For all of you matriculating for the fall semester of 2007, when you fill out the fafsa do you go as completely independent or does the form still require information from parents.
i'm not sure what the norm is for medical school, but any help as to how to make this process easier and better would be greatly appreciated
also if anyone has finance tips for the first year that would be awesome, because honestly i'm working and saving but i just feel like i'm gonna be going into this next year blindly
First and foremost, having successfully (not to mention
eventually) completed the FAFSA more than once in my career of academia, I resolutely suggest that any student with the wherewithall and fortitude to entirely complete the FAFSA deserves a degree for that accomplishment in and of itself.
Second, not that this helps in the least, but the answer to your FAFSA question really does depend on the specifics of your own particular situation. Advisors in your current school's financial aid office are
invaluable in helping with this. Mine (in two
different institutions) virtually saved my life (at least financially), and me from
myself 🙂 as well. Not only can they help you figure out the items specific to what you posted here, they can help you with the deciding of how much grant/loan you want to accept (therefore how much you can realistically eventually pay back while still enabling you enough money to accomplish your academic pursuits), scholarships you had no idea of, and innumerable other issues that will (I assure you, they
will 😳 ) arise.
As far as "entering blindly;" well, even though that does to an extent "go with the territory (I say that empathetically);" at the same time, you aren't, apparently, as "blind" as you seem to think you are: you are clearly cautious and concerned about your medical school fees and finances, and careful about exactly how you fill out the FAFSA. This actually shows an admirable deal of foresight on your part. Many students--and websites offering advice regarding the FAFSA, some from the government itself, will say as much--forge full speed ahead into filling out the FAFSA in the way that will afford them the most spendable (at the time) money, without regard to whether they have signed their name to a loan as opposed to a grant, or an unsubsidized loan as opposed to a subsidized one. That you are already concerned with the details of your FAFSA illustrates you are entering with your eyes much more open than you give yourself credit for.
Third, your integrity is also to be commended (in my opinion!). If you call up a government employee "customer service rep" and ask them which field is most known for
not paying back their student loans, guess who, as of two years ago, it was?
Doctors.
Why, one might ask, if they make "so much money?" Apparently (as was told to me) exactly for that reason.
Because they do indeed make "so much money," many are apparently less concerned with what a defaulted loan will do to their credit score, since they anticipate having the finances to cover whatever they might need anyway. Since, apparently, said doctors arrive at their conclusion on their own (obviously not from the advice of FAFSA reps or financial aid advisors), your coming to your own personal decision to take the FAFSA--and all that comes with it--seriously, shows not only insight, foresight, and inherent intelligence, it also shows depth of character.
I think you're much further ahead in the game than you yet know. Good luck.
E.A.
