FAFSA form order confusion - did my daughter need to start her form before I completed parent portion?
Super frustrated with the new FAFSA process! I completed my entire parent contribution section after getting the email invite, but now my daughter hasn't even started her section yet. When I log back into my studentaid.gov account, I see TWO forms that appear to be in progress. Did I mess something up by going first? Should she have initiated her FAFSA application before I did the parent section? The instructions weren't clear at all and now I'm worried we've created duplicate applications that will cause problems. Has anyone else dealt with this order-of-operations issue with the new FAFSA?
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Ethan Taylor
The FAFSA process has changed a lot, so your confusion is totally understandable! The good news is that you haven't messed anything up. Here's how it works now: 1. Either the student OR the parent can initiate the FAFSA form 2. If parent starts first (which you did), the student gets an invite to complete their portion 3. If student starts first, they'll add you as a contributor and you'll get an invite The two forms you're seeing are likely just different views of the same application - one showing what you've contributed and one showing the overall status. Your daughter still needs to complete her section for the application to be processed. Once she does her part, the application will move forward. Nothing is duplicated in the system.
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Aisha Khan
•Thank you so much! I was panicking thinking I'd created some kind of problem. I'll have her complete her section this weekend.
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Yuki Ito
this happend to me to lol. dont stress about it. i started mine b4 my mom did her part and it still worked fine. the system is just showing u different views of the same application
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Aisha Khan
•That's reassuring! Did you have any issues when your financial aid package was processed?
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Carmen Lopez
OK but something similar happened with my son's FAFSA and then we DID have problems later. His SAI came back way higher than expected and when we called, they said we had entered some income information twice. Not sure if it was related to the two forms showing up, but I'd definitely double-check everything.
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Andre Dupont
•This is concerning. When you called FSA, were you able to get them to fix the duplicated income information? Did they adjust the SAI after you pointed out the error?
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Andre Dupont
The order doesn't actually matter anymore with the new FAFSA. What matters is that all contributors complete their sections before the final submission. You're seeing two different views of the same application: 1. Your contributor view (showing what you've completed) 2. The overall application status (which requires your daughter's input) Having your daughter complete her section now will merge everything together properly. The system tracks contributions by FSA ID, so there's no risk of duplication as long as everyone uses their correct login credentials.
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Aisha Khan
•Thanks for explaining! The new system is so different from when I filled out my own FAFSA years ago. I'll make sure she uses her correct FSA ID.
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QuantumQuasar
I had a NIGHTMARE with this exact situation! Kept seeing duplicate forms, then when my son finally finished his part, the system glitched and we couldn't submit ANYTHING for weeks!!! Had to call FSA like 20 times and kept getting disconnected or waiting for HOURS!!! This new system is TERRIBLE!
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Zoe Papanikolaou
•That sounds incredibly frustrating! When I had similar issues connecting with FSA, I tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent without the endless hold times. They have a service that holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is ready. Saved me hours of frustration - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. I was able to fix my duplicate form issue in one call after that.
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Jamal Wilson
U should be fine since ur daughter got the invite link. Thats wat matters. My cousin did his part first then his mom did hers after and it worked ok. Just make sure ur not accidentally started two DIFFERENT applications. As long as ur both accessing the same application (even if it shows up twice in ur view) ur good
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Aisha Khan
•How can I tell if they're different applications vs different views? Is there an application ID number somewhere I should be checking?
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Carmen Lopez
I don't think the order matters but what does matter is that you make sure you don't submit income information twice. My daughter's roommate had this happen and her SAI was calculated wrong because the system thought her mom made twice as much money as she actually did!!
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Ethan Taylor
•Great point about checking the income information! @original poster - when your daughter completes her section, review the summary page carefully before final submission. The summary will show all contributor information combined, which is your chance to catch any duplications before submission.
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Yuki Ito
my financial aid office told me that the most important thing is that all the FSA IDs are correct for each person. if u used the right ID for urself and she uses the right one for herself then the system knows who is who and wont duplicate anything
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Andre Dupont
•This is correct. The FSA ID is the key identifier in the new system. Each contributor (student, parents, spouse) must use their own unique FSA ID when completing their portion. This is how the system tracks who has provided what information and prevents duplication.
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Zoe Papanikolaou
You're not alone in this confusion! The new FAFSA process changed dramatically this year, and many parents and students are struggling with similar issues. If you're still having trouble after your daughter completes her section, I'd recommend calling Federal Student Aid directly. Their wait times can be brutal though - when I needed to reach them about a similar issue, I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) which held my place in line and called me when an agent was available. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Saved me hours of frustration and the agent was able to verify that our application was processing correctly despite the confusing interface.
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Aisha Khan
•Thank you for the tip! If we run into any submission problems, I'll definitely check out that service. The last thing we need is more delays with her financial aid package.
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