Ok here's my ACTUAL appeal letter template that worked for us. I took out our personal details but this structure got us an additional $9k/year: Dear [Admissions Committee], [Student name] was honored to receive admission to [University] and the merit scholarship of [amount]. As [University] remains [Student]'s first-choice school due to [2-3 specific academic programs/opportunities], we are writing to respectfully request reconsideration of [his/her] merit scholarship amount. [Student] has received the following merit offers: - [University 1]: $XX,XXX per year (total $XXX,XXX) - [University 2]: $XX,XXX per year (total $XXX,XXX) Since submitting [his/her] application, [Student] has also achieved the following: - [New accomplishment] - [New award] - [New leadership position] [Student] is committed to contributing to the [University] community through [specific contributions]. While the other offers are generous, [University] remains [his/her] first choice for [specific reasons]. We appreciate your consideration of this request. [Student] would be proud to join the [University] Class of [Year] and contribute to its legacy of excellence. Sincerely, [Parents] [INCLUDE 1-2 PARAGRAPHS FROM STUDENT IN THEIR OWN WORDS]

As someone who just went through this process successfully last month, I want to add a few practical tips that really made a difference for us: 1. **Timing matters** - Don't wait too long, but also don't rush it immediately. We sent ours about 10 days after the initial offer, which gave us time to craft a thoughtful letter. 2. **Get the student involved early** - My daughter actually initiated the conversation with her regional admissions counselor during a campus visit. That personal connection helped when the formal appeal came later. 3. **Be prepared for a phone call** - They called us within a week to discuss the appeal rather than just sending a written response. Have your talking points ready! 4. **Consider your deposit deadline strategy** - We were honest that we needed to hear back before committing elsewhere, but didn't make it sound ultimatum-ish. Our initial offer was $12k and we got it bumped to $18k. The key was showing genuine enthusiasm for the school while being factual about the financial reality. The template Grace shared is really solid - definitely use that structure! Good luck with your appeal - your daughter's stats are strong so there's definitely hope!

To address your follow-up question about loan approval vs. disbursement: The FAFSA only asks about current assets at the time of filing. So if you have loan approval but the funds haven't been disbursed to your account yet, those funds wouldn't count as assets. However, be careful with the timing because verification requests from schools can come later, and they may ask for updated bank statements. My recommendation would be to submit your FAFSA as early as possible (October 1), then arrange for your loan to be approved and disbursed after that date.

Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who went through this exact situation two years ago. We had a similar renovation loan for our rental property and made the mistake of taking it out right before filing FAFSA. It bumped our SAI up by about $2,500, which cost us nearly that much in lost Pell Grant eligibility. What we learned for the following year: we set up automatic payments to contractors and suppliers so the money never actually sat in our personal accounts. We had the bank disburse the loan funds directly to the roofing company and HVAC contractor. This way, the cash never showed up as our assets on the FAFSA snapshot date. Also, keep detailed records of all renovation expenses. Some schools will consider professional judgment appeals if you can demonstrate that the money was already committed to necessary property maintenance expenses, though success varies by school. One last tip: if you do end up with the cash in your account when filing, consider prepaying some other legitimate expenses (property insurance, property taxes, etc.) to reduce the cash balance before your FAFSA snapshot date.

Just wanted to add my experience as another data point - we had the exact same issue two weeks ago! The missing parent signature thing is happening to SO many families this year. We waited about 4 days and then got the email to complete the signature. The whole process took maybe 5 minutes once we could access it again. One thing that helped us was setting up email notifications in both our FSA ID accounts so we'd get alerts immediately. Also, I'd recommend taking screenshots of everything like Isabella mentioned - we documented the whole timeline just in case the school needed proof of when we submitted vs when we could actually complete it. The good news is that most schools are being really flexible about this since it's such a widespread technical issue. Don't stress too much - it sounds like you're on top of it and doing all the right things!

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! My son submitted his FAFSA last week and we completely forgot about my parent signature. I've been refreshing his dashboard constantly hoping something would change, but it's still stuck on "Processing" with that yellow warning. Reading through everyone's responses here is giving me so much hope though! I had no idea this was such a widespread issue with the new FAFSA system. I was beating myself up thinking we were the only ones who made this mistake. It's really comforting to know that schools are being understanding about it and that the wait time seems to be pretty consistent at 3-5 days. I'm definitely going to call his top choice school tomorrow to give them a heads up, and I'll make sure to document everything with screenshots like you all suggested. Thanks for creating this thread - it's been incredibly helpful for a stressed out parent! 🙏

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I feel much better knowing I should stick with my existing parent FSA ID. I'll make sure to answer the questions about multiple students in college carefully. I'm definitely going to look into getting specific advice about our situation through that Claimyr service too, since we have some complicated retirement account situations I want to make sure are handled correctly. Really appreciate all the advice!

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact situation! I have twins who started college the same year, plus an older child who was already enrolled. The key thing that helped me was keeping a spreadsheet with each child's FSA ID, their school codes, and important deadlines since managing three FAFSAs can get overwhelming. Also, don't forget that some schools have earlier priority deadlines than the federal FAFSA deadline, so make sure you're tracking each college's specific requirements. The good news is once you get the system down with your first two kids, adding the third will feel much more manageable!

UPDATE: We got it working!! Thanks everyone for your help. What finally worked was a combination of things: 1. My daughter called her school's financial aid office who said they're giving extensions because so many people are having FAFSA issues 2. We cleared our browsers and used different devices (I used my phone, she used her laptop) 3. She sent a new invitation to me after double checking my info 4. The new email had a direct link that took me straight to the signature page SOLVED! If anyone else has this problem, try all these steps combined!

Great to see this got resolved! For anyone else dealing with similar FAFSA parent signature issues, I'd add one more tip that helped us last year: if you're still stuck after trying all these browser/device solutions, check if your parent FSA ID was created using a different variation of your name than what your daughter entered as the "contributor name" on her application. Even small differences like "Robert" vs "Bob" or including/excluding middle initials can cause the system to not recognize the connection. The FSA system is very literal about name matching. If that's the case, your daughter can edit the contributor information in her incomplete application to match your FSA ID exactly, then resend the invitation. Also seconding what others said about contacting financial aid offices - they're being super understanding about these technical issues this year!