confusing systems has given me such valuable insights. The fact that so many families have encountered that same confusing IDOC question about submitting FAFSA before November 15th (when it doesn't even open until December 1st!) really shows how these different systems don't communicate well with each other. It's both frustrating and comforting to know we're not alone in finding this process overwhelming. I'm taking notes on all the practical tips shared here - creating spreadsheets to track deadlines, taking screenshots of confirmations, setting up individual school financial aid portals early, and focusing on accuracy with the CSS Profile since it's so important for institutional aid at private colleges. Thank you to everyone who shared their knowledge and experiences, especially the success stories that give hope to first-gen families like mine. This community support makes navigating these complex financial aid systems feel much less daunting!

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact situation last year! The signature order truly doesn't matter - I was the contributor for my nephew and I signed first while he was still at school, then he signed a few days later when he had time. What saved us was setting up a shared calendar reminder for the 14-day signature window so we didn't accidentally let it expire. Also, pro tip: after both signatures are complete, you'll get email confirmations to both the student and contributor email addresses, so you'll know for sure when the FAFSA is fully submitted. Good luck with your niece's application!

As someone who just went through this process with my daughter, I can confirm that signature order doesn't matter at all! What I learned though is to screenshot or save confirmation numbers at each step - especially after each person signs. The system sometimes has glitches and having those confirmation details saved me when we had to call support later. Also, if you're traveling for work, you can actually sign from anywhere as long as you have internet access and your FSA ID credentials. The system doesn't care about your location, just that you use the correct login. One last tip: if either of you runs into any technical issues during the signing process, don't keep trying the same thing over and over - that can actually lock you out temporarily. Take a break and try again later or call for help. Best of luck meeting your deadline!