From desperation to celebrating: FAFSA nightmare turned into unexpected full-ride scholarship!
I'm sitting here in total disbelief right now! After fighting with the FAFSA for almost 5 months (and nearly throwing my laptop out the window multiple times), my daughter just received her financial aid package from her dream school - AND IT'S A FULL RIDE!! I seriously can't believe this happened after everything we went through. For context: We had that horrible glitch where our AGI wouldn't import correctly from the IRS, then got flagged for verification, then had to submit additional documentation THREE separate times because they kept saying something was missing. I spent countless hours on hold trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid. I was 100% convinced we'd have to take out massive Parent Plus loans or she'd have to settle for the community college option. Her SAI score came back higher than I expected, and I was devastated thinking we'd ruined her chances. But today... full tuition, fees, and books covered through a combination of institutional scholarship, state grant, and a small Pell Grant! She'll be commuting from home, so this literally covers EVERYTHING she needs! My son is a sophomore at the same university with a different aid package (more loans, fewer grants), and I'm going to see if we can get his reconsidered now that I better understand how this crazy system works. To anyone still fighting the FAFSA battle - I know it feels impossible. I literally cried in my car after getting disconnected for the 5th time one day. But KEEP PUSHING. The outcome might surprise you like it did us!
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Yara Khoury
CONGRATS!!!!! This gives me hope! I'm still waiting for my daughter's package and the anxiety is KILLING ME. Did your verification take the full 3-4 weeks they say it does? We just submitted our documents last week.
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AstroAlpha
•Thank you!! Actually ours took almost 6 weeks total because they kept requesting additional documentation. First they wanted more explanation about our business income, then they needed clarification on household size. Just keep checking your portal every couple days and respond immediately if they ask for anything else!
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Keisha Taylor
This is exactly why I tell everyone to never give up on the FAFSA process. The system is complicated but can work in your favor if you persist. A few things that might help others reading this: 1. Always appeal your initial financial aid offer if it's not enough - many schools have additional institutional funds they can award 2. Make sure to check for state-specific grants that require FAFSA completion (sounds like you got one!) 3. If your SAI seems unusually high, double-check that income and assets were reported correctly 4. Remember that different schools have different institutional methodologies for awarding their own funds Congratulations on your daughter's success! This is a wonderful outcome.
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AstroAlpha
•Thank you for these tips! You're so right about appealing - we actually did submit an appeal with her original school explaining some medical expenses that weren't reflected in our tax return, and I think that may have helped with the institutional scholarship amount. Definitely worth the extra effort!
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Paolo Longo
im so jealous lol. been trying to reach someone at fafsa for 2 WEEKS about my sons verification and keep getting the stupid automated system. what number did you call to actually reach a human????? ive tried pressing 0 and random numbers but nothing works
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Amina Bah
•I had the same problem and wasted hours on hold before discovering Claimyr.com - it's a service that waits on hold with Federal Student Aid for you and calls you when an agent is actually on the line. Saved me about 2 hours of hold time when I needed to fix a similar verification issue. They have a video demo of how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows the process. Honestly wish I'd known about it months ago.
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Paolo Longo
•omg thank you!!!! gonna try this right now. at this point id do ANYTHING to talk to a real person
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Oliver Becker
Not to be a downer but this is NOT the norm. Most people don't get full rides, and community college is still the smarter financial choice for most students. Your daughter probably had exceptional grades or circumstances that made this possible. Happy for you but let's keep it real for everyone else here who's struggling.
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AstroAlpha
•You're right that full rides aren't common - my daughter has a 3.9 GPA and is going into nursing which I think helped. But I do think many people give up too early in the process or don't appeal initial offers. Community college is definitely smart for many students though!
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CosmicCowboy
•This is why I hate the FAFSA system so much. It's basically a lottery at this point. Some kids get full rides and others with similar stats get nothing, and there's zero transparency about WHY. The whole thing is just designed to make us all miserable.
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Natasha Orlova
Thank you for sharing this! Our family has been in FAFSA hell since February!!! My twins are both high school seniors and we've had issues with the parent contributor section loading correctly. Then one FAFSA went through but the other is STILL processing?!?! How can that be when they're from the SAME HOUSEHOLD with the SAME CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION??? Anyway - did your daughter receive her package directly from the school or through the FAFSA portal? Still trying to figure out where we're supposed to see the final aid amounts.
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AstroAlpha
•The final aid package came directly from the university financial aid office, not through the FAFSA portal! The FAFSA only shows the SAI score and that it was processed successfully. Then each school puts together their own aid package based on that SAI, their available funds, and any institutional scholarships. Check your twins' student portals at each school they applied to - that's where the offers will show up!
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Natasha Orlova
•Thank you!! That makes sense - I'll check their portals. And congrats again on the amazing news for your daughter!!! 🎉
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Amina Bah
Congratulations! I work in college admissions and want to explain why this happened, as it might help others. When your FAFSA was flagged for verification, they likely discovered information that actually LOWERED your SAI from what was initially calculated. This happens more often than people realize. Verification isn't always bad news - sometimes it results in more aid! For anyone still waiting, remember that schools often have two waves of financial aid offers: early offers based on initial FAFSA data, and revised offers after verification is complete. The second wave can be more generous if verification improves your situation.
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AstroAlpha
•That makes SO much sense! I was wondering why her final SAI seemed lower than what I initially calculated. Thank you for explaining this - I wish the FAFSA process was more transparent about how all these pieces fit together.
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Yara Khoury
did your daughter have to do anything special on her application beside the fafsa? my son is applying this fall and i'm trying to figure out if we need to fill out CSS Profile too or just fafsa?
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AstroAlpha
•Great question! No CSS Profile for her school (state university), but she did have to complete a separate scholarship application through the university portal. Definitely check each school's financial aid website because some require CSS Profile and others have their own institutional forms. The deadlines are often different from FAFSA deadlines too!
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