Two posts in three days!  It’s almost like my life is back to normal.  I assure you, it’s far from it. ;)

Financial aid is the worst!  Trying to jump through governmental hoops to get help couldn’t be more complicated.  I’ve been dealing with this forever-long process since last September and I still don’t have financial aid!

When I realized I was going back to school this year, I started the financial aid process.  I handed in my FAFSA application, tax forms, etc.  During this process, Corey and I noticed a large discrepancy on his 2008 tax form.  Corey does our taxes by hand, or I should say by tax software. ;) He was advised to file our taxes separately for 2008, which was the first time we had done that since we were married.  He figured it would be a similar process and decided to still do it himself.  (I would’ve done the same thing if I were in his shoes.)  Somehow, my income was not only entered as my income on my taxes, but it was entered as Corey’s income on his taxes too.  Needless to say, that error makes it seem as though Corey and I made double what we actually did.  As you can imagine, that’s not good when you’re trying to apply for financial aid.

When Froyo closed, Corey and I didn’t think I’d make it back to school so I decided to stop pursuing financial aid.  Then, in December, everything worked out for me to go back and I started to process my financial aid again.  At that time, I let the financial aid office know that Corey’s taxes were wrong.  They told me to submit a copy of my W-2 and a letter explaining the situation and everything should be hunky dory.

On December 28, I heard back from the Financial Aid office stating that they couldn’t do anything about Corey’s taxes because legally that’s how they were filed.  That made sense, but I wish the adviser had told me that in the beginning so I didn’t waste two weeks finding it out from someone else. I sent them a message asking what my next course of action was and I asked them if I would still qualify for loans, even unsubsidized ones.  I just heard back from them this week and I still don’t know anything! The person who answered my message didn’t even read it.  They just told me to come in and talk with an adviser to get an overview in the process.  I’ve already talked to an adviser (I mentioned this in my message) and I know the process.  Look where doing those things the first time got me! Absolutely nowhere!

At this point, I need to talk to an adviser again and try to get this resolved before March 1 so my financial aid can pay my short-term loan back.  If this doesn’t get resolved, then I may not be continuing past this semester.

I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs, “Can something just please work out with out a lot of falderal?”  I know these experiences are supposed to help us grow and become stronger, better people, but they’re still frustrating, overwhelming, and very discouraging.