New account with GitHub Student Pack credits cannot create Droplets or use Launchpad

Hello everyone,

I recently created a new DigitalOcean account using GitHub authentication and connected my PayPal account for billing verification. During verification, PayPal was charged $5 successfully. After that, I activated my GitHub Student Developer Pack benefits and my account now shows $205 in DigitalOcean credits.

However, I cannot use the platform normally.

Whenever I try to:

• create a new Droplet
• use Launchpad
• deploy resources

I receive the following error message:

“Looks like something went wrong… If this keeps happening, check out status.digitalocean.com”

Here are the things I already tried:

• logging out and back in
• incognito/private browser mode
• different browser
• different Droplet regions
• refreshing the dashboard
• checking DigitalOcean status page

The problem still continues.

I also noticed that the $5 PayPal verification charge has not yet been refunded/reversed, although the credits were added successfully.

Additionally, after some time, my account was redirected to an Account Activation Request / manual review ticket page, so I think my account may have been temporarily restricted or flagged for verification.

My intended usage is completely legitimate and educational:

• learning Linux/cloud infrastructure
• hosting personal/student projects
• backend APIs
• small databases
• development/testing environments

Has anyone experienced this before with new accounts or GitHub Student Pack credits?

How long does manual review usually take, and is there anything else I should do while waiting for support?

Thank you.