Congrats on getting it fixed! This is really helpful to know about the duplicate application issue. I've been having the same error for over a week now and I think I might have the same problem - I started filling it out on my phone at school, then tried to continue on my laptop at home. Going to try that Claimyr service too since the regular FAFSA phone line is absolutely useless. Thanks for updating us with what actually worked!

I'm new to this whole FAFSA process and seeing all these error messages is honestly terrifying me! I haven't even started my application yet because I keep hearing about all these technical issues. Should I wait until they fix these problems or just dive in and hope for the best? My parents are freaking out about deadlines too. Is there anything I should do differently when starting fresh to avoid the duplicate application issue that seems to be causing problems for so many people?

This is why I HATE the FAFSA system with a passion. Every year it's something new. Last year they couldn't verify my identity for THREE MONTHS. The year before that, they randomly selected us for verification after we'd already been approved. And now this year they completely redesigned everything and it's full of bugs. The government should be ashamed of how badly they've implemented this system that millions of students depend on. DISGUSTING!!!!!

Did you ever figure this out? I'm dealing with the same issue now with my son's application. We can see that it's been submitted but his SAI score isn't calculating because my income information isn't there. So frustrating!

Update: I finally got through to the financial aid office! They said the appeal is still under review but should be completed by next Wednesday. They also confirmed that signing the MPN doesn't commit us to anything, and we can still request an extension on the deposit deadline if needed. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

That's such a relief that you got through to them! The waiting game is so stressful when you're trying to make such an important decision. I hope the appeal comes back with good news on Wednesday. It sounds like you handled this perfectly by getting clarification on the MPN and keeping your options open with the deposit. Best of luck to your son - getting into his top choice school is already such an amazing accomplishment!

I'm so thankful I found this community as a newcomer! I was having the exact same panic this afternoon when I saw that dreaded "no loans or grants" message on my daughter's studentaid.gov account. I genuinely thought it meant she was denied all financial aid and I started spiraling about how we'd afford college! Reading through this entire thread has been incredibly reassuring - it's amazing how many parents have had this identical experience with that misleading wording. The explanations from everyone about how FAFSA is just the application step and that actual awards come from individual colleges finally make sense. I especially appreciate the financial aid counselor's insights about SAI scores and the realistic timelines everyone has shared. Thank you to this supportive community for turning my panic into patience! Now I understand we just need to wait for those college award letters instead of constantly checking that confusing federal site. It's wonderful to find such a helpful group of parents all navigating this stressful process together!

I'm completely new to this community and just discovered this thread after having the exact same panic attack! I saw that "no loans or grants" message on my daughter's account this morning and immediately thought we'd been denied everything. I was literally googling "FAFSA denied what now" when I found this amazing discussion. Reading through everyone's experiences has been such a lifesaver - it's incredible how that one confusing message on studentaid.gov causes the exact same fear in every first-time parent! The explanations about how FAFSA is just the application step and that actual awards come from individual colleges make perfect sense now. I especially appreciate the financial aid counselor's breakdown and learning about SAI scores from everyone who's been through this. Thank you to this supportive community for turning my panic into patience! Now I can stop obsessively checking her account and just wait for those college award letters with confidence.

This is such a relief to find this thread! I thought I was going crazy - I completed my daughter's FAFSA in late February and was so careful to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool because I didn't want to mess up any numbers. Just got a letter from her college saying the tax information appears to be "manually entered" and they need verification documents. Reading through everyone's experiences here, it sounds like this is definitely a system-wide issue and not something we did wrong. I'm going to skip trying to call FSA (sounds like a nightmare based on what everyone's saying) and go straight to contacting the financial aid office at her school. Has anyone had success getting this resolved for ED2 admissions? She was accepted Early Decision 2 and we need the aid package finalized soon to make sure we can afford the enrollment. Getting a bit stressed about the timing but this thread gives me hope that schools are being understanding about these technical issues. Going to request our tax transcript from IRS.gov right now and call the school first thing Monday morning. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - it's so helpful to know we're not alone in this!

I'm going through this exact same situation right now! My daughter's FAFSA shows "manually entered" even though I definitely used the DRT back in January. I was so careful about clicking the right buttons because I've heard horror stories about manual entry errors. This thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea this was such a widespread issue. I've been beating myself up thinking I somehow messed up the process, but it's clearly a system problem on their end. Based on everyone's advice here, I'm going to skip trying to reach FSA and go straight to my daughter's financial aid office tomorrow. Already requested our tax transcript from IRS.gov and have our W-2s ready to send over. It's such a relief to know that schools are understanding about this and have procedures in place. The timing stress is real though - we need that aid package to make our final decision! Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions.