just wondering why your son is 13 and going to UCI? that seems really young for college, is he some kind of genius?

I went through something very similar last year with my nephew's FAFSA! He had to file paper forms due to tax complications and we were panicking about missing deadlines too. Here's what worked for us: 1. Document EVERYTHING - keep copies of all your mailings, certified mail receipts, any communication attempts with FSA. This becomes crucial when advocating with the school. 2. Contact your congressional representative's office! I know it sounds dramatic, but they have staff specifically for federal agency issues like this. They can often get FSA to expedite your case or at least confirm receipt. We got a response within 48 hours after months of radio silence. 3. UCSD's financial aid office is actually pretty reasonable about FAFSA delays (based on what I've heard from other UC families). Ask about their "promise to pay" option - it's different from paying upfront because it acknowledges pending aid. 4. If you do end up paying anything out of pocket, pay the minimum possible (maybe just the enrollment deposit) rather than full tuition. This keeps your spot secure while preserving your cash flow. The system is absolutely broken this year, but don't lose hope! Your daughter earned that UCSD spot and there are ways to make it work. Keep pushing and don't let bureaucracy steal her opportunity!

So glad you got it fixed! This thread is super helpful - I'm bookmarking it for when I help other students with their FAFSA applications. The browser compatibility issues and name matching problems seem to be the most common culprits. For anyone else reading this, it's also worth noting that sometimes clearing cookies and browser data completely (not just cache) can help with these signature page glitches. The new FAFSA system definitely has its quirks, but at least there are workarounds once you know what to look for!

This is exactly the kind of detailed troubleshooting thread that should be pinned! As a newcomer to this community, I'm dealing with my first FAFSA and was getting overwhelmed by all the technical issues people mention. Seeing the step-by-step solutions here (browser switching, name matching, clearing cache, manual signature options) is incredibly reassuring. It's also helpful to know about services like Claimyr for getting through to FSA representatives without waiting on hold forever. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it makes the process feel way less intimidating when you know others have faced the same problems and found solutions!

Hey there! I'm new to this whole FAFSA process and your situation sounds similar to mine. We're also a single-income household and just submitted our FAFSA but haven't gotten our SAI back yet. Reading through these responses is really eye-opening - I had no idea that schools could offer such different aid packages with the same SAI! One thing I'm curious about - for those of you who had success negotiating with financial aid offices, what exactly did you say? Did you just call and ask if there was any additional aid available, or did you have to provide specific documentation about your circumstances? I'm trying to prepare for when we get our results back. Also, @Luca Conti, have you had a chance to double-check your retirement account reporting yet? I'm wondering if I should review our application before we even get our SAI to make sure we didn't make any similar mistakes.

As someone who just went through this process with my oldest child, I wanted to share a few additional resources that might help. The College Board has a SAI calculator on their website that can give you a rough estimate of whether your SAI seems accurate based on your income and assets. It's not perfect, but it can help you spot obvious errors. Also, don't overlook state aid programs! Many states have their own grant programs with different income thresholds than federal aid. For example, some state programs consider families making up to $200k depending on family size. Check your state's higher education website - the eligibility requirements are often more generous than federal programs. One more thing - if your daughter has strong grades or test scores, focus on schools where she'd be in the top 25% of admitted students. These schools are more likely to offer merit aid that's not tied to your SAI at all. Sometimes a "safety" school academically can become financially attractive because they're competing for higher-stats students. Good luck with the process! It's stressful but there are definitely options out there even with a higher SAI.

Went through this last year with my daughter's application. We just printed out statements for all accounts on the day we submitted and kept them in a folder in case we got selected for verification. Made the process much less stressful knowing we had documentation ready. We didn't end up needing it, but better safe than sorry!

As someone new to this process, I'm finding all these responses incredibly helpful! I had no idea about the timing strategy with major expenses - that could save us thousands in aid eligibility. One question though: if we're planning to submit after a large payment clears, should we still gather all our account statements from the actual submission date? And is there a risk that schools might question why we waited to submit if it's well after the FAFSA opened? Want to make sure we're being strategic but also transparent about our approach.

Welcome to the community! I'm new here but wanted to share that I'm going through almost the exact same situation with my daughter's FAFSA for another state school. It's been "processed" since early April but the school says they haven't received it. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea about services like Claimyr or that you could contact your congressperson's office for help with federal agency issues. It's both frustrating and reassuring to know this is such a widespread problem. Thank you @Anastasia for sharing your update about getting through to FSA - it gives me hope that there's actually a solution! I'm going to try some of these suggestions this week.

Welcome to the community! As someone new here, I've been reading through this entire thread and wow - what a journey this has been for you @Anastasia! It's both heartbreaking and infuriating to see how many families are dealing with this exact same FAFSA processing nightmare. The fact that you submitted in March, it shows "processed" but UC Davis still hasn't received it is exactly what my family is going through with a different school. I'm so grateful you shared all the detailed advice you received and especially your success story with getting through to FSA using Claimyr. Reading about @Luca's insider perspective on the data transmission issues and @GalacticGuardian's specific recommendations has been incredibly valuable. It's clear this community really looks out for each other during these stressful times. Your persistence in following up and trying multiple approaches is inspiring - and I'm crossing my fingers that UC Davis processes everything quickly once they receive the manually resent data. Please keep us posted on how things turn out! Stories like yours give hope to all of us navigating this broken system.