The whole setup is BACKWARDS. Schools expect you to commit before you know if you can actually afford to attend. Then they act shocked when students back out or have to take massive loans. I honestly think schools delay aid packages on purpose to force families to commit, knowing some won't back out even if the aid is terrible. Just another symptom of how broken the entire higher education financing system is.

To directly answer your original questions: 1. FAFSA processing (to get your SAI) typically takes 3-7 days, but can take up to 2-3 weeks during peak periods (which we're in right now for 2026-2027 applications). 2. After FAFSA processing, schools need time to create aid packages, which can take anywhere from 1-8 weeks depending on the school. 3. Whether to enroll before seeing aid packages depends on several factors: - How certain you are that you can make it work financially - Whether the enrollment deposit is refundable - If it's your daughter's absolute first choice regardless of aid - If the school allows enrollment deadline extensions I recommend contacting each school's financial aid office directly - they deal with this situation regularly and often have procedures to help families in your position.

lol everyone talks bout the data retrevial tool but i couldn't get it to work AT ALL for my kids fafsa. ended up just typing everything manually. good luck with the twins!

After correcting the FAFSA for both twins, expect a 3-5 business day processing time for the changes to reflect in their SAI calculation. Once processed, their schools' financial aid offices will be notified automatically, but as someone mentioned, it's good practice to contact them directly. For your income level of $62k with accurate asset reporting, your twins should likely qualify for some Pell Grant money for the 2025-2026 academic year, especially after removing retirement accounts and home equity from your assets.

i totally waited till may last year and regretted it sooooo much!! some of the campus housing grants were already gone :( dont be like me lol

My daughter's in college right now and honestly the whole FAFSA thing gets so much easier after the first year. The first application is stressful but renewal is way simpler. Just make sure you know your school's priority deadline - that's what really matters! Our school in Texas requires it by January 15th for priority consideration.

OMG I just realized I dont think anyone mentioned the HBCU schlarships!!! Norfolk State is an HBCU so theres special scholarships just for those schools. Check out the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) website and the Thurgood Marshall scholarship. My nephew got almost full tuition from combining a few of those!

With an SAI of 4320 as you mentioned in a comment, you should absolutely qualify for some need-based aid. Here's what I'd do immediately: 1. File a FAFSA correction to fix the parent/contributor issue 2. Contact Norfolk State's financial aid office directly (email AND phone) 3. Ask specifically about the Access Grant and VGAP as someone mentioned 4. Look into HBCU-specific scholarships through UNCF 5. Request an aid appeal based on special circumstances if you've had any recent financial changes Don't let the initial SAI discourage you. Many families successfully navigate this with some persistence.

did u make sure u enterd all ur w-2 information correctly? my friends daughters application got rejected becuz they made a typo on the father w-2 box. double check all that stuff before your daughter submits!!!

Financial aid professional here. Just to clarify some confusion in this thread: 1. The SSA verification email confirms your identity was successfully matched with Social Security records. This is normal and good. 2. Parents/contributors do NOT need to enter bank account information in the FAFSA. The only financial information required is income/tax data and certain assets. Bank account information is only collected if the student chooses to receive federal aid via direct deposit, and that's entered by the student, not the parent. 3. As a contributor, you completed your section. Now your daughter needs to: - Review all information (including your contribution) - Complete any remaining sections - Submit the final application - Wait for her SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation 4. Parents cannot see the full FAFSA status in their own accounts - the student is the only one who can view the complete application status. 5. After submission, the processing time for receiving an SAI is typically 3-5 business days, though it can take longer during peak periods. Hope this helps clear things up!