Follow-up on your question about financial separation: Sharing child expenses doesn't automatically disqualify the separation status, especially for mutual children. What matters more is whether they're maintaining truly separate financial lives (separate banking, separate housing costs, etc.). Document everything carefully: - Separate lease agreements or mortgage documents - Utility bills showing separate addresses - Bank statements showing separate finances - Any informal separation agreement they might have The verification risk is higher when claiming separation without legal documentation, but proper documentation can make the process smoother. Each school's financial aid office has some discretion in these situations.

Just wanted to add from my experience - I went through something similar two years ago. The key thing that helped me was getting a letter from each parent stating their intent for the separation to be permanent, along with documentation of separate households. My financial aid office accepted this even without legal separation papers. The process took about 6 weeks longer than normal, but it worked out. Don't get discouraged if you hit verification - just be prepared with all your documentation upfront. Also, consider reaching out to multiple schools if you're applying to several, as different aid offices can have slightly different interpretations of these situations.

UPDATE: I called CSAC this morning using that service someone mentioned (Claimyr) and got through in about 10 minutes. The rep was super helpful and found the issue right away. Turns out my daughter's birthdate was entered correctly on FAFSA but somehow got flipped from MM/DD/YYYY to DD/MM/YYYY during the transfer to Cal Grant! The representative fixed it on the spot, and we can now see her Cal Grant eligibility in the portal. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

So glad you got it resolved quickly! This thread has been incredibly helpful - I'm dealing with a similar Cal Grant issue right now where my son's application shows "pending verification" even though our FAFSA was accepted weeks ago. Based on everyone's advice here, I'm definitely going to skip the portal and call CSAC directly tomorrow. It's reassuring to see that most of these issues are just data transfer glitches that can be fixed once you get through to a real person. Thanks for sharing your update - it gives me hope that we can get this sorted out before the deadline too!

Yes, your step-sons will need to report their summer job income on their FAFSA applications. Student income above $7,600 per year is assessed at 50% for aid calculations, but since they each earned less than that threshold, it should have minimal impact on their aid eligibility. Make sure they have their W-2s from those jobs available when filling out their applications. And remember that with the FAFSA simplification, more emphasis is placed on parent income for dependent students, so your household income will be the primary factor in determining their SAI scores.

Welcome to the multiple kids in college club! I went through this exact situation two years ago with my daughter and stepson. A few additional tips that helped me: 1) Submit all three FAFSAs around the same time if possible - some schools have limited aid funds and it's first-come-first-served. 2) Double-check that you're listing the same parent information consistently across all three applications (income, assets, etc.) - any discrepancies can trigger verification requests. 3) Keep copies of everything! With three students, you'll likely get verification requests from multiple schools and having organized documentation saves tons of time. The good news is that yes, having three in college simultaneously will likely increase their aid eligibility significantly compared to having just one. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the advice! I think I'll take a combined approach: 1. Contact financial aid offices at my top 3-4 schools to ask about their specific procedures 2. Be honest but brief about parent employment in Common App 3. Submit FAFSA/CSS with 2023 data when it opens 4. Follow up with each school's financial aid office immediately with formal special circumstances requests 5. Make sure to ask about both college-specific adjustments AND the federal SAI adjustment process I really appreciate all the different perspectives!

As a financial aid counselor, I want to emphasize something that hasn't been mentioned yet - timing matters A LOT for documentation. Start gathering your paperwork NOW, not later. You'll need: - Official termination/layoff letter from your dad's employer - Unemployment benefit award letter (if applicable) - Bank statements showing reduced income deposits - Any severance documentation - Updated tax projections for 2024 (even if estimated) Many families wait until they're asked for documentation and then scramble to get everything together. Having this ready before you even contact schools will speed up the entire process significantly. Also, some schools have earlier deadlines for special circumstances reviews than their regular financial aid deadlines, so don't assume you have until spring to handle this. One more tip: if your dad is actively job searching, keep records of that too (applications submitted, interviews, etc.) as some schools factor job search efforts into their professional judgment decisions.

I'm dealing with the exact same issue right now! My daughter's Cal Grant A is showing pending and we keep getting that "graduation dates will be available after May" message. It's so frustrating when you're trying to get everything done early and the system won't let you complete the requirements. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly helpful - I was starting to worry we had done something wrong or missed an important step. I'm definitely going to start taking screenshots like others suggested, and it's reassuring to know this is just how their system works. Thanks to everyone who shared their timelines and advice. It's amazing how much stress this community can help relieve when you're navigating all this financial aid paperwork for the first time!

This thread has been so helpful! I'm a newcomer to all this financial aid stuff and was completely panicking when I saw my son's Cal Grant A showing as pending with that same graduation date error message. I've been refreshing the CSAC portal every few hours thinking I was missing some deadline or doing something wrong. It's such a relief to read that this is totally normal timing and that the system just won't let you enter the date until May. I feel so much better knowing other families are going through the exact same thing. I'm definitely going to take screenshots starting today and keep checking back weekly like everyone suggested. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - this community is amazing for first-time parents navigating this process!