FAFSA Info

I think you have to put your parents info in unless your independent.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that by going to graduate school this automatically qualifies you as an independent. Therefore, you don't need to include anything about your parents.

Nope. You have to be married or 23. Maybe 24, but i'm not either, so it's the good ship dependent for me.

Grad students are automatically considered independent regardless of age or marital status. However, lots of schools want you to enter your parental information to determine whether or not you qualify for school-based scholarships or grants. Also, I think there is a financial aid program for dental students and other non-medical school health students that requires parental info. So put in the info if you can.

also, i think you are considered independent if you yourself make a certain amount of money. like 7 or 8 g's and up or something.

Doctor Bagel said:

Grad students are automatically considered independent regardless of age or marital status. However, lots of schools want you to enter your parental information to determine whether or not you qualify for school-based scholarships or grants. Also, I think there is a financial aid program for dental students and other non-medical school health students that requires parental info. So put in the info if you can.

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Seconded. Grad students are automatically independent for FAFSA (not necessarily tax) purposes.

Dental schools will tell you to put your parent's info to see if you qualify for the health professions loan. This is the only loan that needs your parents info. If you are not interested in this loan, then you don't have to. This is what I heard at all my financial aid presentations.

edit: i just looked at the fafsa and it had the dependancy status worksheet. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/fotw0809/WorksheetServlet?wstype=WSDEP&locale=en_US

With this, now I'm confused.

What is your confusion. You must file parental information if you are all 8 of these things:

Under 23
Not Graduate School
Unmarried
Have no children
Have no dependents
Both parents alive and not a ward of the court
Not on active duty
Not a veteran

If you do not meet those definitions with at least one, then you have a choice of filing parental information. It cannot hurt you as it is not counted in your EFC. Not only that, but some schools require it for scholarships or need-based aid (Besides subsidized stafford loans).

TMP-SMX said:

What is your confusion. You must file parental information if you are all 8 of these things:

Under 23
Not Graduate School
Unmarried
Have no children
Have no dependents
Both parents alive and not a ward of the court
Not on active duty
Not a veteran

If you do not meet those definitions with at least one, then you have a choice of filing parental information. It cannot hurt you as it is not counted in your EFC. Not only that, but some schools require it for scholarships or need-based aid (Besides subsidized stafford loans).

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really? i'm concerned because my parents net is over 200k and i don't want it to affect my loans

litldime said:

really? i'm concerned because my parents net is over 200k and i don't want it to affect my loans

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Really. TMP-SMX's post is 100% accurate. You might not get a need-based scholarship from your school because of your parental income, but it will have zero effect on your ability to borrow.

so what do i do if i already filled out and submitted by fafsa but did not include any of my parents information? i will be paying for grad school entirely on my own, and i already know that with my parents' income i will not qualify for any need-based financial aid and will only qualify for loans. so does it really matter then if i didn't include my parent's information?

prtysmile said:

so what do i do if i already filled out and submitted by fafsa but did not include any of my parents information? i will be paying for grad school entirely on my own, and i already know that with my parents' income i will not qualify for any need-based financial aid and will only qualify for loans. so does it really matter then if i didn't include my parent's information?

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What has your school said about including parental information? Some schools want all students to include it regardless of anything, but some don't really care. Unless your school says that they want all students to include parental income, I probably wouldn't bother.

rogerwilco said:

Just to clarify: if a school requires parental tax info to be eligible for school-given aid, does that mean I should include parental info on the FAFSA? Or just the school's financial aid form? (Doesn't each school have separate FA forms in addition to the FAFSA?) Basically, although mt parents don't make much, I wouldn't want their info to in any way jeopardize how much federal aid I can get.

What I'm afraid of having happen is this: I either provide my parental info and my federal aid goes down but school-offered aid might go up, or I only include my info and get more federal aid, but zero school aid.

FWIW, I'm 25 and independent.

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Even if you provide parental info on the FAFSA, your federal aid won't go down because the FAFSA calculations won't include it. I included parental info my first year, and my EFC was still based solely on my and my spouse's income/assets. So again, you never lose anything by providing parental income. The main reason not to do it is it's a pain and and a little uncomfortable (we don't generally like to ask our parents how much dough they have).

As for how to include, I think most schools who want it want it on the FAFSA. Then they'll want it again on their own forms, which is a hassle. Lots of schools don't have their own forms, though. The FAFSA is all my school requires. The schools with their own forms are probably the schools that provide really significant school-funded need-based aid.

Doctor Bagel said:

Even if you provide parental info on the FAFSA, your federal aid won't go down because the FAFSA calculations won't include it. I included parental info my first year, and my EFC was still based solely on my and my spouse's income/assets. So again, you never lose anything by providing parental income. The main reason not to do it is it's a pain and and a little uncomfortable (we don't generally like to ask our parents how much dough they have).

As for how to include, I think most schools who want it want it on the FAFSA. Then they'll want it again on their own forms, which is a hassle. Lots of schools don't have their own forms, though. The FAFSA is all my school requires. The schools with their own forms are probably the schools that provide really significant school-funded need-based aid.

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But your married, doesn't that put you into a different category?

BMBPSU2008 said:

But your married, doesn't that put you into a different category?

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Nope. Even single graduate students are counted as independents. I know this from personal experience. If you're in doubt, check out the FAQ information with the FAFSA.

udonzilla said:

also, i think you are considered independent if you yourself make a certain amount of money. like 7 or 8 g's and up or something.

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Not really. I made $29,000 first year out of high school and I had to claim my parents' info.

zmeister22 said:

Not really. I made $29,000 first year out of high school and I had to claim my parents' info.

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Yes, income is not a consideration in determining whether you are independent or not for financial aid. TMP-SMX listed all the conditions above, so check that out. It should be clear that being dependent for tax purposes is not the same as being dependent for financial aid purposes and vice versa.

So I've heard that if your parents haven't filed their taxes yet, you're allowed to estimate their information based on their 1040 from last year. Mine haven't filed their taxes yet, so I'm gonna have to do this... but I'm confused about how.
In the FAFSA, when it asks you if your parents have filed, I'll put 'have not filed yet', but then do they assume that you're using last year's values? Or is there some way to specify this?

ShipsDr said:

So I've heard that if your parents haven't filed their taxes yet, you're allowed to estimate their information based on their 1040 from last year. Mine haven't filed their taxes yet, so I'm gonna have to do this... but I'm confused about how.
In the FAFSA, when it asks you if your parents have filed, I'll put 'have not filed yet', but then do they assume that you're using last year's values? Or is there some way to specify this?

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I have this same question. Does anyone have an answer to it? Thanks.

If they haven't filed yet, it is fine to say "not filed yet" and use last year's values. You may be audited or your school may require you to send in the latest year's tax info. You should send a correction with the new values later but they may not require you to.

If they haven't filed yet, it is fine to say "not filed yet" and use last year's values. You may be audited or your school may require you to send in the latest year's tax info. You should send a correction with the new values later but they may not require you to.

I have a bachelor's in business, and have about 4K in loans left (paying them off slowly due to a super low fixed interest rate). Other than that, I am debt free - soon to change substantially. I've made really good money as a consultant over the last 4 years, but don't have very much saved, because I've been helping my parents and boyfriend out. I will be starting my pre-req's full time this summer or fall (still havent filed for the fafsa). I am pretty sure I will get no financial aid based on my income, but since I will be quitting my job to go to school full time as a non-degree seeking undergrad (and working part time as a waitress or something), does anyone know what my chances are for getting federal loans with a fixed rate? Just wanted to see if anyone has been in the same boat...prefer not to eat through my little savings to master my pre-reqs, would rather put them into retirement or something. Thanks!

Everyone will get unsubsidized loans no matter how much money you have. The rate for unsubs is always 6.8%.

TMP-SMX said:

Everyone will get unsubsidized loans no matter how much money you have. The rate for unsubs is always 6.8%.

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Thanks. I am currently applying to CU boulder and when speaking to the financial aid office they act as though I am the FIRST person with a bachelors degree trying to take pre-reqs for medical school there without getting a second degree. A little scary...anyways...any idea on the max for these loans typically? I will be paying out of state tuition at 28K/year and really dont have ANY of that sitting around. I have good credit though. I am applying to be out of state bc my entire family has relocated and its where I will be in the long run. Any idea on whether I will get most/all of my pre-reqs covered by some decent loans? Sorry for my lack of knowledge in this area....thanks!

Pre-Med would be considered a post-bac certificate since you are actually working toward something and not taking a random group of courses.

If you have at least a year to go and are full time, you can get $12,500 of staffords a year as an independent. Also as an independent, your parents cannot get PLUS loans. You'll have to go to private loans for the remaining cost of attendance. (28k for tuition alone is an atrocity). Will you be OOS wanting to go to CU for medical school? I don't know if you'll be able to afford this.

I remember when I applied CU was the most expensive MD school for OOS, close to $70,000 a year just for tuition 3 years ago if I remember correctly. I did not even send a primary to them.
$28,000K a year for your postbac is higher than the average, and the other programs with postbacs insure you an interview (some might even give you a spot into their med school) if your MCAT score is above a certain average.
Shop around first if you can or go to a cheaper school for your prereqs.