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If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
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An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
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Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
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Just wanted to update - I got through to Nelnet today in ONLY 35 minutes! Called at 4:15pm Eastern. Seems like their wait times might be improving a bit. The rep told me they just added a bunch of new staff to handle call volume. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the update! That's actually really encouraging. I'll try that time tomorrow. Did they mention anything about the best times to call?
The rep said mid-afternoon is generally better than mornings right now. Apparently everyone has the same idea about calling first thing when they open! She also mentioned they're implementing a callback feature in the next few weeks, so that should help too.
I feel your pain! I had a similar nightmare with Nelnet last month trying to sort out my IDR recertification after my income changed. What finally worked for me was using their secure message system through the online portal instead of calling. I know it's not as immediate as a phone call, but I got a detailed response within 48 hours that actually answered all my consolidation questions. You can find it under "Contact Us" when you log into your account. For urgent payment issues, they do prioritize those messages. Might be worth trying while you're also attempting the callback service @Zara mentioned - sounds like that could be a game changer once it's live!
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I just went through this process with my daughter last year and wanted to share a few additional tips that might help! First, make sure to check if your school participates in the Direct PLUS loan program (most do, but it's worth confirming). Also, when the Parent PLUS application does open in June, I'd recommend applying as early as possible because processing can take 1-2 weeks, and you don't want to be cutting it close to your tuition deadline. One thing that caught us off guard was that even after approval, the funds don't get disbursed to the school immediately - there's usually another week or two delay. My advice is to contact your school's bursar's office now to ask about their specific Parent PLUS loan timeline and whether they offer any grace period for tuition payments while federal loans are being processed. Most schools are pretty understanding about this situation since it happens every year!
This is such helpful advice, thank you! I hadn't even thought about contacting the bursar's office separately from financial aid. The timeline you mentioned about processing taking 1-2 weeks plus another week for disbursement is really important to know - that could definitely cut things close with tuition deadlines. I'm going to call both offices this week to get a better understanding of their specific processes and grace periods. It's reassuring to hear from someone who's actually been through this recently!
I'm a current college sophomore and went through this exact situation two years ago! Just wanted to confirm what others have said - Parent PLUS loan applications for the 2025-2026 academic year should open around mid-June 2025. The wait is definitely nerve-wracking, but it's completely normal. One thing I'd add that really helped my family: while you're waiting, consider reaching out to your school's financial aid office to ask about their payment plan options. Many schools offer interest-free payment plans that can bridge the gap between when tuition is due and when your Parent PLUS loan funds actually get disbursed to the school. My college let us split the remaining balance (after my direct loans) into 3 monthly payments, which gave us breathing room while the PLUS loan was being processed. Also, if your parents haven't already, they should definitely create their FSA ID accounts now so they're ready to apply as soon as the application opens. The whole process from application to funds reaching your school can take 3-4 weeks, so applying early in June is key!
This is exactly what I needed to hear! Thank you for sharing your experience as someone who's actually been through this process. The payment plan option sounds like a great backup strategy - I'm definitely going to ask my school about that when I call them this week. It's also really helpful to know the full timeline from application to disbursement (3-4 weeks) so we can plan accordingly. I'll make sure my parents get their FSA IDs set up ASAP so we can apply right when the application opens in June. Really appreciate you taking the time to share all these practical tips!
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That's great news that two schools are being accommodating! Just wanted to add for anyone else in this situation - make sure to keep documentation of all your communications with the schools about deadline extensions. I learned this the hard way when one school's financial aid office didn't have a record of the verbal extension they gave me over the phone. Having emails saved me from missing out on a scholarship. Also, some schools have separate priority deadlines for need-based aid vs merit scholarships, so double-check those dates too since they might be different from the general FAFSA deadline.
This is such valuable advice about keeping documentation! I'm new to this whole process and hadn't thought about getting written confirmation of verbal agreements. Should I also ask for specific names of who I spoke with at each financial aid office? And when you mention separate priority deadlines, do you know if most schools publish those dates clearly on their websites or do you have to call to find out? I want to make sure I'm not missing any hidden deadlines for my daughter's applications.
As someone who just went through this maze with my own kid, I can't stress enough how important it is to be proactive with school communications! Each financial aid office really does handle these situations differently. A few tips from our experience: When you call schools, ask to speak specifically with a financial aid counselor (not just the front desk) and get their direct email/extension. Some schools have online portals where you can submit documentation about your situation too. Also, don't forget to check if any of your daughter's schools have their own institutional aid forms that don't require FAFSA completion - these can sometimes bridge the gap for scholarships while you're waiting. The CSS Profile schools especially might have separate processes. Good luck with everything! The new FAFSA system definitely has a learning curve but it sounds like you're handling it well by being proactive with the schools.
This is such helpful advice! I'm completely new to the FAFSA process and feeling overwhelmed by all the different requirements and deadlines. The tip about asking for direct contact info from financial aid counselors is really smart - I hadn't thought about that. Quick question for you and others who've been through this: when you mention CSS Profile schools having separate processes, do those typically have earlier or later deadlines than FAFSA? I'm trying to prioritize which applications to tackle first while we wait for our tax processing. Also, did you find that calling schools was more effective than emailing, or does it depend on the school? Thanks for sharing your experience - it's reassuring to know others have navigated this successfully!
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I'm so glad I found this thread! I'm dealing with the exact same issue right now with my son's FAFSA application. We've been stuck on this SSN validation error for two days and I was starting to panic about missing deadlines. Going to try the cache clearing and start over method right now. It's honestly ridiculous that such a critical system has these kinds of bugs - how many students are getting delayed or giving up because of technical issues like this? Really appreciate everyone sharing their solutions and workarounds here!
You're definitely not alone in this frustration! The cache clearing method worked for the original poster, so hopefully it'll work for you too. If that doesn't do the trick, I'd also recommend trying a different browser entirely - sometimes switching from whatever you're using to Chrome or Firefox can make all the difference. And you're absolutely right about how many students this is probably affecting. It's really concerning that such basic functionality isn't working properly on something as important as financial aid applications. Keep us posted on whether the workaround fixes it for you!
I just went through this exact same nightmare last month! The SSN validation issue seems to be affecting a lot of people. One thing that worked for me that I haven't seen mentioned yet - make sure you're not using autofill or password managers when entering the SSN. The FAFSA system seems to have issues with auto-populated fields. I had to manually type each digit, wait a second between each one, and then it finally accepted it. Also, if you have multiple tabs open with FAFSA, close all of them except one - the system gets confused with multiple sessions. The whole thing is so poorly designed it's embarrassing for something this important to students' futures.
That's such a helpful tip about the autofill and typing slowly! I never would have thought about that being an issue. It's crazy how finicky this system is - like you said, it's embarrassing that something so critical for students has these basic technical problems. I'm dealing with my first FAFSA application and honestly feeling pretty overwhelmed by all these weird workarounds we have to figure out just to get through what should be a straightforward process. Thanks for sharing what worked for you - definitely going to try the manual typing approach and closing extra tabs if I run into any more issues!
ShadowHunter
Just wanted to follow up - were you able to fix your tax information corrections? A key thing to remember is that the new FAFSA uses federal tax information directly from the IRS through the Data Retrieval Tool. If you used that successfully, you shouldn't be getting tax correction notices unless there's a mismatch with other information you provided.
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Omar Hassan
•We finally got it sorted out yesterday! Turns out we had checked the wrong box about having additional untaxed income (which we don't). Once we fixed that gateway question, all those extra sections disappeared. Our corrections were accepted right away. Thanks everyone for the help!
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Lara Woods
So glad you got it figured out! That's exactly the kind of issue that trips up so many families - those gateway questions are super important but not always clearly labeled. For anyone else reading this, I'd also recommend keeping screenshots of your completed FAFSA sections before submitting, just in case you need to reference what you entered later. The correction process becomes much easier when you can see exactly what might have changed between submissions. Congrats on getting through the maze!
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Lia Quinn
•That's such great advice about taking screenshots! I wish I had thought of that before we started. We ended up having to recreate some of our entries from memory when we had to make corrections. Definitely doing this for my younger son's FAFSA next year. This whole process has been such a learning experience - glad to see others sharing tips to make it easier for families going through this for the first time!
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