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Coming at this from a parent who just survived the 2024-25 FAFSA nightmare with twins! We filed in early November last year (after waiting for the bugs to get worked out) and it was still a mess, but manageable. Here's what I learned: 1) The "simplified" process still requires the SAME documents as before, so don't let that fool you into being unprepared. 2) Screenshot EVERYTHING as you go - we had our application mysteriously reset twice and having screenshots saved us hours of re-entering data. 3) If you have divorced parents, start gathering those documents NOW because the contributor determination process was the biggest source of delays last year. 4) Consider filing a practice run on the FAFSA simulator first to catch any weird situations with your family's finances. My twins got into their top choices and we didn't miss out on institutional aid by filing in November, but I'd probably aim for late October this year just to be safe. The anxiety is real, but you've got this!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with twins - that must have been incredibly stressful! The screenshot tip is brilliant, I never would have thought of that but it makes total sense given all the technical issues people faced. Quick question about the FAFSA simulator - is that different from the preview worksheet that Diego mentioned earlier? I want to make sure I'm using the right tools to prepare. Also, did you end up needing to file any corrections after your initial submission, or did the November timing help you avoid most of the major glitches?
First-time FAFSA parent here and honestly feeling overwhelmed by all the horror stories! My daughter is a junior now so we have one more year to prepare, but reading through everyone's experiences is both terrifying and incredibly helpful. A few questions for the group: 1) For those who mentioned printing everything - are you literally printing every single page as you fill it out, or just the final submission confirmation? 2) Has anyone tried calling their state's financial aid agency for guidance, or is it better to stick with the federal resources? 3) I keep seeing mentions of "verification" - is this something that happens to everyone or only certain applications? Really appreciate this community sharing real experiences rather than just the official government guidance that makes it sound so simple!
Great questions! I went through this last year and can help with your verification question - it's not random. You get selected for verification if there are inconsistencies in your data (like your FAFSA info doesn't match IRS records), if you're chosen for a random audit, or if you left certain fields blank. About 1 in 3 applications get verified, so it's pretty common. For printing, I'd recommend saving PDFs of each completed section plus your final submission confirmation - you don't need every single page, but having proof of what you submitted is crucial if there are disputes later. And definitely reach out to your state agency if you have one - many states have their own grant programs with separate deadlines that the federal folks won't tell you about. You're smart to start preparing now!
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I'm so relieved to see this thread! My daughter and I have been dealing with the exact same situation for weeks now. My partner is undocumented and we kept hitting walls with the FAFSA system. Reading through everyone's experiences here has given me hope that we can actually get through this process. I'm going to try the zeros approach for the SSN field tomorrow and gather all the tax documents with his ITIN. It's honestly been so stressful wondering if my daughter would be able to get financial aid because of our family situation. Thank you all for sharing your stories and advice - it means more than you know to families like ours who are just trying to help our kids get an education.
You're definitely not alone in this - it's heartbreaking how many families get stuck in this exact same situation! The stress is so real when you're trying to navigate a system that wasn't really designed for mixed-status families. But seeing all the success stories in this thread gives me hope too. The zeros approach really does work, and once you get past that initial hurdle of submitting the application, the verification process is just paperwork. Your daughter is lucky to have a parent who's fighting this hard for her education. Don't give up - there are people at the financial aid office who know how to handle these cases, you just have to get to the right person sometimes. Wishing you both the best with the resubmission!
I'm a new college student going through this exact situation right now! My mom is a citizen but my dad is undocumented, and we just went through the whole FAFSA process last month. What really helped us was calling the school's financial aid office and specifically asking to speak with someone who handles "special circumstances" cases - that's the key phrase that gets you to someone who actually knows how to deal with mixed-status families. They walked us through everything step by step and even helped us submit some of the verification documents directly through their system. Also, don't be discouraged if the first person you talk to doesn't know what to do - we had to ask to speak to a supervisor twice before getting to someone with the right expertise. The whole thing took about 3 weeks from start to finish, but we got our aid package approved! Your daughter will get through this too.
This is exactly the kind of detailed, step-by-step guidance that families in this situation need! The "special circumstances" phrase is so important - I wish more people knew about that magic phrase. It's frustrating that you had to ask for supervisors multiple times just to get to someone with the right knowledge, but I'm so glad you persisted. Your timeline of 3 weeks gives realistic expectations too, which is really helpful. Thank you for sharing your recent experience - it's going to help so many families who are currently struggling with this same process!
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also do teh css profile if ur schools take it!! my daughters school gave way more money after we did that even tho it's annoying to fill out
Yes, this! The CSS Profile looks at your financial situation differently than FAFSA. It's used by about 400 mostly private colleges and can result in better institutional aid packages. There is a fee, but fee waivers are available for eligible families.
I'm in a very similar situation! My SAI came back at 7,950 with a household income of around $68,000, and I was also confused about what it all means. From what I've gathered reading through these comments, it sounds like we're both just above the Pell Grant threshold, which is really frustrating. But I'm encouraged to hear about the institutional aid possibilities and the appeal process. @Chloe Boulanger thank you for all the detailed advice - it's exactly what families like us need to hear! I'm definitely going to look into the CSS Profile for the private schools we're considering, and I'll be calling about appeals too. It's reassuring to know we're not alone in this confusing process.
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I'm having this exact same issue! I've been trying to use the DRT for three days now and keep getting the same error message. Reading through everyone's suggestions here has been so helpful - I had no idea this was affecting so many people. I'm going to start with checking my address formatting since that seems like the simplest fix to try first. If that doesn't work, I'll try switching browsers and disabling my extensions. Really hoping I don't have to resort to that 3 AM attempt, but honestly at this point I'm desperate enough to try anything to avoid manually entering all those tax numbers again! Has anyone heard any updates on that 72-hour fix that was mentioned?
I haven't seen any official updates on that 72-hour fix yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I'm in the exact same boat as you - been fighting with this DRT error for days now. I actually just tried the address formatting fix after reading Giovanni's suggestion and I think that might have been my issue too! I had "Unit 5" on my FAFSA but "Apt 5" on my tax return. Going to give it another shot tonight and see if that small change makes all the difference. If you try the address fix, let us know if it works for you too - it would be amazing if such a simple solution could save us all from hours of manual data entry!
I'm dealing with this exact same issue and it's driving me crazy! I've been trying for 4 days straight and the DRT just keeps timing out with that same "Unable to retrieve tax information" error. After reading through all these suggestions, I'm definitely going to try the address formatting fix first - I just realized I might have "Street" abbreviated as "St" on my FAFSA but spelled out fully on my tax return. If that doesn't work, I'll try Firefox with all extensions disabled since I've been using Chrome this whole time. Really hoping that Department of Education fix comes through soon because the thought of manually entering all my W-2 and 1099 information again makes me want to cry! Thank you all for sharing your experiences - at least I know I'm not alone in this struggle!
I'm going through the exact same nightmare! Been trying the DRT for almost a week now and getting nowhere. The address formatting tip is genius - I just checked and I have "Ave" on my FAFSA but "Avenue" on my tax return, so that could definitely be my problem! I'm also going to try that Firefox suggestion since I've only been using Chrome. It's so frustrating that something as simple as address formatting could cause such a major roadblock, but at least now I have some concrete things to try before giving up completely. Really hoping one of these solutions works because the manual entry process looks absolutely brutal. Thank you everyone for all these helpful suggestions!
Amara Nwosu
I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! My FAFSA has been stuck on "In Process" for about 3 weeks and I was starting to panic about missing deadlines. This thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea that the processing times were this extended across the board this year. The advice about contacting schools directly with your confirmation number is brilliant. I just checked and I still have my original submission email from when we completed everything. It's such a relief to know that schools can see we submitted on time even without the SAI calculation being finished yet. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it really helps to know we're not alone in this!
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Katherine Hunter
•I'm so glad this thread helped you too! It's amazing how much stress this whole process causes when you don't know what's normal. I was literally losing sleep over it until I found these responses. The confirmation email is definitely key - I'm going to make sure to mention that specific submission date when I contact my schools. It's reassuring to know that so many people are going through the exact same thing and that schools are being understanding about the delays. Hopefully we'll all get our SAI calculations soon!
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StardustSeeker
I'm experiencing the exact same thing! My FAFSA has been stuck on "In Process" for almost 4 weeks now and I was getting really anxious about it. This thread has been so helpful - I had no idea that these extended processing times were happening to so many people this year. The advice about contacting schools directly with your confirmation information is really smart. I just dug up my original submission email and I'm going to reach out to my top choice schools tomorrow to let them know I submitted on time but am still waiting for the SAI calculation. It's such a relief to know that schools can see we submitted even without the final processing being complete. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and advice - it really helps to know we're all dealing with the same frustrating delays!
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