FAFSA Issue. How bad is it?

Ok, so for some godforsaken reason, you can only add 10 schools to the fafsa. I googled this and found that once submitted, you can delete those schools and add 10 more. Ridiculous system, but I submit it and find out that there is a PROCESSING TIME. So now I cannot add any more schools until the fafsa is processed. I will now miss the fafsa deadline for some of my schools. Any suggestions on what to do? I am emailing all the schools and explaining it to them. Hopefully they will be understanding, since they are mostly small LACs. But what impact will this have on my aid? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

The standard FAFSA processing time is 24 to 48 hours. Your life will not end.

Next time with stuff like this, don’t wait until you’re close to any deadline.

FAFSA “processing time” is pretty quick. Wait for the email to confirm changes are made. Then touch base with a school or two to let them know FAFSA is completed. They’ll go right in, pull it out, and you can turn around and delete them. That’s what my son has been doing. Checking the portals… as soon as one says they’ve received FAFSA, they get deleted and another one added. To answer your question, though, since FAFSA HAS been available since October 1, AND you were advised of school deadlines, I’m not sure how not having it on time would affect your aid. If you’re working with a January 15th deadline, then , well… If it’s February or beyond, you have PLENTY of time to delete, add, advise etc.

Good luck

@luca2fish , valuable life lesson here. Don’t forget to remember this lesson in timeliness when it’s time to fill out your class schedules before each semester in college. If you think you’re frustrated now, just wait until you’re forced to sign up for Crochet 101 instead of Chemistry 201, because you waited until the last day of class registration.

And remember, the first step to growth is admitting you made a mistake. Don’t blame the “godforsaken reason” FAFSA allows only 10 colleges at a time. Blame yourself for waiting until deadline day to begin submitting your FAFSA. One you admit the mistake, you can decide to not allow it to occur in the future.

I don’t think this lapse in timeliness will cost you too much with small LACs. However I know some public schools that might not have been so quick to make it easy for you.

Good luck!

You have great advice here. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help if you missed a school’s deadline or are imminently going to be missing it.

It’s nearly always an issue to do things at the very last minute. If anything goes wrong , like finding out Some issue , you can be out. Yes, signing up for courses at college can be that way. A friend’s son did not get his application for a program he very much wanted accepted because the send did not work on 12/31 for him. Easy to cut when you don’t make basic rules.

How each school will treat a late FAFSA very much an individual thing. If you want to call and ask, and you need the financial aid, it may cull schools from your list.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I was tired last night and clearly in a panic. There’s nothing more I can do at this point, except learn from this mistake and submit the FAFSAs ASAP.

When are your soon to be missed deadlines? Today? Yesterday? At the end of the week?

It takes sometimes less than a couple of days for the FAFSA to be processed. Keep an eye out and update as soon as you can.

For all future deadlines…don’t wait until the last minute.