Adding colleges to FAFSA after submission - is it possible?

That's such a relief! So I can submit now with just the 3 schools and then add the others as she applies? Will those later schools still get her full FAFSA information automatically?

Same! My twins kept changing their mind about where to apply. Ended up adding/removing schools like 4 different times lol. The new FAFSA makes it pretty simple.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I didn't realize the order might matter for state aid! We're in California - does anyone know if California cares about the order schools are listed?

is that service legit? i've been trying to get through to someone for days now about a verification issue and keep getting disconnected

Yes, it's legit! My son's financial aid advisor actually recommended it when I told her I couldn't get through on the phone. It's just a service that deals with the phone system for you and calls you when they get a human on the line. Saves hours of waiting on hold.

You're right that it's not clearly explained on the form. For anyone reading: While federal aid doesn't care about order, some states do use the order for their state grants. Always check your specific state's rules or put your in-state public schools first if you're not sure.

Unfortunately, FAFSA doesn't show you which schools have downloaded your information. If a school says they don't have it, I'd recommend: 1) Verify the school is currently on your FAFSA school list, 2) Make sure the school code is correct, and 3) Contact the school's financial aid office directly. Sometimes there's a delay between when you add a school and when they process it in their system, especially during peak application times.

The schools will automatically receive your FAFSA data when you add them - you don't need to notify them separately. However, if you're getting close to their financial aid deadline, it might be worth sending a quick email to their financial aid office just to confirm they received your information. Some schools might take a few days to process new FAFSA additions during busy periods.

Perfect - thank you so much for all your help! This has been really reassuring.

That shouldn't happen - all schools should receive the same SAI calculation. If different schools are showing different SAI numbers, it could be that: 1) One school is looking at last year's EFC instead of this year's SAI 2) The school might be displaying their own institutional calculation rather than the federal SAI 3) There was a correction or update to the FAFSA between when different schools downloaded the information I'd recommend having your daughter's friend contact the financial aid offices at both schools to clarify why they're seeing different numbers.

This is really helpful info! I'll definitely pass this along to her. The timing issue makes sense - she did make a correction to her FAFSA about a week after initially submitting it, so that could explain why some schools have different numbers. Thanks for the detailed explanation!

Thank you for sharing your experience! The spreadsheet tip is really smart - I'm definitely going to do that to keep track of all the different deadlines. I'm glad to hear the confirmation emails come quickly when you add schools. That will help me feel more confident that everything went through properly. I'll make sure to double-check those school codes too - that's exactly the kind of mistake I would make!

This is really helpful advice! I'm just starting this process with my daughter and the FSA ID tip is so practical - I definitely would have forgotten to save that info somewhere safe. Quick question for you - when you added those 2 additional schools in March, did you get any indication from the schools themselves that they received the updated FAFSA? Or did you just assume it went through based on the confirmation from studentaid.gov? I'm a bit nervous about making sure nothing falls through the cracks!

Great question! I actually did follow up with both schools just to be safe. One school confirmed receipt within their student portal about 3 days after I added them, and the other one I had to email their financial aid office directly. They responded within 24 hours confirming they had received our updated FAFSA. I'd definitely recommend checking each school's student portal first (most show FAFSA status there), and if it's not clear, a quick email to their financial aid office never hurts. Better to double-check than miss out on aid because of a technical glitch!

@d8b0dab8a774 Great question! When I added those schools in March, I got confirmation emails from studentaid.gov within a few hours, but I also followed up directly with both schools' financial aid offices about a week later just to be safe. One school confirmed they had received our FAFSA right away, but the other took about 10 days to show up in their system (they said this was normal during their busy season). I'd definitely recommend following up with the schools directly, especially if you're close to any deadlines - better safe than sorry!

@d8b0dab8a774 Great question! I got confirmation emails from studentaid.gov within a few hours of adding each school, which gave me some peace of mind. But to be extra sure, I also checked my son's financial aid portals at those schools about a week later - both schools showed that they had received his FAFSA information and were processing it. If you want to be really proactive, you could always send a quick email to the financial aid offices after adding schools, especially if you're close to their deadlines. Most schools are pretty responsive about confirming receipt. Better safe than sorry when it comes to financial aid!

Great question! For the two schools I added in March, I actually did get confirmation from both within about a week. One school sent an email saying they had received updated FAFSA information, and the other one I checked through their student portal where it showed the FAFSA as "received" with the current date. But honestly, I was also nervous about things falling through the cracks, so I called both financial aid offices just to double-check. Both confirmed they had our information and said calling wasn't necessary but they appreciated parents being proactive. If you're worried, a quick call never hurts - financial aid offices are used to anxious parents this time of year!

Great question! I actually did both - I relied on the studentaid.gov confirmation initially, but then followed up with a quick email to each school's financial aid office about a week later just to be safe. One school responded right away confirming they had received the updated FAFSA, and the other took a few days but also confirmed. Given how stressed I was about the whole process, that extra peace of mind was totally worth the few minutes it took to send those emails. During peak season like this, I think it's always better to double-check rather than assume everything went through smoothly!

@d8b0dab8a774 Great question! When I added those schools in March, I got confirmation emails from studentaid.gov within a few hours, but I also followed up directly with both schools' financial aid offices just to be safe. One school confirmed they received it within 2 days, but the other took about a week to show up in their system. I'd definitely recommend reaching out to the schools directly if you're close to any deadlines - it gives you peace of mind and shows the school you're on top of things. Better to double-check than find out later there was some kind of processing delay!

Great question! I actually did both - I relied on the confirmation from studentaid.gov initially, but then followed up with a quick email to each school's financial aid office about a week later just to be safe. One school responded right away confirming they had received the updated FAFSA, and the other took a few days but also confirmed. I'd definitely recommend that follow-up step, especially if you're getting close to any deadlines. It only takes a few minutes to send those emails and gives you peace of mind that everything is properly in their system.

Great question! I got confirmation emails from studentaid.gov right away when I added the schools, but I was also nervous about making sure everything went through properly. What I did was wait about a week after adding each school, then called their financial aid offices directly to confirm they had received our FAFSA. Both schools confirmed they had it in their system. I'd recommend doing the same - it only takes a few minutes per school and gives you that peace of mind. Some schools also have online portals where you can check if they've received your FAFSA, so that's worth looking into as well!