FAFSA stuck in 'in review' status after signature corrections - what's next?
Just when I thought we were FINALLY done with this FAFSA nightmare! My daughter's application was submitted back on January 15th, and we got the email to make signature corrections on April 30th. We fixed everything that same day, and it changed to 'processed' for like 24 hours. Now it's suddenly showing 'in review' again?? What does this even mean?? Her college is asking for her SAI number and we still don't have one. Has anyone else gone through this stupid 'in review' phase after making signature corrections? How long does this take? She has until June 1st to accept her financial aid package but we still don't know what we're getting!
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Luca Esposito
This is happening to a lot of people this year. The 'in review' status usually means they're verifying information, which can be random or triggered by inconsistencies in the application. It's part of their verification process. Most are taking 2-3 weeks after signature corrections to generate the SAI. Your daughter should contact her college's financial aid office and let them know about the delay - they're usually accommodating with FAFSA processing delays this year since it's been such a mess for everyone.
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Zara Ahmed
•2-3 MORE WEEKS?? This is insane! We've already been waiting for almost 4 months! Does she need to call FSA? The website is absolutely useless and just shows 'in review' with no explanation.
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Nia Thompson
lol welcome to the club. my app has been 'in review' for 6 weeks now after we fixed some parent contribution stuff. financial aid office basically said ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ when i asked them
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Zara Ahmed
•6 WEEKS?? Oh my god. What are these people doing over there?! Did you ever get it resolved or are you still waiting?
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Nia Thompson
•still waiting. they told me to just accept the base package and they'll adjust it when fafsa finally gets their act together
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Mateo Rodriguez
The 'in review' status after signature corrections typically indicates one of three things: 1. Random verification selection (about 30% of applicants) 2. Data inconsistencies that flagged their system 3. The need for additional documentation Your best course of action is to: 1. Contact your daughter's college financial aid office immediately - explain the situation and ask if they can proceed with a provisional aid package 2. Call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 to check if additional documentation is needed 3. Document all communications in case you need to file an appeal later In my experience working with students, the 'in review' status after signatures usually resolves in 1-3 weeks, but this application cycle has been exceptionally problematic.
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Zara Ahmed
•Thank you for the detailed information! We'll contact her college tomorrow. Have you heard if calling that FSA number actually works? I've seen horror stories about people waiting on hold for hours only to get disconnected.
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Mateo Rodriguez
•Unfortunately, the FSA call center has been overwhelmed this year. Many of my students have had success using Claimyr.com to navigate the phone system - it holds your place in line and calls you back when an agent is available. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. The agent can tell you exactly what's causing the 'in review' status and what specific actions you need to take, which can save weeks of waiting and wondering.
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GalaxyGuardian
my sons fafsa did the same thing!!!!! we signed the correction form on april 18 and it said processed then went to in review the next day. we finally got his SAI on may 8th so it took about 3 weeks. hang in there!!!
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Zara Ahmed
•That gives me some hope! Did you have to do anything during those 3 weeks or did it just suddenly change on its own?
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GalaxyGuardian
•nope it just suddenly changed! we were checking like crazy everyday and then one morning boom the SAI was there. no email or anything letting us know it was done.
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Aisha Abdullah
I'm going through the exact same situation with my son's FAFSA. Submitted in January, corrections in late April, briefly showed "processed" and then switched to "in review." I called FSA yesterday and after an hour on hold, they told me it was selected for verification. They're checking his citizenship status against Social Security records, even though he was born here! The agent said they have a massive backlog and could take up to 30 days to complete the review. What's most frustrating is that there's NOTHING we can do to speed it up. My advice is to call the school's financial aid office ASAP. Our university gave my son a 2-week extension on accepting his aid package since this delay is affecting so many students.
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Zara Ahmed
•Thank you for sharing your experience. It's so frustrating! Did they tell you why it was selected for verification? I'm worried there might be something wrong with our application that we don't know about.
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Aisha Abdullah
•The agent said most verifications this year are completely random due to the new system. Apparently, they're verifying around 35% of all applications compared to 18% in previous years. She specifically said it's NOT because we made mistakes on the application. Just bad luck really.
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Ethan Wilson
The FAFSA system is a complete disaster this year. I work in college admissions (not financial aid specifically) but we're seeing massive delays across the board. Some thoughts that might help: 1. The "in review" status after corrections often means they're verifying your information against other government databases (IRS, Social Security, Selective Service, etc.) 2. From what I've seen, these reviews are taking 2-4 weeks on average right now 3. Your daughter should absolutely contact her school's financial aid office and explain the situation - most schools are creating contingency plans for delayed FAFSAs 4. If her school uses institutional methodology or the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA, they may be able to create a preliminary package Almost every school is extending their decision deadlines this year because of these delays. Don't panic yet!
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Zara Ahmed
•Thank you for the insider perspective! Her school doesn't use CSS Profile, just the FAFSA. Is there anything specific she should say when contacting the financial aid office? I want to make sure they take her seriously.
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Ethan Wilson
•Have her be very specific about her timeline - when submitted, when corrections were made, current status, etc. She should ask if they: 1. Can extend her decision deadline 2. Can provide a preliminary aid estimate based on the information they have 3. Have a contingency process for delayed FAFSAs She should also ask if there's a specific financial aid counselor assigned to her that she can follow up with directly instead of calling the main office repeatedly. Stay polite but persistent. Document all communications (who she talked to, when, what was said).
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Yuki Tanaka
This happened to me! I finally got through to someone at FSA and they said my FAFSA was flagged because my parents' reported income on the FAFSA didn't match what the IRS had. It was only off by like $230 because my dad got some small retirement adjustment or something that he forgot about. Had to submit verification docs and then waited another 2 weeks. So annoying! Try calling them to see what's actually happening.
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Zara Ahmed
•That's what I'm worried about, that there's some tiny discrepancy we don't know about. How did you finally get through to FSA? Every time we call we just get stuck on hold forever.
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Aisha Abdullah
Just wanted to update everyone - our "in review" status finally changed today! It took exactly 18 days after the signature corrections to get the SAI. We didn't do anything special, it just updated on its own. The school had already given us an extension on accepting the aid package, so everything worked out. Hang in there!
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Zara Ahmed
•That's great news! Congrats! That gives me hope that ours will update soon too. Was your son selected for verification in the end, or did it just take time to process?
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Aisha Abdullah
•It was indeed a verification issue, but we didn't have to submit any additional documents. The agent I spoke with said they were verifying his info against government databases, and it just took time for the systems to talk to each other. When the SAI finally appeared, we also got an email saying verification was complete.
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