I remember when i did my first fafsa my dog actually ate my w-2 form (not kidding lol) and i had to call my employer for a new copy which took forever and i almost missed the priority deadline. Make sure you have ALL your documents ready before you start! Also the most confusing part for me was the asset questions because i have a small inheritance from my grandma in a special account and wasn't sure if i needed to include it. Ended up having to call financial aid office at my school to figure it out.

One important thing to remember about your parent needing to be there: technically no, they don't need to be physically present when you complete the FAFSA. However, they DO need to: 1. Have their own FSA ID (which they should create themselves) 2. Provide you with their financial information OR log in themselves to complete the parent portion 3. Electronically sign the FAFSA with their FSA ID Since you mentioned your mom isn't tech-savvy and your dad travels, you have options: - Schedule a specific time to complete it when your chosen parent is available, even if just by phone - Have your parent create their FSA ID in advance, then provide you with the necessary information - Some parents give their child the FSA ID login to complete everything, though this isn't technically allowed since electronic signatures verify that the actual person is signing Most importantly, don't wait until the deadline! The earlier you submit, the better your chances for certain aid programs with limited funding.

did u check if ur phone has the email maybe?? sometimes i miss important stuff cuz it goes to my phone but not my computer for some weird reason

UPDATE: Success! My son deleted the original invitation and resent it to my alternate email address. It showed up within minutes! Already completed my section and now his FAFSA is fully submitted. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions! For anyone else having this issue, definitely try using a different email address if the resend doesn't work with your primary email.

i think you're overthinking this lol. just put her current school for now then update it later if she decides to transfer. that's what we did with my son. the whole updating schools thing takes like 2 minutes online. way easier than trying to predict where she might go.

The whole FAFSA system is RIDICULOUS! Why should we have to guess where our kids are going??? My daughter changed her mind THREE TIMES last year about where she wanted to transfer. And each time we had to update the stupid FAFSA AND contact both financial aid offices AND resubmit verification documents! The entire process is designed to make you want to GIVE UP on getting any aid at all!!!

I called our university's financial aid office yesterday about my son's delayed SAI, and they said they're accepting screenshots of the "FAFSA submitted" confirmation page as proof that students have completed their financial aid application requirements by the priority deadline. Then they'll process the actual awards once the SAI comes through. Might be worth asking your daughter's schools if they have a similar policy in place.

In response to your question about contacting FSA directly - yes, it can help, especially if your daughter's application might have an issue that's not displaying in the system. Many families are discovering their applications are stalled for verification or inconsistencies that aren't being clearly communicated. If you do manage to speak with an agent, ask them to check if the application is truly "in process" or if it's flagged and waiting for additional information. Also ask them to verify that all parental contributions and signatures are properly recorded in the system. By the way, most colleges have established workarounds for these delays, so don't panic about the deadlines. Just make sure your daughter communicates proactively with each school's financial aid office.

i work full time during summers and take just enough credits to stay enrolled rest of year. fafsa only counts what u make during school year if ur a dependent. or at least thats what my cousin told me. he got like 30k in pell grants doing it this way

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! So it sounds like I don't need to worry about this job affecting my current financial aid since FAFSA uses previous tax years. I'll keep my W-2 for future FAFSA applications and stay under that $7,600 threshold if possible. I'm also going to check with my school's financial aid office about any additional limitations for my institutional scholarships. This has been super helpful!