FAFSA will not require parental info. Period. Everyone about to enter medical school checks that they are going for a doctoral degree which immediately makes you "independent" as far as FAFSA is concerned. Nothing else matters. What your parents declare on their taxes doesn't matter, what your age is doesn't matter. You are independent.
Now, should you put it your parents info despite that? If your parents don't make much and you want to be considered for institutional grants and loans then yes. If you won't get institutional aid anyway then you don't have to put parental info.
Even BU, granted I just looked at their website but it looks like parental info is only required if you want to be considered for institutional aid. I can't imagine any school requiring parental info if you don't want institutional aid.
So OP - it sounds like you shouldn't put your parental info down.
I agree with everything said here, and the BU thing makes a lot more sense in this context. You are independent if you are pursuing a doctoral degree, so your first statement is false. You WILL be eligible for $30,000 for sure, $38,500 if you don't have a substantial income.
When filling out the FAFSA, is there a way to indicate that you didn't fill out a 1040 because you didn't make any money? I assume so, but I've never been in that situation before myself.
I thus wouldn't mess with the parental info for the FAFSA, especially if you haven't decided on what school you're going to attend.
One other point, doesn't the online FAFSA tell you as you're filling it out that you DON'T have to submit parental info unless you want to once they've decided you're independent?
So that's my advice to the OP as far as the FAFSA is concerned, for others who are filling out scholarship applications because they've been accepted...
If a school gives free money to people based on parental income from non-federal funds, then you obviously can't just omit that info from your application and expect to get the money, eh? Schools aren't that dumb. Of course people lie and don't get caught, but I wouldn't encourage that risk.
If you guys are paranoid, you can't be penalized for putting it on the application. If they needed it for scholarships, you're good. If you omitted it and they want it, well you can give them the info another way or go back and make a correction, whatever; but if you then continue to omit it, they're just not going to give you anything.
Doubts? That's what financial aid offices are for. Drop 'em an email if you don't believe us.