Fafsa

[missmarymac8]

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So i'm in the middle of filing my fafsa, and i come to the question that asks me whther or not i want to give info about my folks. i'm wondering if it wouldn't be to my advantage not to include them, and what not including them means for me (do have my own health insurance at that point?). I don't have a job, and I never really have other than a camp counselor position one summer. So I have no money, which would make me think it'd be better to not write my parents' stuff down.....they just inherited the family farm; they aren't hurting right now. What do you guys think, and what have you done if you're in a situation like me....22 and not sure about your place as an independent, rather than a dependent?

 

[ThisIsYourLife]

i was told by both lecoms to file as an independent and not to include parental information.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I'm 30 and had to give info on one parent. Check with your school. They may want to have it.

 

[Bond8204]

It depends from school to school as was said. The only reason they'd reaaalllyyy want it though is to award a need-based scholarship--which is ridiculous considering pretty much every student who's paying for med school on their own is "in need."

 

[Powdermonkey]

Definitely check with the school. I called DCOM when I got to that point and they said to file as independent, they didnt want parental information.

 

[axebjc]

I met with a financial advisor a few weeks ago, and I had the same question. He said regardless of what your parents make every student will get enough to cover medical school. The reason the schools want your parents' info is to see if you should get above the minimum package. Everyone will atleast get the minimum package to cover the cost of med school. If you lived in poverty growing up, then you will get a little extra if your FASFA shows this.

 

[missmarymac8]

so apparently, a majority of your financial aid will come from the school itself.... I figured the FAFSA was to get money from the government...grants and stuff. For instance, for my undergrad years, I filled out the FAFSA to get my HOPE scholarship provided by the Tennessee lottery. I would also get offers for some stafford loans and other stuff like that. Does anyone know if I would get more money (in stafford loan-like things) by not including the folks, or is professional school just a whole different ball game? Or does the loan that the school provides generally offer the best deal?

 

[EEL08]

so apparently, a majority of your financial aid will come from the school itself.... I figured the FAFSA was to get money from the government...grants and stuff. For instance, for my undergrad years, I filled out the FAFSA to get my HOPE scholarship provided by the Tennessee lottery. I would also get offers for some stafford loans and other stuff like that. Does anyone know if I would get more money (in stafford loan-like things) by not including the folks, or is professional school just a whole different ball game? Or does the loan that the school provides generally offer the best deal?

Okay I may be confused but the loans are not generally offered through the school. They are stafford loans which are offered through certain lenders which you choose when you take care of all your financial aid stuff. There may be school scholarships, etc. that may require your parents info but for stafford loans you will still be able to take out as much as you would without their info. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[DocInProgress]

I thought the Stafford's were offered by the schools and the GradPLUS loans are offered by a separate lender. Now I'm confused.. 😕

 

[EEL08]

I thought the Stafford's were offered by the schools and the GradPLUS loans are offered by a separate lender. Now I'm confused.. 😕

Okay I don't think I will explain this very well but some schools can act as a Stafford lender depending on their status. You don't get the loans directly from the government, they come through a lender. GradPLUS loans are not offered through the school but are offered by a separate lender.

 

[Powdermonkey]

No, subsidized and unsubsidized stafford loans are offered through the government. And I think you can get a total of 38750 or something like that through a combination of the sub and unsubsidized stafford loans. It just makes a difference on when interest starts accruing. For the rest of the cost of medical school you can take out GradPLUS loans through private lenders, but the interest is usually a little higher, and the interest starts building right away. But you can still defer all payments until after you have graduated and start residency.


At least this is how it was presented to me. Maybe I misunderstood. But I'm pretty sure that is correct.

 

[scpod]

If here was ever a time to learn to use the search function, this is it. This question gets asked hundreds of times during each cycle.....over, and over, and over, and over again. Please, note that there is a separate financial aid forum where they are used to answering this question just about every day.

Yet, the bottom line is:
1) Giving your parental info will in no way decrease the amount of aid you are eligible for. You are eligible for only the amount that your school has budgeted as your cost of attendance. Stafford and Gradplus loans will generally cover the cost of any school up to the lifetime maximum.
2) You may only be eligible for some special programs offered through your school if you give your parental info. Check with your school to see if they offer anything. Not all of them will.
3) If your parents are not practically destitute you won't qualify for any of these special programs anyway, so it's a moot point.

 

[Tachymeter]

90% of the loans will come from the government and 10% must come from the school.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/fsacoach/module_menu.html

Its in here somewhere if anyone wants to look for it. I tend to find this very helpful in answering alot of my financial aid questions.

 

[EEL08]

90% of the loans will come from the government and 10% must come from the school.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/fsacoach/module_menu.html

Its in here somewhere if anyone wants to look for it. I tend to find this very helpful in answering alot of my financial aid questions.

Okay I didn't take the time to try to find that but it doesn't make any sense to me. Why would 10% have to come from the school and in what form?

 

[DocInProgress]

Does anyone know which loan has a higher interest rate post graduation - Grad PLUS or unsubsidized Stafford loans?

 

[avalon18217]

So if the Stafford loans don't cover everything in the first year and I have to take a grad PLUS, are the grad PLUS loans based on credit?

I hope not because then in theory I may not be able to get the COA if my credit isn't good enough

I have to find all that financial aid stuff I got at the interviews.

 

[prionsRbad]

So if the Stafford loans don't cover everything in the first year and I have to take a grad PLUS, are the grad PLUS loans based on credit?

I hope not because then in theory I may not be able to get the COA if my credit isn't good enough

I have to find all that financial aid stuff I got at the interviews.

Yes, grad PLUS loans are based on your credit.

 

[Bond8204]

are the grad PLUS loans based on credit?

There is a credit check for Grad Plus loans. A current med student wrote on another thread that they think the check is just to make sure you're not delinquent in some crazy amount of money to something (i.e. Bought a house on subprime loans and and when the mortgage rate jumped up just abandoned the house).

I have absolutley no basis for this...do you have any reason to think your credit is that bad? If you're rejected for a GradPlus loan, my bet is you'll be able to take out a private loan for a higher rate. Otherwise you could do something like commit to primary care or the health services core or the military for 2 years to meet COA.

 

[avalon18217]

I have needed co-signers for my last few private loans due to some late payments within the last 6 years and insignificant income (I'd have to check my credit to find out how long ago that was).

I am not ready to say that I want to do PC but I was going to apply for the National Health Service after graduation. I had thought about military service but I guess I should get going on applying for grad Plus loans to find out whether I'll need it. I wasn't aware that I could do military for less than 4 years.

 

[avalon18217]

Well here's what I found incase anyone else is interested:
"2. What is considered to be an adverse credit history?
You are considered to have an adverse credit history if you are 90 or more days delinquent on any debt or if, within 5 years of the date of the credit report, you have been the subject of a default determination, bankruptcy discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment, or write-off of a Federal Student Aid debt (for example, a Direct Loan or Federal Stafford Loan)."

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/attachments/0623HERAOPGradPLUSAttachDGradPLUSQA.doc

 

[112258]

Do one of those free credit check things before you apply for GradPLUS. I didn't b/c I assumed I was fine since I had a good credit score. Well then a letter came saying I was denied the GradPLUS loan. So I called whoever to find out...turns out I had a $10 thing that was somehow never paid from a doctor's visit from over 10 years ago!! And they denied me for ten dollars!!! So then I fixed it, appealed, and eventually got it again but it was a huge pain in the butt. But yeah...check first, because the lady told me they will deny if there is ANYTHING negative on there...like ten dollars 😛

 

[spicedmanna]

Moving to the FA forum.