<p>I filled out the FAFSA in January, sent in paperwork for verification in February, and I still have no financial aid package from the school I'm going to in the Fall (AppState). I talked to a person in the F.A. office today and they said that my verification stuff was STILL being reviewed. Why? I don't know anyone else who got all their stuff turned in as soon as me, and still all of those people have gotten their financial aid package, as of several weeks ago. Why might it be taking this long for me? I don't understand and I'm starting to get very frustrated. Please help.</p>
<p>I don’t blame you. That is really excessive, particularly if you’re a freshman. Perhaps you could call back and ask to speak with a supervisor in financial aid to get more information about what might be causing the delay.</p>
<p>The guy at App made it sound like they didn’t even have the verifiation worksheets and stuff. He said something like “once it’s done being reviewed, and we receive it, then it will be a few more weeks before your information is online.” Basically I’m looking at months of not knowing. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not trying to compare financial aid packages to decide what school I would have definitely committed to another school by now. I really want to go to App but I have to know if I can afford it. I can’t collect the scholarship money I earned at my high school until I have a finaid report to show them from my college. It’s a really crappy situation.</p>
<p>You need to contact the school again. Ask to speak to a someone higher up…you need to tell them when you sent your information in to them…and see IF they have it…and when it was received. In addition, you should ask them when they will be able to complete this process. Find out if they have all of the materials they requested. Perhaps the hold up is a missing piece that either wasn’t received or was not sent (by accident). </p>
<p>Call again…and good luck!!</p>
<p>Have your high school counselor call.</p>
<p>I’ve tried to meet with our financial aid advisor at my high school a few times now and she is ALWAYS busy. I guess the only thing I can do is wait. It just sucks.</p>
<p>Tell your counselor this is an emergency. Have to talk to your guidance counselor. You don’t have your package and it is getting to the end of May. Have your parent call. Talk to a teacher who could advocate for you. This is ridiculously late.</p>
<p>I’d bypass the GC and go straight to the college FA office (perhaps have a parent call). Don’t leave voicemails. The best time to call is around 9 am in the college’s time zone. Do not hang up until you have specific answers to these questions:</p>
<ol>
<li> Is there something they need that they don’t yet have?</li>
<li> What date can you expect to receive the offer?</li>
</ol>
<p>Get the name and extension number of the person you talk to, and hang onto it for possible follow-up.</p>
<p>If they still need something, get it to them immediately, and then call to make sure they’ve received it. Ask if they NOW have everything they need. Confirm the expected offer date.</p>
<p>If the offer date comes and goes, call again.</p>
<p>I would not bother with your high school counselor. Have your parents call the Director of Financial Aid at the college. The should be able to give you and your parents some indication of when you will know…even the answer 2 weeks or 4 weeks or next week if better than not knowing anything. I know for one college it was very late this year. There are been changes to the system and also more kids needing aid but when I called to find out what was going on they were able to give me at least a glimmer of when it would come and they were able to give me a rough idea of how the package woudl look and they were able to tell me “why” it was taking so long.</p>
<p>My advice is to email the financial aid advisor, if possible. We avoid “meeting with” students who have questions about why their verification hasn’t been completed yet. Why? Because if we meet with you, that is 30 fewer minutes we have to process files! Meeting with someone who hasn’t been verified accomplishes nothing. </p>
<p>Emails are great because we can read it, look at your file, and respond to you about what you might be missing … and we don’t have to play telephone tag, sit & chat, etc. It’s efficient. The added bonus is that we can tell you in writing what you might be missing. </p>
<p>I cannot tell you how many students ignore all the info we post on their accounts, requesting information for verification. They are surprised when I tell them that they didn’t turn in something. They swear they had no idea. I don’t even get the file for review if it’s not complete, so if they are missing something, it will never even come to my attention - it is coded incomplete before it ever reaches me. I have had students upset because they turned something in, so they ignore future requests for that document. Not a good idea. Things get lost!!! They must be resubmitted.</p>
<p>Other times, strange things happen & things fall through the cracks. Before lunch today, I stumbled across a student whose file was marked incomplete, but it wasn’t. Everything was turned in. I just happened to see it because I was doing something else with her file. I verified her right away. If she had emailed me (or called me) to find out what was going on, I would have found it earlier. If she had called our main office number, though, the phone rep may not have caught it. </p>
<p>So it is a very good idea at this point to establish contact with either a financial aid officer or a customer service manager (if the school has one) - by email or phone. Be respectful, but state that you feel it’s been a really long time, and you are worried that your file may be incomplete. First, though, if you have an online system, check it & make sure you don’t have any outstanding requirements that haven’t been submitted. If everything is good on that end (or if it’s not online), you definitely should find out what is going on.</p>
<p>Every thing is good as far as turning things in. I check my account with the school several times a week. It’s not that I’M doing something wrong/ not doing anything. It’s something on their end. I’ve talked to someone, and my mom has talked to someone as well and they just tell us to keep waiting. It’s just taking them a ridiculous amount of time.</p>
<p>We ran into this last year with Brooklyn College. We never did get an official financial aid “package.”</p>
<p>But the only way to get answers was to go down to the college, and wait in line for a FA officer to actually talk to us. The phone was useless, as was email.</p>
<p>My parents finally met with a financial aid advisor in person. Somehow, even the school doesn’t know how, my file just got looked over all that time. I have part of my aid now. Or at least, I hope it’s part of my aid. The amount remaining (what I would have to pay) is over our EFC by a few thousand dollars… if that’s all I’m getting I don’t know what to do.</p>
<p>Do you have an actual award letter? If you post the components and tell us your EFC, we may be able to spot anything obvious that’s missing.</p>
<p>Did I miss this?? Does your school guarantee to meet full need? Even if it does, many schools require a student contribution…but that can be met with a summer job. Also check your bill…for billable costs (tuition/room/board/fees) and other costs (personal expenses/books). If your financial aid covers your billable costs you should be OK if you get a part time job to cover your personal expenses and books.</p>
<p>according to App state’s common data set they meet 85% of need on average.</p>
<p>Here’s the link. <a href=“http://www1.appstate.edu/dept/irp/IR/CDS/cds2009_10.pdf[/url]”>http://www1.appstate.edu/dept/irp/IR/CDS/cds2009_10.pdf</a></p>
<p>Check the Fin Aid section, H2. Keep in mind that these are averages.</p>
<p>I would hope that you aren’t being disadvantaged by their overlooking your file for so long.</p>