Everything I Wish I Knew About Financial Aid

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My first time completing FAFSA was tumultuous to say the least. Everything that seemed to go smoothly for my friends went wrong for me. Applying for financial aid my senior year was a big eye opener into just how clueless I was about the process. Just so you don’t stumble blindly into your financial aid application like I did, here are some things I know now that I wish I knew before I started.

FAFSA Isn’t Guaranteed to Give You Anything

I think my friends and older siblings did a great job of explaining to me the two kinds of aid FAFSA provides. I was fully aware that I probably wouldn’t get any grants, or money I won’t have to pay back. What I didn’t know was that FAFSA could also deny you loan money. I just thought that FAFSA would give you a loan because you have to pay them back. That simply isn’t the case. FAFSA is notorious for holding out on students.

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool Is a Hit or Miss

I remember sitting down with my dad about 9 o’clock one evening to do my FAFSA. I just thought it wouldn’t take very much time because I was going to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. However, the IRS data retrieval tool only works some in some cases. As I found out,

“Students or parents who are married and filed as Married Filing Separately, are married and filed as Head of Household, filed a Form 1040X amended tax return, or filed a Puerto Rican or foreign tax return are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool”

- fafsa.ed.gov

So it wouldn’t work for me. FAFSA requires that you use the official information the IRS has on your family to do your application. There are only two ways to do that: either the data retrieval tool does it for you, or you request an official transcript and enter the information in manually. I would have to request a transcript. Which brings me to say…

Actually, Everything with the IRS is a Hit or Miss

I also found that getting an IRS transcript isn’t as straightforward and easy as they make it appear. Sometimes the online IRS transcript request form just doesn’t work. There’s really no explanation for it. When I applied for my dad’s transcript, it only went through when I requested that it to come in the mail. Then it took weeks to arrive. When I applied for my mom’s transcript, I couldn’t get the application to work. It didn’t matter if I requested the transcript by mail or digitally. I ended up having to go to the IRS office in the middle of a weekday and waiting a couple of hours to pick one up.

If you notice you’re having trouble getting a digital transcript from the IRS online, I’d suggest biting the bullet and simply making out time to go to your local IRS office. If that isn’t an option, contact your prospective school’s financial aid office ahead of time, and let them know what’s going on. Then apply for the transcript to come in the mail and start checking off calendar days.

You Should Record Your Parent’s PIN

My parents had been doing FAFSA for my older siblings for years before I graduated. But this past year they happened to forget their FAFSA PIN numbers. You need a PIN for one of your parents in order to submit your application. You can save yourself the trouble of reestablishing your parent’s PIN by asking them to write it down and put it where they keep all the tax information. It’s also good to have a written copy of your own PIN because you can never be sure of how many times you’re going to have to log in and change things.

I definitely know lots people who did the entire FAFSA process and it went by very smoothly. I can also say I’m not one of those people. All in all, the most important thing I know about FAFSA is that you need to get started as soon as possible. You never know what unforeseen pitfalls are waiting for you when you’re doing your financial aid.

Have you already completed your FAFSA application? What are some tips and tricks you have for other students doing theirs? Tell us in a comment below.

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