Regarding parental information: my parents staunchly refused to provide FAFSA with thier information so I called all the schools I would possibly get into to find out. You only need to put your parents information on FAFSA if you want institutional aid. That is, the merit and need-based grants, scholarships, and loans that the school has and distributes requires parental data. As was said on pg 1, you are considered independent for Stafford loans, meaning if you want to borrow the entire cost of your medical education, you don't need to include parental data.
Financial aid operates much like the general medical school application process. First, you fill out the FAFSA, for which you need your tax return and, if you want consideration for institutional aid, your parents tax return. You can fill it out after January 1 of your matriculation year and you can designate up to 6 schools to which you might possibly matriculate. This includes schools to which you've been accepted, waitlisted, or just haven't heard from yet. The general FAFSA deadline is in June.
However (and this is an important however), most schools require their own financial aid application, regardless of whether you're applying for institutional aid or not. If you needed parental info on FAFSA, you'll need it for the schools' applications. If you didn't need parental on the former, you won't need it on the latter. The deadlines for those applications are usually much earlier than June. Most school require it by March. This means that you must do your taxes, maybe your parents' taxes, fill out the FAFSA, and then snail mail the materials explained below to the schools you might possibly get into or are into by the schools' individual deadlines. Most schools require you to mail to them their financial aid application, a signed copy of yours and your parents' (if required) tax return, copies of your W2s, and your Student Aid Report, which is a summary of the FAFSA that you can print off once it's complete.
I had never filled out a FAFSA before, done my taxes, or ever dealt with a financial aid office before this year. It's really not that complicated. However, if you have any questions about your particular situation, whether you should fill out the FAFSA or anything else, call the financial aid office of any school and they'll walk you through it. I swear those people are omniscient.
All the best.
