I'm a first-year medical student and just went through this exact situation last year! The confusion is totally understandable - I spent weeks panicking that I'd filled something out wrong when I saw my negative SAI. Your daughter is definitely looking at old undergraduate information. When you have multiple FAFSA applications in the system, the dashboard can be really confusing about which results correspond to which school year and program level. For med school specifically, she'll want to focus on maximizing any institutional aid her school offers. At my school, they had a separate scholarship application that wasn't tied to FAFSA at all - it was based on essays, community service, and intended specialty. Some schools also offer tuition discounts for in-state students or have partnerships with local hospitals that provide funding. The debt is definitely scary, but most of my classmates have found the financial aid offices at medical schools to be incredibly helpful with creating realistic repayment plans. They understand the unique timeline of medical training (4 years school + 3-7 years residency) and can help map out strategies for different career paths. Best of luck to your daughter - medical school is an amazing journey and the financial piece will work itself out with proper planning!

I'm a parent who went through this exact same confusion two years ago when my son started dental school! The negative SAI threw us for a loop too - we kept thinking there must be some mistake with the application. What helped us tremendously was understanding that the negative SAI for graduate students is actually pretty meaningless in terms of actual aid eligibility. It's just an artifact of how the formula works when you have a student with minimal income and no parental contribution factored in. The real determining factors for graduate school aid are the federal loan limits and whatever institutional aid the school offers. One tip I'd add: have your daughter ask the medical school about their institutional work-study programs or research assistantships. While most med students can't work regular jobs during the academic year, some schools offer paid research positions or tutoring opportunities that can help offset living expenses without interfering with studies. Also, don't overlook external scholarship opportunities specifically for medical students. Organizations like the American Medical Association, specialty medical societies, and local medical foundations often have scholarships that aren't widely advertised. Your daughter's school's financial aid office should have a list of these opportunities. The whole process is overwhelming at first, but you'll get through it! The investment in her medical education will definitely pay off in the long run.

This thread has been such a lifesaver! I'm in a very similar situation - got accepted to a university but the costs are making me seriously reconsider community college. Reading through everyone's experiences has made me realize that transferring Pell Grant eligibility isn't nearly as complicated as I thought it would be. The consensus seems clear: add the CC school code to your FAFSA, contact the university to decline your aid package, wait a few days for processing, then work with the CC financial aid office. What really stands out to me is how many people mentioned getting additional institutional scholarships at their community colleges that they wouldn't have received at the 4-year schools. That's such an unexpected bonus! It's also reassuring to see financial aid professionals confirming that this is a common and smart transition. Thanks to everyone who shared their step-by-step processes - having these detailed roadmaps makes the whole thing feel so much more manageable!

I went through this exact same situation two years ago and can confirm everything everyone's saying - your Pell Grant absolutely transfers! The key thing that helped me was creating a timeline and checklist to stay organized through the process. I'd recommend: 1) Screenshot your current aid award for your records, 2) Add the CC school code to your FAFSA this week, 3) Call the university Monday to formally decline (get a confirmation number!), 4) Wait the full 5 business days before contacting the CC, and 5) Have your Social Security number and FAFSA ID ready when you call the CC. The waiting period between steps 3 and 4 is crucial - I learned that the hard way! Also, when I made the switch, I discovered my CC had a "Transfer Promise" program that guaranteed my credits would transfer to in-state universities, which actually put me ahead of where I would have been starting at the 4-year school. You're making such a smart financial decision - I graduated debt-free and landed the same job as my friends who went the traditional route but with $40K+ in loans. Best of luck with the process!

I'm completely new to this community and found this thread while desperately searching for FAFSA help! My daughter and I are dealing with our own correction nightmare - we accidentally reported some custodial accounts that shouldn't have been included and made errors with her summer internship income reporting. Like so many others here, I was frantically looking for a way to delete everything and start over, but this thread has been absolutely enlightening about why that's not possible and what actually works instead! @Evelyn Rivera, seeing your success story gives me so much hope that we can get through this! And @Arjun Patel, your systematic approach is exactly the clear guidance I needed. I think we made the same mistake many others did - trying to rush through corrections without proper organization, which just created more problems. I'm definitely going to follow the proven strategy outlined here: print the blank worksheet, organize ALL our documents first, contact our school's financial aid office, and dedicate proper time to make all corrections systematically. @Yara Campbell's reassurance that schools only see the final version is such a huge relief! Thank you all for sharing your experiences and creating such a supportive community. It's incredible how much more manageable this feels knowing there are actual proven solutions that work, even when the FAFSA system seems impossible to navigate. I'll report back with hopefully good news after we tackle our corrections this weekend!

I'm brand new to this community and currently dealing with my own FAFSA correction disaster! My son submitted his application in January, but we made several major errors - incorrectly included some of my 401k information in the assets section, mixed up his W-2 income amounts, and somehow used the wrong tax year for part of the financial information. Like everyone else here, I was desperately searching for a "delete and start over" option before finding this incredibly helpful thread! Reading through all the shared experiences, especially @Evelyn Rivera's success story and the detailed systematic approach from @Arjun Patel, gives me real hope that this mess can actually be fixed. I think our biggest mistake was exactly what others have mentioned - trying to make quick corrections without proper preparation, which just created more confusion and errors. I'm definitely going to follow the proven strategy everyone has outlined: print out the blank worksheet first, gather all the correct documentation, contact our school's financial aid office directly, and set aside dedicated uninterrupted time to make all corrections systematically. @Yara Campbell's point about schools only seeing the final version is such a relief - I was worried about how all our failed correction attempts would look! And @Daniel Price's screenshot tip is brilliant - we actually experienced that exact system timeout issue. Thank you all for creating such a supportive community with real practical solutions. It's amazing how much less overwhelming this feels knowing there are proven methods that actually work, even when the FAFSA system seems designed to drive families crazy!

This thread is so helpful! I'm a parent dealing with similar FAFSA issues and it's reassuring to know these problems are widespread (though frustrating that the system is this broken). One additional tip I learned from my college's financial aid office: if you're still having trouble after trying all these solutions, reach out directly to the financial aid offices at your son's schools. Many of them are aware of these technical issues and some have been extending their priority deadlines or working with families on a case-by-case basis when there's documented proof of system errors. Also, I've found that sometimes the FAFSA system works better during off-peak hours - like early morning (5-7 AM) or late evening (after 10 PM). The servers seem less overloaded then. Worth trying if you're still stuck! Good luck to everyone navigating this mess. The fact that we have to become tech support specialists just to apply for financial aid is absolutely ridiculous.

As someone who just went through this exact same nightmare with my daughter's FAFSA, I feel your pain! The invitation system is seriously broken this year. Here's what ultimately worked for us after weeks of frustration: 1. Have your son log into his NEW FSA ID account and write down the EXACT email address associated with it 2. From your parent portal, completely remove/delete the current invitation 3. Wait at least 2-3 hours (not just 30 minutes - I learned this the hard way) 4. Clear ALL browser data on both your devices, not just cache 5. Send a brand new invitation to the exact email from step 1 6. Have your son accept the invitation using a private/incognito browser window on a device he hasn't used for FAFSA before The key seems to be that the system gets confused when there are any traces of the old FSA ID or previous invitation attempts. Starting completely fresh on both ends broke the loop for us. Also, I agree with others about documenting everything with screenshots. My daughter's school was very understanding about the technical delays when I showed them proof of our attempts and the error messages we were getting. Hang in there - once you get past this hurdle, the rest of the form is much more straightforward!

Hey Zoe! I just want to add my voice to everyone else here - you're absolutely making the right decision by accepting both loans. I'm a nursing student in my final semester, and I was in a very similar situation when I started. What really helped me was looking at the actual ROI numbers: the average starting salary for new grad nurses in most areas is $55,000-70,000, and that $5,500 total you're borrowing represents less than 10% of one year's starting salary. That's an incredibly reasonable debt-to-income ratio for professional education. I also want to emphasize what others have said about hospital loan forgiveness programs - they're EVERYWHERE in nursing right now. The nursing shortage means hospitals are competing hard for new grads, and loan assistance is one of their biggest recruiting tools. I already have three job offers lined up, and two of them include loan forgiveness packages that would more than cover what you're borrowing for this year. Your parents' concern about debt comes from a good place, but they're applying outdated thinking to a modern reality. College costs have changed dramatically, but so have the career prospects and earning potential in healthcare. You're not just taking on debt - you're investing in one of the most stable, recession-proof careers available. Accept both loans, get your housing sorted, and focus on your studies. You're going to be an amazing nurse, and this small amount of strategic borrowing is going to pay for itself many times over. Don't let anxiety rob you of this opportunity! 💪

Hey Zoe! I'm a recent nursing grad and financial aid peer counselor, and I just wanted to add one more perspective that might help solidify your decision. I see you've gotten amazing advice here already, but I want to emphasize something crucial: the federal loan system is specifically designed for situations like yours. The government created these programs because they recognized that education is an investment that pays long-term dividends, even when families can't afford the upfront costs. Here's a practical tip that helped me: once you accept both loans, set up a simple spreadsheet to track your total borrowing each semester. This helps you stay mindful of your debt while also seeing the bigger picture. I graduated with about $23,000 in federal loans total, landed a job at $62,000/year, and my monthly loan payment is only $230 - totally manageable. The nursing field is also unique because of how desperately hospitals need staff right now. Beyond the loan forgiveness programs everyone mentioned, many facilities are offering sign-on bonuses ($5,000-15,000), tuition reimbursement for additional certifications, and accelerated wage increases. Your investment in nursing school is going to pay off in ways you probably haven't even considered yet. Accept both loans with confidence - you're making a smart financial decision that your future self will thank you for! 🩺💙