Update: I followed everyone's advice and checked my top schools' portals. Two of them are requesting additional verification documents! I never would have known if I hadn't checked. Thanks everyone for helping this first-gen college student figure this out! I'm going to carefully compare all the offers when they come in.

So glad you're staying on top of everything! As a fellow first-gen student who went through this process a few years ago, I wanted to add one more tip: when you get your award letters, don't just look at the total aid amount - break down what's grants/scholarships (free money) vs. loans (money you'll pay back). Some schools might offer a bigger "aid package" but it's mostly loans, while another school might offer less total aid but more in grants. Also, if one school is your top choice but offers less aid, you can sometimes use a better offer from another school to negotiate - just call their financial aid office and explain the situation politely. Many schools will try to match competitive offers if they really want you! You've got this! The hardest part (getting FAFSA processed) is behind you.

Quick update - if you're still having the signing issue, I just remembered another potential fix. Make sure your FSA ID password doesn't contain any special characters that look similar to others (like l vs I or O vs 0). The system sometimes misinterprets these during the signature authentication process. Also, check if your son accidentally entered any of your information differently than what's on your FSA ID (even small differences like "St." vs "Street" can cause the error).

So glad to hear you got it working, Fatima! For anyone else still struggling with this issue, I wanted to add that the FAFSA help Twitter account (@FederalStudentAid) has been pretty responsive lately with tech support questions. They can sometimes escalate cases or provide specific troubleshooting steps. Also, if you're really pressed for time with state deadlines, some states allow you to submit an estimated FAFSA and correct it later - might be worth checking your state's specific requirements. The email mismatch issue seems to be catching a lot of parents off guard this year!

Hi Joanie! I can understand why those posts might seem contradictory - FAFSA rules around custody vs. guardianship can be really confusing, especially for grandparents in your situation. The key distinction is that custody and guardianship are different legal arrangements. With custody, you may have physical care of your grandchild but the parents still retain their legal rights. With legal guardianship, you've been granted broader legal authority by a court. For FAFSA purposes, what matters is who provides more than 50% of the student's support and who the student lived with most in the 12 months prior to filing. If you're the custodial grandparent providing the majority of support, you would typically be considered the parent on the FAFSA. However, since every situation is unique and these rules can be complex, I'd strongly recommend contacting your school's financial aid office directly. They can review your specific legal documents and circumstances to give you the most accurate guidance for your FAFSA completion. Have you been able to speak with a financial aid counselor yet about your particular situation?

I'm dealing with similar FAFSA delays - 28 days and counting here! What's really frustrating is that my school's priority deadline for aid is coming up fast and they haven't extended it yet. I've been following this thread and wanted to share that I just tried calling the HESC Excelsior line that @Sofia Morales mentioned (888-697-4372) and actually got through after only 15 minutes on hold! The rep told me they're seeing a lot of delays this year but said once my SAI comes through, I should email them directly with my FAFSA confirmation number to expedite the Excelsior review. They also mentioned that many schools are being flexible with deadlines due to the widespread FAFSA issues, so it might be worth reaching out to your financial aid office proactively. Hang in there - sounds like we're all in the same boat this year!

Wow, reading through all these experiences makes me feel less alone in this mess! I'm at 24 days waiting for my SAI and getting increasingly anxious about missing deadlines. @Taylor Chen, thank you for sharing that HESC contact info - I'm definitely calling them tomorrow. For everyone dealing with these delays, I found that creating a detailed timeline of when you submitted everything and tracking all your contact attempts has been helpful when speaking with representatives. They seem to take you more seriously when you have specific dates and reference numbers ready. Also, I've been checking my FAFSA status obsessively (like multiple times a day) and noticed that sometimes the "processing" message changes slightly - has anyone else noticed this or am I just going crazy from the stress? Really hoping we all get our SAIs soon so we can move forward with our financial aid applications!

Quick follow-up advice: if you need to make decisions soon, you can request a professional judgment review from the financial aid office at your daughter's chosen school. Explain that you need to make enrollment decisions but FAFSA delays are preventing this. In many cases, they can provide a preliminary package based on last year's data while waiting for the official FAFSA to process. Make sure to document all communications with financial aid offices in case you need to appeal later.

I'm going through the exact same situation! My FAFSA was processed in mid-February and I've only heard from 2 out of 7 schools. The waiting is so stressful, especially with deposit deadlines looming. I called one school last week and they said they're backed up due to the FAFSA issues this year and to expect another 2-3 weeks. It's crazy that we're expected to make such huge financial decisions without knowing what aid we'll actually receive. Definitely going to try calling the school I'm most interested in and ask about a preliminary estimate like others have suggested here.