Any reason not to do FAFSA?

[catcher22]

This might be a dumb question and hopefully it wasn't already addressed (looked through some of the previous threads). Is there any good reason for a US citizen not to send in the FAFSA? Or should everyone be encouraged send it in, regardless of how much they or their parents make?

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[Doctora Foxy]

Fafsa has nothing to do with your parents! You are independent when entering med school. You will get federal aid no matter what in loans. They want parent info b/c med schools can give you extra money if they choose to, based on your parents' info.

You should send it in, and even if your parents make a lot of money, you should still include their info if at least one school you're applying to requests it.

And don't forget to check out the financial aid forum.

 

[Dr. Kermit]

The only reason I would not submit a FAFSA is if my parents were going to pay for my medical school. And I mean the whole shabang: tuition, room and board, transportation, etc..

FAFSA is required by all schools if you are going to seek institutional aid. This aid is usually given to the needest students. Thus, if you're parents are well off and will contribute to school, you probably won't get aid.

Also, you have to complete a FAFSA to "apply" for Stafford loans, again if your parents are paying for school, there is no need.

I have friends whose parents are either paying for their tuition or their room and board, but they still completed a FAFSA since they had to take out loans for the portion that wasn't covered. I, myself, am fortunate that my parents will be covering everything except my tuition and I completed the FAFSA because I need to obviously borrow ~30K.

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

My boyfriend didn't complete a fafsa. He received a small scholarship and his parents are paying for the rest, plus his living expenses. He called the financial office and told them he didn't need aid and they said that was fine, even with his scholarship.

 

[sandflea]

i agree that the FAFSA has nothing to do with your parents. the *only* situation where you don't need to fill out a FAFSA is if you don't need ANY kind of financial aid to pay for school and/or living expenses--no loans, grants, OR scholarships, both federal and private. it's free to fill out so you might as well do it--you could always turn down any aid that is awarded to you if you later decide that you don't want or need it.

 

[catcher22]

thanks for all of your replies

 

[Mage]

Um, just out of curiosity, when's a good time to submit the FASFA forms?

 

[sandflea]

it depends on the schools you're sending your info to (you don't have to already have an acceptance in hand--you can and should send the FAFSA to *any* school you think you have the remotest chance of going to in the fall). the financial aid offices at specific schools set deadlines as to when they require your FAFSA to have been filed by. some schools had deadlines in february--one of the schools i'm considering had a march 1st deadline. so if you're a current applicant i would check ASAP when the deadlines are at the schools you're interested in. filing the FAFSA late won't eliminate you from receiving aid, as federal loans for students are always available--you probably just won't get priority consideration for school grants.