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[starlite911]

Financial aid information for medical school requires your parents information, even if you are financially independent, if you want to be considered for ANY need-based aid. Otherwise, you have to take out the entire cost of attendance in loans.

You can received financial aid that covers tuition PLUS cost of living. This is combined to give the COA of a school. You can take out less than this amount, but you cannot take out more (unless you're looking at private loans, which I 100% do NOT recommend). The COA varies by school depending on how expensive it is to live in a given area.

So in summary:

1. COA= tuition + living expenses that the school determines are reasonable

2. (there were 2 number 1s) You shouldn't need do this

3. Yes you cannot take out more than the total COA

4. Sometime in April before the April 30 deadline before only holding one acceptance. FAFSA opened January 1, FYI

 

[medicalCPA]

Financial aid information for medical school requires your parents information, even if you are financially independent, if you want to be considered for ANY need-based aid. Otherwise, you have to take out the entire cost of attendance in loans.

Isn't there an exception if you're >30 years old? Or did I hallucinate that some schools said this on the interview trail?

 

[drdking]

Isn't there an exception if you're >30 years old? Or did I hallucinate that some schools said this on the interview trail?

As a 32 year old military veteran starting med school in the fall it is not a joke. Regardless of your age/situation you need to put your parents information in FASFA if you want need based aid. I asked that question specifically on multiple interview finance aid briefs and got the same answer from everyone.

 

[M. Twain]

With regards to when you get the refund: I remember the financial aid officers saying refunds are disbursed first day of class (maybe first day of orientation?) at the earliest so have some money saved up for first month's rent and deposit.

 

[Lannister]

Your parents income does not influence what you receive from FAFSA. It WILL influence your ability to receive need-based institutional aid.

 

[M. Twain]

Thanks for the replies, I filled out my FAFSA at the beginning of January, that'd what I meant by filling out as soon as it opened, aka it's been done for a month.

I did also include my parents info, I'll have to go back and adjust it seeing as I estimated based off last year's info. How much will theit income affect the amount I'll be lent? They both make less than I did working through school ( $40k>) and are divorced. I'm worried because they can't afford to help in any significant way (they each offered to send $100 a month or so since they know I won't be working), and submitting their income totally made me ineligible for fee assistance with AMCAS/AACOMAS.

Lastly, what is the official cap on need based loans, or does this max out at the COA for each specific school? I have a car payment around $230 a month, not a good time to be paying outside debt I know, but my old car broke down after 8 years this past summer and I decided to buy an (almost) brand new one to last me through school since I figured I'll have it until I've driven it into the ground, and didn't want to buy an older used one to avoid the cost of maintenance since I'm under warranty until I hit 100000 miles.

Why did you put it in their combined income if they're divorced? Pretty sure it had us pick their marital status and then pick a parent...

 

[mvenus929]

Your parents income does not influence what you receive from FAFSA. It WILL influence your ability to receive need-based institutional aid.

1. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You don't actually get anything from FAFSA, you get it all from your school, and it just determines your eligibility for federal aid.

2. Otherwise, you are correct--your parent's income does not affect that amount of federal student aid you get. There is a limit to how much you can take out for direct unsubsidized loans (I think it's around 40K per year, and something like 180K total including undergrad loans), and if your cost of attendance exceeds that amount, you have to take out graduate PLUS loans (which you can take out up to the cost of attendance).

I realized you are talking about FAFSA and not AMCAS haha. I also am not sure what it asked me for FAFSA, but I don't think I completed that section yet, I submitted my own and marked the box saying I would return to it after my parents filed their taxes.

Individual schools will have some merit and need based aid to give out to students. Who receives that is up to the admissions office (for merit aid) and financial aid office. Some schools are great about giving out need-based aid (mine gave me 17K in scholarships/grants, and an additional 10K in low interest loans each year), some are not. If your parent makes less than 40K per year, you should hopefully qualify for some aid.