.

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
stickflip723 said:
So I'm in the very fortunate position of being accepted a few places, and naturally I've moved from one anxiety provoking phase of my life to another. Financial aid, how can I maximize my eligibility?

One of my parents is deceased, and the other one will not be supporting me at all during medical school.

However, I know that schools will be looking at his financial information as well. While it looks like he's doing pretty well on paper, will they consider the fact that he is under a mountain of debt to get a new business running and that he recently had his partner and her three ankle-biters move in with him, so he is now supporting a much larger family? Also, he has only recently started having this income, for most of my life he's been pretty broke.

It would be a shame for my chances at financial aid (which I desperately need) to be tanked because of the finances of another person that has literally zero financial connection with me. I am entirely self supported. Also two years out of undergrad if that matters.

Help?
Click to expand...


For the FAFSA, you will file as independent. You will not need to include your parents information as it is a graduate program.
 
stickflip723 said:
It would be a shame for my chances at financial aid (which I desperately need) to be tanked because of the finances of another person that has literally zero financial connection with me. I am entirely self supported. Also two years out of undergrad if that matters.

Help?
Click to expand...

You don't need help. Your situation is common and the school where you matriculate will get you the financial aid you need to get by. End of story.
 
You will certainly be able to borrow as needed to finance medical school. That's a baseline worst-case scenario, and how it plays out for most folks regardless of family economics.

However you've got a very strong application and multiple acceptances at this point, so should be angling on how to maximize grants and scholarships from the various schools to minimize your own financial obligations. First thing -- Try to get clear in your own mind what your personal priorities are because you may need to make some trade-offs:
  • Total cost of attendance for you, so how much debt you will incur
  • School prestige and quality - which will help you secure the specialty and residency you want, and
  • Fit and location - just things you like about a school independent of cost and prestige
Then, if you haven't already, do some research on which schools you have acceptances to or have interviewed at and how they handle merit aid. Do they hand our scholarships, and if so when? Why? Who gets them? You do have a bit of negotiating power and you might be pleasantly surprised. Or not. But do investigate, and once you have the information you need, come up with a strategy. Essentially, what you'll want to say to each school is some version of "I really loved your school but I have to factor cost into my decision of which school to attend. Can you give me any information about scholarships or grants so I can make an informed decision?" Then cross your fingers --
 
How recently did he get the boost in income? Just a fellow applicant here, and I really don't understand the intricacies of financial aid super well, but several schools have mentioned using "prior prior" years for financial aid calculations - meaning, I think, that if his jump in income was within the last 2 years it shouldn't necessarily work against you? If anyone is more knowledgeable about this, please correct me!
 
Very few med schools give “free money” for need based financial aid. This isn’t undergrad. Usually only the tippy top med schools are giving some need based money. A friend, very poor family, went to an Ivy med, and she was given some grants, but still had to borrow a chunk.

For most med schools, your family’s income won’t matter a bit for your “aid”. Your aid will be loans for the most part, if not for the whole thing. That’s just typical. Some meds may give you a merit scholarship of varying amounts, but that would be because of your stats.

And your dad’s decision to support nonfamily members is a choice.
 
Most aid is merit based. There are sometimes specific programs at schools that look at other characteristics. One thing is for sure. You will be able to take out loans for the entirity of cost of attendance. So in the end I wouldn't worry too much about how med schools will perceive your parental income.
 
We all desperately need aid, but the reality is most don’t get ANY aid except for full COA loans. You’ll be able to finance medical school, you’ll just have to pay it all back later.

And as stated before, for FAFSA, you don’t need parental income information. You’ll get loans whether you provide it or not. A lot of in-house scholarships want it, though.
 
Sort of related but i will be working in a pharma job this year making close to 70k. Will this impact my financial aid?
 
puahate said:
Sort of related but i will be working in a pharma job this year making close to 70k. Will this impact my financial aid?
Click to expand...

It will. It takes the year prior’s tax return into account, so, you’ll have this come up probably your second year if you’re applying this cycle.
 
ciestar said:
It will. It takes the year prior’s tax return into account, so, you’ll have this come up probably your second year if you’re applying this cycle.
Click to expand...
So i will be offered less federal loans? What about merit scholarships?
 
puahate said:
So i will be offered less federal loans? What about merit scholarships?
Click to expand...
For true "merit" scholarship money, your income will not matter.

As for need-based aid, for students matriculating in Summer 2019, FAFSA is asking for 2017 tax returns.
I think you will be matriculating Summer 2020 if I remember correctly? So you will need to submit your 2018 tax return.
 
DrFortiusNatando said:
For true "merit" scholarship money, your income will not matter.

As for need-based aid, for students matriculating in Summer 2019, FAFSA is asking for 2017 tax returns.
I think you will be matriculating Summer 2020 if I remember correctly? So you will need to submit your 2018 tax return.
Click to expand...
Ok thank you again!
 
ciestar said:
No, you can always borrow up to COA.
Click to expand...
Just a plug for everyone to look at the itemized COA when comparing schools. I did see a recent COA itemized list that estimated 15K for living expenses (room and board, including utilities) for a school with no on-campus housing, in a big city that is notoriously expensive, whereas another school in an inexpensive medium-sized city gave a 25K living allowance.

And since you can not borrow more than the calculated COA, students without another source of funds (ie parents or personal savings) would have a lot of difficulty trying to live on 15K a year in that expensive city. Would likely mean sharing a ROOM in off-campus housing.
 
From my experience, the schools that give need based aid ask for parental information. Otherwise pretty much everyone would look the same: aka having no money. Many people's parents don't contribute even if they have money but top schools especially do have some money in need based grants to give out and they want to be sure they aren't giving it to millionaire's kids. If a school gives out need based aid then yes they will likely ask for parental information and will consider your father's income. They use the tax info from the prior prior year usually so your father's income this year wouldn't really be considered until the following year or so. There will be a chance for you to explain that he has a family and 3 step-kids and business debt. Since schools don't have much money to give out in need based aid it likely won't matter - you probably still won't get much need based aid. Most people will be in your shoes though - they will be borrowing for the full cost as well
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top