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If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
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did anyone notice if the sai score is different from what the old efc would have been? trying to figure out if the new formula helps or hurts us
Great question! Our SAI came in about $3,800 lower than what I calculated our EFC would have been under the old system. So for us, the new formula seems more favorable. But I think it varies a lot depending on your specific financial situation and number of kids in college.
One important note for everyone: once your FAFSA is processed, make sure to check if you've been selected for verification. About 25% of FAFSA applicants get selected for this additional step, and it's not always immediately obvious in the portal. Look for a notification in your messages center or a verification flag on your SAI report. If selected, you'll need to submit additional documentation to each school you've applied to, and this can add several more weeks to the financial aid process. Don't wait for schools to contact you - be proactive and check your verification status as soon as your FAFSA is processed.
Thanks for mentioning this! I just checked and thankfully we weren't selected for verification. Is there any way to know why some applications get selected and others don't?
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Have you considered whether accelerating graduation is actually worth it financially? Sometimes taking an extra semester with full financial aid coverage is cheaper than paying for summer classes out-of-pocket or with loans. Calculate the difference between: 1. Cost of summer classes + potential loan interest 2. Income you'd earn by graduating early 3. Cost of an extra fall/spring semester (which would be covered by your full aid package) Many students assume graduating early always saves money, but that's not always true when full aid is involved.
That's... actually a really good point I hadn't considered. I was just focused on finishing ASAP. My full aid package covers everything except about $1,200/semester in out-of-pocket costs. So paying $3,800 for summer might not make financial sense. I'll run the numbers tonight. Thank you!
Another option worth exploring: some schools allow you to take summer classes at a community college and transfer the credits. Community colleges are typically much cheaper, and some have their own summer aid programs. Just make sure the credits will transfer to your degree program by checking with your academic advisor first.
I did this!!! saved like $2k taking chem over summer at community college vs my university. just gotta fill out a form to get it pre-approved for transfer
That's a great idea! I'll check if there's a community college nearby that offers the classes I need. Could be a much more affordable solution.
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Wait did anyone explain the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized????? That MATTERS!!! With subsidized the govt pays interest while shes in school but with unsubsidized the interest adds up the WHOLE TIME even when she's still taking classes!!!! My daughter ended up with $8000 in EXTRA INTEREST from unsubsidized that we didn't understand!!!!!
This is an important distinction. Subsidized loans don't accrue interest while in school, during the grace period, or during deferment periods. Unsubsidized loans begin accruing interest immediately after disbursement. However, students can't simply choose subsidized over unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are need-based and have lower annual limits. Most students receive a mix of both types based on their financial need as determined by the FAFSA's SAI calculation.
kinda off topic but why did u wait so long to figure out the payment? my dad had us planning college payments like a year before i even got accepted lol
Fair question! We actually thought we had it figured out based on the financial aid package, but then her first-choice school came through with a late acceptance off the waitlist about a month ago. The new school has higher tuition than the one we had been planning for, so we had to quickly recalculate everything. Lesson learned about having backup financial plans!
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One strategy I used when my son transferred from CC to university was splitting our savings between my Roth IRA (for the FAFSA protection) and paying down our mortgage (reducing countable assets while essentially "saving" by building equity). This worked really well for us - we got a much better aid package than expected. Just be careful with the Roth - you can only contribute earned income up to the annual limit. Don't exceed this or you'll face penalties that defeat the purpose of your strategy.
Paying down the mortgage is such a smart idea that I hadn't thought of! Did you have to do anything special to document this for FAFSA, or does it just naturally work because you have fewer liquid assets to report?
my brother put his kids college money in pokemon cards lol. but seriously just use a 529 cuz u can use it for the community college costs too not just when they transfer
Haha, I think I'll skip the Pokemon card investment strategy! That's a good point about using the 529 for community college expenses too. Do you know if books and a laptop would qualify as eligible 529 expenses for community college?
Eva St. Cyr
Just make sure you enter your income information correctly when you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. With the new FAFSA, your Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation will be directly affected by your income. Also remember that the 2025-2026 FAFSA uses 2023 tax year information, so your custody arrangement during that specific period is what matters.
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Melody Miles
•That's good to know. I definitely have my 2023 tax information ready and I understand how to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. I just wanted to be sure I was correctly identifying myself as the custodial parent since it wasn't clear from the instructions how that intersects with tax dependency.
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Nathaniel Mikhaylov
btw if ur worried about verification just start gathering ur docs now... custody agreement, calendar of where kid stayed, maybe school records showing ur address as primary... better to have it ready than scramble later
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Melody Miles
•That's really smart advice! I'm going to put together a folder with all of that documentation just in case. Better to be prepared than panic later.
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