Hey I just remembered something important!! Make sure your daughter applies for scholarships TOO not just FAFSA!! My son got a $5,000 scholarship just for writing a 500-word essay about why he wants to be an engineer!! Lots of free $$$ out there if you look for it!!

One thing I wish someone had told me earlier - make sure to keep copies of EVERYTHING you submit! When my older kid went through this process, we had to resubmit documents multiple times because things got "lost" in the system. I created a dedicated folder (both digital and physical) with copies of all tax documents, W-2s, bank statements, and screenshots of every FAFSA submission confirmation. Also, if your daughter ends up getting selected for verification (which is pretty common), having everything organized will save you weeks of scrambling to find documents later. Trust me on this one!

I had a similar situation with my son's father who makes well over 200k but hasn't contributed since my son was 4. For the CSS Profile, get letters from people who know your situation - I got ones from our pastor, my son's high school counselor, and my parents confirming the father's absence. The schools actually accepted these as part of our documentation package along with court records.

I went through almost the exact same situation with my daughter 3 years ago! Her father makes over $400K but abandoned us when she was 6 and never paid a dime in support despite court orders. The medical school FAFSA was actually the easiest part since she was automatically independent - no parent info needed at all. For the CSS Profile waivers, I recommend being very thorough with your documentation. Beyond the court orders, I included: bank records showing I was the only one making deposits for her expenses, school records showing I was the only parent contact, medical records with only my name as guardian, and even screenshots of blocked phone calls when she tried to reach him. Most importantly - start early! Some schools took 6-8 weeks to process the waiver requests. My daughter got approved for waivers at 4 out of 5 schools she applied to. The one that denied it actually reversed their decision after we provided additional documentation and had a phone meeting with their financial aid director. Don't lose hope! The system recognizes these situations exist, even if the process is frustrating. Your daughter's hard work getting into med school shows she's resilient - you'll both get through this financial aid maze too.

One more option to consider - if your son is close to being financially independent, you might want to look into the criteria for filing as an independent student. If he meets any of these conditions, he could file FAFSA without including any parent information: - 24 years old or older - Married - Graduate/professional student - Veteran/active duty military - Has legal dependents he supports - Orphan/ward of court/in foster care after age 13 - Emancipated minor or in legal guardianship - Determined to be an unaccompanied youth who is homeless It's a strict list, but worth checking if any might apply.

I'm new to this community and going through a similar situation right now. My stepdaughter is applying for college next year and I'm realizing my income will be counted even though her bio mom and I agreed I wouldn't be responsible for college costs. Reading through all these responses is really eye-opening - I had no idea the FAFSA rules were so strict about this. It sounds like the key takeaway is that federal aid calculations will always include the stepparent's income if you're married and living together, but individual colleges might be more flexible with their own aid programs. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this is exactly the kind of real-world advice I needed to hear!

Following up on your situation - did you manage to get this resolved? If you're still having issues, contact your son's school financial aid office immediately. They deal with FAFSA problems constantly and often have direct channels to resolve these issues. Also, while you're working on this, make sure your son continues completing the rest of his FAFSA (income information, school selections, etc.). The birth year issue won't prevent him from completing the application, even though it needs to be fixed. This way, once the birth year is corrected, everything else will already be in place, and you won't miss the priority deadline.

That's such great news that you got it resolved! I'm dealing with a similar issue right now where my daughter accidentally entered her middle initial in the wrong field and now can't update her name. Reading through all these responses has been really helpful - I'm definitely going to try that Claimyr service and also reach out to her school's financial aid office. It's reassuring to know that FSA agents can manually fix these verification issues once you actually get through to them. Thanks for updating us on how it worked out!

Glad to hear you got it resolved! For anyone else reading this in the future, I'd recommend following these steps before starting your FAFSA: 1. Create FSA IDs for student and parent(s) at least 3 days before starting application 2. Verify both email AND phone for each FSA ID 3. Use exactly the same name/SSN formatting on both FSA ID and FAFSA 4. Use Microsoft Edge with no extensions or Chrome in incognito mode 5. Complete the application during weekday business hours if possible Following these steps prevents most of the common submission problems.

As someone who just went through this nightmare with my own kid's FAFSA, I feel your pain! One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet - sometimes clearing your browser cache isn't enough. You might need to delete all stored FAFSA data and start the session fresh. Go to your browser settings and specifically delete cookies and site data for studentaid.gov. Then log back in and try the signature step again. Also, make sure you're not switching between browsers mid-application - the site sometimes gets confused about which session is active. The whole process is ridiculously buggy but once you figure out the right combination of settings it usually works. Hang in there!