That's such great news! I'm so glad you stood your ground and got results. The fact that they immediately agreed to extend your deadline and provide a preliminary package shows they absolutely could have done this earlier - they were just hoping you'd commit without the information. You handled this perfectly! This is such a valuable lesson for other families reading this thread. Schools CAN provide timelines and estimates when pressed, and it's completely reasonable to ask for deposit deadline extensions when waiting for financial aid information. Your daughter is lucky to have such an advocate looking out for the family's financial interests!

What a fantastic outcome! This thread is going to be so helpful for other families facing similar situations. Your experience perfectly illustrates why it's crucial to contact financial aid directly rather than going through admissions - they have completely different priorities and timelines. For anyone else reading this who might be in a similar situation, McKenzie's approach shows exactly how to handle this: 1. Be polite but firm about your needs 2. Use specific language about needing information to make informed decisions 3. Don't be afraid to ask for deadline extensions 4. Document everything The fact that they immediately accommodated your requests when you called proves they had the ability to help all along. Congratulations on advocating effectively for your family, and I hope the preliminary package comes back with good news!

I went through this same situation two years ago with my twins' FAFSAs! The confusion is totally understandable because the wording is so unclear. Here's what I learned after calling the financial aid office at my kids' college: If your husband's employer stock is in a regular taxable brokerage account (not inside a 401k or similar retirement plan), you MUST report it as an investment, regardless of whether you're planning to use it for retirement someday. The FAFSA doesn't care about your future plans for the money - only the current account type matters. One thing that caught me off guard: if you have dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) for any of your stocks, those count too and need to be included in your investment total. Also, don't forget about any HSA funds beyond what's needed for current medical expenses - those are technically investments if you're using them for long-term savings. My advice is to gather all your brokerage statements from the same date and add everything up. It's better to over-report slightly than to under-report and get flagged for verification later. The verification process is a nightmare that can delay your aid for months!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a first-time FAFSA parent and was making this way more complicated than it needed to be. After reading everyone's experiences, I now understand the simple rule: if it's not in an official retirement account (401k, IRA, etc.), it gets reported as an investment - period. My question for the group: we have some I Bonds that we bought a few years ago during the high interest rate period. Those aren't in any retirement account, just regular Treasury Direct holdings. I'm assuming those need to be reported too at their current redemption value? Also, what about a small 529 account we opened for our younger child (the FAFSA is for our older child) - does that get reported as a parent asset even though it's technically for the sibling? Thanks again everyone for sharing your real-world experiences. This community is so much more helpful than the official FAFSA instructions!

I went through this exact situation two years ago when my son inherited money from his grandfather's Roth IRA. The key thing to remember is that the FAFSA timing matters a lot here. Since you're filing the 2025-26 FAFSA, you'll be using 2023 tax information for income reporting, so that 2022 distribution won't show up in the income section at all. For the asset reporting, you'll need to include whatever amount your daughter still has from that inheritance as of the day you file the FAFSA. The $14k mentioned in the comments would add about $2,800 to her Student Aid Index, which could reduce her aid eligibility. One strategy that worked for us was using some of the inherited funds for legitimate college expenses before filing - things like a laptop, textbooks, dorm supplies, or even paying the enrollment deposit. This reduced the reportable asset amount while still using the money for its intended purpose. Just make sure to keep all receipts in case you need to document the expenses later. Also, if any of her schools require the CSS Profile, double-check their specific requirements since they sometimes have different rules than the FAFSA for inherited assets.

As a financial aid advisor, I can confirm the advice given here is mostly accurate. For the 2025-26 FAFSA using 2023 tax data, that 2022 Roth IRA distribution won't appear in the income section. However, I want to emphasize a few key points: 1. Any remaining funds ($14k mentioned) will be assessed as student assets at 20%, potentially reducing aid by about $2,800 2. Using funds for legitimate educational expenses before filing is a valid strategy - this includes tuition deposits, required technology, textbooks, and even reasonable transportation needs 3. Keep detailed records of all purchases in case schools request verification 4. For schools requiring CSS Profile, contact their financial aid offices directly as they may have additional reporting requirements One thing I haven't seen mentioned: if your daughter qualifies for the simplified needs test (family AGI under $60,000 and eligible to file 1040EZ or meeting other criteria), assets aren't counted at all on the FAFSA. This could make the entire asset question moot depending on your family's income situation. The key is being honest and accurate while understanding the rules to make informed decisions about timing your FAFSA filing.

Welcome to the community, Sophia! Your timing questions are spot-on - I wish I had known to ask these things earlier in the process. From my experience this year, I'd definitely recommend being proactive rather than waiting for things to happen automatically. For timeline, we submitted FAFSA on Feb 13th and got our preliminary package within about 3 weeks. The school told us to expect the final package by mid-April, so we're still waiting on that. One thing I learned from this thread is that every school operates differently - some are faster, some slower. As for advocating, it sounds like the key is having specific circumstances to discuss rather than just asking for more money. The professional judgment review that Isaac mentioned seems to be a formal process for documented changes in financial situation. But even without major changes, Maya's advice about scheduling a meeting to discuss your specific situation seems really valuable. Good luck with your daughter's applications next year! This community has been incredibly helpful for navigating all the confusing aspects of financial aid.

As a newcomer to this community, I'm finding this thread incredibly informative! I'm currently going through this exact situation with my daughter - her SAI came back around $18,000 and we're waiting on final packages from several private colleges. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the impact of demonstrated interest on these institutional grants. Some private colleges track how engaged prospective students are (campus visits, info sessions, communication with admissions counselors) and may factor that into their aid decisions. Has anyone noticed a correlation between their level of engagement with the school and their final aid package? Also, for those who successfully appealed or got increases in their institutional grants - did you work directly with the financial aid office or did you also involve admissions counselors? I'm wondering if having multiple advocates within the institution might be helpful. Thanks to everyone sharing their experiences - this is exactly the kind of practical advice that's so hard to find elsewhere!

Welcome to the community! As someone who just went through this exact situation last month, I can definitely relate to the anxiety around FAFSA processing and scholarship deadlines. My daughter's FAFSA took about 4 weeks to go from "Submitted" to "Processed," and then it was another 1-2 weeks before most of her colleges showed they had received it in their systems. What really helped us was creating a simple checklist with each school's name, their scholarship deadline dates, and a column to track when their portal showed they had received her FAFSA data. We ended up calling two schools that had particularly tight deadlines, and both were very understanding about the processing delays - one even told us they would flag her application to make sure it was reviewed as soon as the FAFSA data came through. The key thing I learned is that most financial aid offices are dealing with the same delays everyone else is experiencing this year, so they're generally more flexible than you might expect. Don't hesitate to reach out to them directly if you're worried about specific deadlines!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm finding this conversation incredibly valuable! My daughter is a high school senior and we submitted her FAFSA about 6 weeks ago - it's been stuck in "Submitted" status this whole time, so seeing that others have waited 3+ weeks for processing gives me some hope that we're not alone in this. The advice about creating a tracking spreadsheet and being proactive with schools about scholarship deadlines is exactly what I needed to hear. I had no idea that "Processed" status didn't guarantee immediate delivery to all schools, or that there could be such variation in how quickly different colleges import the data. I'm definitely going to start preparing a list of her target schools with their scholarship deadlines so we can be ready to contact them directly once our FAFSA finally processes. Thank you all for sharing your real experiences - it's so much more helpful than trying to decode the official government websites!