<p>I've found myself in quite a predicament. I decided to go to college (my very first time) back in October. I visited the campus and spoke with the Financial Aid advisor. He told me I'd need to rush to get my application done if I wanted to start in the Spring. I voiced my concerns with Financial Aid; I told him I didn't know what to do, as this is my first time applying to school. He explained everything to me; Fill out the FAFSA, etc. He said it would most likely take up until the beginning of the Spring semester to get all of my information together and get me enrolled. I filled out the FAFSA and, well, it ended up being selected for the verification process. Fine. I got all of the necessary papers together and sent them to the school. I called to make sure they were received, and they were. A couple of weeks later I received a letter saying I forgot form number blah blah blah. Alright. I sent that form, called them to make sure they got it. They did. They told me to give them time to verify all of my information. In the meantime, I got my application together; the application itself, the required essay, the letter of recommendation, etc. I sent it in and they received it. They said it would take more time. Okay, fine, I'll be patient. I received a letter almost a month after I sent in my application. They told me I'd forgotten my SAT scores in the application. No way. I was told in the beginning that my SAT scores were not needed due to the fact that I have been out of highschool for five years. I called the Financial Aid office several times, but couldn't get a hold of anyone, left messages. I managed to get a hold of someone one day -- a lady -- who told me she didn't know what to say and gave me the email address for the head of Financial Aid. Right. I emailed him and he emailed me back two days later with an apology, said that they were wrong and that my SAT scores are not necessary and they will continue to process my application. Okay. I got my letter of acceptance a few days before Christmas -- I was thrilled. I sent in my $100 tuition fee and made sure that it was received. It was. The head of Financial Aid called me today and told me I need to go and register for classes this Friday (Spring semester starts next Monday). I asked him, "Okay, and my Financial Aid? It's all verified, right? Because I still haven't heard anything about it." He was quiet for a moment and then said, "Oh, yeah, well you forgot to send page blah blah blah..." I said, "Right, almost three months ago. You guys told me that and I sent it to you guys with a letter and I was told it was received and the verification process was going to move forward." He said, "Oh, okay, right, well I'll go and check for your awards package and then I'll call you back tomorrow and let you know what I found." ... Uh? </p>
<p>This is the problem: I scrambled to get everything together, sending in millions of forms, contacting the Financial Aid office repeatedly, making sure everything was received and given the green light. The school was supposed to be verifying my FAFSA information this entire time... so what's going on? I don't know what the process is or how you find out what you're eligible for. I was told that the college would sit down with me once I was accepted and let me know every piece of FA I qualify for, but now everything is up in the air. I'm supposed to start classes on Monday and I have no money to pay for school and no information on what I've received (if anything) in FA. I have a feeling the school never even bothered to get my FAFSA verified. If this is the case, I'm in trouble. He'll be calling me back tomorrow.</p>
<p>I don't know what to do. I'm panicking here.</p>
<p>thumper1, was that meant to be funny? The whole post is about his unsatisfactory contacts with the financial aid office.</p>
<p>ennagrom, I think you need to get yourself into the financial aid office and not leave until you have satisfactory answers. Phoning and emailing are clearly not getting you what you need. Just politely insist, repeatedly if necessary, that you speak to someone who can resolve you issues.</p>
<p>MommaJ…I meant exactly what you posted. This student needs to contact the financial aid office at his school…and he needs to work his way UP the phone chain. Going in person is even a better idea. The point is…none of us can answer his questions or solve his problem…or get him the aid he needs. He needs to contact the college to get this resolved…and yes, in person sounds like how it needs to happen.</p>
<p>To the poster…make sure you take copies of EVERYTHING you have already submittted with you when you meet with the financial aid folks. This would include your FAFSA, tax returns, and anything else your college required you to submit.</p>
<p>It’s pretty crazy. I’ve dreamed of going to college for years, and now, at the ripe old age of 23 and after five years of making mistakes and getting caught up in life and feeling like college was an unattainable goal, I finally disciplined myself to just go for it. And now it seems like it’s just blowing up in my face. It’s disheartening. :(</p>
<p>I hope I can get this figured out. I am so ready to start college and this is depressing and discouraging.</p>
<p>ennagrom, just to clarify, verification is not something the happens outside the college itself. It’s the FA office’s responsibility to verify the FAFSA using the info you submitted, and any other document they may need/request for clarification. It sounds as if they really let this part fall through the cracks. I wouldn’t take the chance on a spring admission since FA is often much lower than is given for fall. Can you afford to attend with only a Stafford loan? If not, you may have to request a deferral of your admission until fall.</p>
<p>I have no way of knowing what happened in this case, but I can offer my two cents as one who works in an aid office. When student’s files are verified, certain basic information is requested. When it is received, the file is ready to verify. At that point, anyone looking at your file would say, “Your information has been received.” When the file gets to the person who is responsible for verifying it, that person will look more carefully at the information you submitted. If you did not complete something quite as it should have been completed (left something blank, left off a signature, etc), you will then be asked to correct it. The request will be made on the computer by the verifier … and it will appear in the student’s school email or whatever method the school financial aid office uses for communicating with students. It is also possible that your verification information raised additional questions that required more documentation (there are many reasons for this). Again, the requirement would be added by computer.</p>
<p>Here is the thing … you were not admitted, so you did not have access to the student computer portal where the requirements would be viewed. Once you were admitted, you probably would have been able to view requests for documents from the financial aid office (or however they post the requirements). There are thousands of students at this school, and if the policy is to communicate requirements via the student portal, the staff is not going to know that YOU did not have access. Admissions and financial aid do not use the same computer screens.</p>
<p>I could be off base, but this is a very plausible explanation.</p>