Here’s more about the best way to file, how long the entire process takes, when colleges will get your data, when you might receive a financial aid offer from the schools that interest you, the timing for receipt of your funds, and some suggestions for streamlining the whole endeavor.
Here are three ways to streamline the receipt of the information: do the federal aid package online, submit it with a current email address that you check every day, and use the FSA ID to sign the form before you submit it.
If you don’t include an email address, or don’t sign with the ID code, don’t expect to get your SAR for between one and three weeks, perhaps longer.
even if you simply neglected to sign the promissory note, it’s possible you won’t receive approved funds for three or four weeks.