Hi there! I work in a college financial aid office and can confirm what others have said - this is 100% normal. When schools are added to an existing FAFSA, the system briefly puts it back into review status. The schools that were already listed won't experience any delays in receiving or processing your son's information. Here's what's actually happening: when new schools are added, the Federal Student Aid system must generate what we call an ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) for each new school. This document contains all your FAFSA information including the calculated SAI. The 'in review' status just means they're preparing those ISIRs for the new schools. Generally the turnaround is 3-7 business days, and it shouldn't affect any priority deadlines as long as the original schools were already listed before those deadlines.

Update: It went back to "processed" today! That was much faster than I expected after reading some of your comments. All 3 new schools now show up in his account too. Thanks everyone for the help and reassurance!

Glad you're feeling better about this! One final suggestion - after making your corrections, consider using the Federal Student Aid Estimator tool on studentaid.gov to get a rough idea of what your new SAI might be. It won't be exact, but it can help you prepare for what to expect and give you some peace of mind in the meantime.

Don't beat yourself up about this - FAFSA asset reporting is genuinely confusing and you're definitely not alone in making these mistakes! I work at a high school and see students mix up retirement accounts vs investments all the time. The good news is that correcting it is pretty straightforward, and since you caught it before your aid packages are finalized, you should be in good shape. Just make sure when you're making the corrections that you have all your documentation handy (tax returns, investment statements, etc.) so you can input the accurate numbers. Your future self will thank you for taking the time to fix this now rather than dealing with aid adjustments later!

Update: I finally got both twins to add me as a contributor, and I can now see both applications on my dashboard! You were all right - each student has to initiate their own FAFSA and add me, rather than me adding them. The process is working much more smoothly now. Thanks everyone for your help!

I'm going through the exact same process with my daughter and son (they're a year apart but both applying for 2025-2026). One thing I learned the hard way - make sure both twins complete their student portions of the FAFSA BEFORE the priority deadlines for their schools! Even though you'll fill out your contributor section for both, each student needs to submit their individual application by their school's deadline. Some schools have early priority dates in February/March, so don't wait too long for the second twin to get their application started. Also, double-check that both applications show "Submitted" status - I almost missed that my son's was still sitting in "In Progress" even after I completed my contributor portion.

the whole system is designed to keep regular people in debt. college is affordable in most other countries but here its just a way to trap us in loans we can never pay off. my cousin in germany pays like €300 per semester for university including public transportation. meanwhile we pay $30,000 and get what exactly????

I feel your pain completely. I'm a junior and just went through the same nightmare with FAFSA. My parents are divorced and my mom makes about $45k but apparently that's still "too much" for meaningful aid. I got offered $2,100 in Pell Grant and the rest is all loans that don't even cover my state school costs. What really gets me is how they calculate "need" - like my mom is supposed to contribute $8,000 when she's already struggling with rent and groceries? The system assumes parents can just sacrifice everything for college costs, but that's not reality for most families. I'm starting to think the real purpose of FAFSA is just to funnel students into the federal loan system. At least when you take out federal loans you're "participating in financial aid" so colleges can claim they're helping with affordability. It's all smoke and mirrors. Honestly considering taking a gap year to work and save up, or maybe starting at community college like others mentioned. This whole "college experience" isn't worth decades of debt payments.

UPDATE: I called financial aid using that callback service and it was SO much better than waiting on hold forever. The agent confirmed I should get around $5,800 in Pell Grants and explained I can submit a special circumstances form through my school's financial aid office to explain my situation with my dad not contributing. Apparently I need to gather documentation showing I support myself (pay stubs, rent receipts, utility bills) and a written statement explaining why the FAFSA doesn't reflect my actual financial situation. They said the review can take 2-3 weeks but they can potentially adjust my aid package and possibly qualify me for additional grants! Thanks everyone for your help!

That's awesome that you got through to someone and have a clear path forward! The special circumstances review sounds really promising for your situation. Just wanted to add that you might also want to look into your state's Cal Grant program if you haven't already - even though you didn't qualify for CAP, there might be other state grants available depending on your school choice and GPA. Also, don't forget to check if your school has any emergency aid funds or last-minute scholarships that open up after other students decline their offers. Sometimes there's money sitting there that schools need to distribute before the deadline. Fingers crossed the appeal works out for you!