What happens after receiving SAI score? When will schools respond with financial aid offers?

Congrats on getting your SAI! Yes, once you have an SAI score, your FAFSA information has been processed and is available to the schools you listed on your application. The schools will automatically receive this information - you don't need to notify them separately about your SAI. As for timing, each school works on their own schedule. Some might send financial aid offers within a few weeks, while others wait until closer to their admission decision dates. If your daughter applied regular decision to some schools, you might not hear about financial aid until March or April for those schools. I'd recommend waiting at least 2-3 weeks before calling any financial aid offices. They're typically very busy this time of year, and they need time to process all the information they're receiving.

got my sai on monday and already called 2 schools lol 😬 they told me to chill and wait a month before bothering them again

This is our second time through the process and I learned you absolutely SHOULD call schools, but not yet. Wait about 3-4 weeks after your SAI appears, then check with each financial aid office to confirm they've received your FAFSA data. Last year we assumed everything was fine, then discovered in March that one university never received our information due to a system error. We almost missed out on aid because we didn't verify! Once you confirm they have your data, then it's just waiting for their aid package calculations. Most schools release these with acceptance letters, but some send them separately. Just make sure you check both student email AND parent email (and spam folders!) because different schools communicate differently.

In my experience, the timeframe varies drastically between schools. My son got his first aid package just 3 weeks after our SAI was calculated, but another school took almost 2 months! The most frustrating part is there's no standardized timeline. One thing to understand - schools don't just use your SAI score. Each institution has their own formula for determining need and merit aid. Some will also require the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA if your daughter applied to private colleges. Did she complete that as well? Also, don't be surprised if you get wildly different offers from different schools even though they all received the same SAI. The financial aid system is NOT consistent across institutions.

my daughters sai was way higher than we expected so now we're freaking out about whether she'll get any aid at all 😩 is there a way to appeal the sai calculation??

I spent 2 HOURS today trying to call Federal Student Aid to verify if all our information was correctly processed before it went to schools. Kept getting disconnected or put on these insane holds. Finally someone told me about Claimyr.com which got me connected to an agent in about 10 minutes! They have this video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed everything was processed correctly and explained exactly what the schools can see when they access our FAFSA information. Totally worth it for peace of mind rather than wondering if something was wrong with our application. I feel much better now just waiting for schools to do their thing.

I've worked in college financial aid for 15 years. Here's what's actually happening: Your FAFSA data and SAI are transmitted to schools through what's called the ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record). Schools typically receive this within 3-5 business days after your SAI is calculated. Next, the school has to IMPORT that data into their system. Some schools do this daily, others weekly. Then they run an automated verification check. About 30% of FAFSAs get flagged for verification, which requires additional documentation. Assuming you're not selected for verification, many schools won't prepare aid packages until after admissions decisions are made. Early Decision/Action applicants might get packages by January, but Regular Decision might not see packages until March/April. My advice: Wait 2 weeks, then email (don't call) each financial aid office with a brief, polite inquiry asking if they've received your FAFSA data and if anything else is needed from you. This creates a paper trail and is more efficient than calling during their busiest season.

Something I wish I'd known earlier: create a spreadsheet NOW to track all of this. Include columns for: - Each school name - Date FAFSA data received (call/email to confirm) - Aid package received date - Total aid offered - Grants/scholarships (free money!) - Work study amount - Federal loans offered - Out-of-pocket cost Trust me, when those offers start coming in, they all look different and use different terminology. Having a standardized way to compare them will save you HOURS of confusion and stress later. And don't ignore the financial aid deadlines for accepting offers - some schools have surprisingly early deadlines!

One more thing to keep in mind - don't panic if you don't hear anything for several weeks! I made the mistake of constantly refreshing my student portal and calling schools too early last year. What really helped me was setting up a simple calendar reminder for 3 weeks from when I got my SAI, then another one for 6 weeks out. That way I wasn't obsessively checking every day but still had a plan for when to follow up. Also, if your daughter applied to any state schools, they sometimes have different timelines than private colleges. State schools in our experience were faster with aid packages but had less flexibility for appeals or negotiations. Just something to keep in mind as you're waiting! The whole process is definitely stressful for first-time parents, but you're asking all the right questions. Hang in there!