Just found out my parents can't help me with tuition

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swimmergirl2010

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Hello,

I'll be starting med school in August and had been promised my dad that he would help me pay for med school, but he recently lost his job and said he doesn't have the money to pay for it. I just want to know if it's too late for me to apply for financial aid or get loans. I'll be contacting my school's financial aid office but it's late on Friday and I was hoping to get an answer before the weekend was over. Thank you.

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It shouldn't be too late. You'll have to fill out a FAFSA, which is free to do, so maybe start doing that while you wait for a response from the school. Call them now, it's not "late."
 
Thanks! What is the deadline of May 1 then? Everyone keeps saying May 1 is the deadline.
 
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There isn't really a "deadline"... the schools can make adjustments based on extenuating circumstances, like the one you describe. But call them rather than ask us.
 
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So if i want to take out federal loans then April 1 would've been the deadline? i'm so confused :/
 
So if i want to take out federal loans then April 1 would've been the deadline? i'm so confused :/
For financial aid, I believe that all deadlines are soft deadlines. I've submitted a fafsa mid-semester and still gotten aid. The schools can make adjustments, but it is easier the earlier you contact them. Do it now!
 
I'm probably not going to qualify for financial aid, I will need to take out low-interest loans. My dad is just saying he can't pay.
 
So if i want to take out federal loans then April 1 would've been the deadline? i'm so confused :/

Call your school, each school handles this completely differently, and the Fed website really won't do much to help you since most of its information is oriented toward undergraduate programs. Even the loan limits listed on the website don't reflect what medical students are allowed to borrow. Unless you go to a thread specific to your school, you're basically allowing the blind to lead you.
 
Still fill out FAFSA soon. Once it is signed you will be given an estimate of your possible loan amount. That's how it is for UG, anyway.

EDIT: See the post above.
 
Sorry to hear the unfortunate events. You'll have to wait till Monday to get a solid answer.

Just focus on what you can accomplish this weekend:
- fill out FAFSA and other stuff your school might require for example "Need Access" is also required by my school. Search your emails about the FAFSA they sent out in Jan or Feb, it'll give you more details about the processing.
- fill your spare worrying time with filling out loan paperwork. You parents can likely cosign your loans. So, might as well get the paperwork ready. Go to your school's aid page for the documents.

There's a fair chance that the "free money" is gone, i.e. grants and scholarships, but if you qualify for loans (and you likely do) then the loan agencies would likely lend you what you needed -- you're going to be a doctor, they'll make it back with interest =).

Good luck!
 
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I'm probably not going to qualify for financial aid, I will need to take out low-interest loans. My dad is just saying he can't pay.
Loans are financial aid, but since your dad had been making enough money on his previous tax return that he was going to be able to foot the bill for your medical education, you are correct that you probably won't qualify for any free money, though I'm not totally sure if parental income actually effects that as someone applying to medical school. You'll still need to fill out the FAFSA in order to get those loans, however (and sadly, they're not all that low interest: 6.8% for Stafford, 7.9% for Grad Plus). Assuming you don't have a drug conviction, you'll qualify for at least the $40,500 unsubsidized Stafford loan regardless of whether he made no money or a million dollars last year.

It shouldn't take very long to fill out the FAFSA even if you've never done it before, but do it today. It would be a shame to have to wait an additional year to start school because you didn't have funding.
 
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