As a newcomer here, I really appreciate all the detailed advice everyone has shared! This conversation has been super helpful in understanding the timing issues with FAFSA and gap years. It sounds like the consensus is to wait until your son has more concrete plans rather than filling it out now. The point about military benefits being separate from FAFSA really clarifies things too. Good luck with whatever path he chooses - both the Air Force and community college are great options!

As someone new to this community, I wanted to add that it's also worth considering that if your son does end up going the Air Force route, many service members complete their degree while active duty using Tuition Assistance, then save their GI Bill benefits for after service (maybe for a higher degree or to transfer to dependents). This could actually work out better financially than the traditional college path! The military education counselors are really good at helping map out these strategies once he's in. But like everyone said, definitely no need to do FAFSA now if he's taking the gap year.

I'm a financial aid counselor and I see this exact scenario SO often after divorces! The retirement account mistake is definitely the most common culprit - that $42k 401k being counted as an investment would absolutely cause your SAI to skyrocket like that. One additional thing to check that I haven't seen mentioned yet: make sure you're using the correct tax filing status. After divorce, you should likely be filing as "Head of Household" rather than "Single" if your daughter is your dependent. This can make a significant difference in the SAI calculation. Also, when you make your correction, be patient with the processing time - it can take 3-5 business days for the new SAI to be calculated and appear in your account. Don't panic if it doesn't update immediately! You're definitely on the right track now with everyone's help. The fact that your SAI was reasonable last year tells me your financial situation hasn't dramatically changed, so this is almost certainly a data entry error that can be fixed.

I went through this exact same nightmare two years ago! My SAI jumped from around 2,000 to over 80,000 after my divorce, and I was absolutely panicking. Just like everyone else has mentioned, it was the retirement accounts that got me - I had included my 401k and Roth IRA values in the investment section when they should have been completely excluded. A few additional tips from my experience: - When you submit your correction, print out a copy for your records before hitting submit - If you have any 529 college savings accounts, those DO count as parent assets (learned that the hard way) - Make sure your bank account balances are accurate as of the day you're filing, not some random date It took about a week for my corrected SAI to process, but it went back down to a reasonable number. The whole experience taught me to be extra careful with every single field on that form. You've got this - sounds like you've identified the main issues and have a solid plan to fix them!

I'm in a very similar situation! My son's FAFSA was processed on March 20th and we're still waiting to hear from all 5 schools he applied to. Reading everyone's responses here has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea the new FAFSA system was causing such widespread delays this year. It sounds like 3-4 weeks is pretty normal timing, but I'm definitely getting anxious about our May 1st decision deadline too. I think I'll follow the advice about waiting one more week and then reaching out to the financial aid offices with that specific script someone mentioned earlier. It's comforting to know so many other families are going through the exact same waiting game right now!

Just wanted to chime in as another parent going through this same stressful waiting period! My daughter's FAFSA was processed on March 19th and we're still waiting on aid packages from 3 out of her 4 schools. It's our first time through this process too and I've been checking my email obsessively every day! Reading through all these responses has been such a relief - I had no idea the new FAFSA system was causing delays across the board this year. It sounds like we're all pretty much on the same timeline and that 3-4 weeks is totally normal. I'm going to take the advice about checking her student portals more carefully (I'll admit I've been relying mostly on email notifications) and then plan to make some calls next week if we still haven't heard anything. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and timelines - it's so much less stressful knowing we're not the only ones in this situation! Fingers crossed we all start seeing some aid packages roll in soon.

To summarize for anyone else with this question: Either the student or parent/contributor can sign first technically, but best practice is: 1) Student starts application and creates FSA ID if they don't have one 2) Student adds parent/contributor and completes their portion without signing 3) Parent/contributor completes their section with all financial information 4) Parent/contributor signs their section 5) Student reviews complete application including contribution information 6) Student signs to complete submission This order minimizes the need for corrections later, which can delay your SAI calculation and financial aid package.

As someone who just went through this process with my daughter, I can confirm that following the order @Sienna Gomez outlined is definitely the way to go! We learned the hard way last year when my daughter signed first and then I realized I had entered the wrong bank account balance. Had to call the school's financial aid office to explain the discrepancy. This year we did parent section first, reviewed everything together, and it went so much smoother. Also Pro tip: make sure you have all your tax documents and bank statements ready before you start the parent section - it'll save you from having to stop halfway through to hunt down paperwork!

This whole new FAFSA process is such a mess compared to previous years. My daughter and I spent hours trying to figure it out. The "contributor" system is confusing and not intuitive at all. But once you get past these initial hurdles, the SAI calculation seems more straightforward than the old EFC at least.

I'm new to this whole FAFSA process and reading through all these responses is both helpful and terrifying! 😅 My daughter is a junior in high school so we're just starting to prepare for next year. It sounds like the main things to watch out for are: 1) being super careful with the dependency questions, 2) making sure both parent and student have their own FSA IDs set up well in advance, and 3) understanding this "contributor" system. Are there any other common pitfalls we should be aware of before we dive into this next year? Also, when should we actually start the FSA ID creation process - is there a recommended timeline?