Financial Aid and Being Claimed as a Dependent

[aggiechris06]

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Is there a significant difference in the financial aid you'll receive (loans and grants) in medical school if you're claimed as a dependent on your parents' tax returns? I know that my parents get more of a return if they claim me and I get covered on their insurance, but will the difference in financial aid be significant enough to warrant not being claimed by them? Lemme know..thanks!

 

[LizzyM]

Is there a significant difference in the financial aid you'll receive (loans and grants) in medical school if you're claimed as a dependent on your parents' tax returns? I know that my parents get more of a return if they claim me and I get covered on their insurance, but will the difference in financial aid be significant enough to warrant not being claimed by them? Lemme know..thanks!

This is going to depend on the school. Some schools will expect your parents to contribue (according to their ability) unless you are financially independent which is defined such that you 've been earning enough money to support yourself for some period of time (>1 yr, at least). Student loans don't count in terms of "self-supporting".

Other schools are more lenient. You'll have to check with individual schools about how one qualifies as "dependent" or "independent".

The other factor wil be your parents financial resources (how much will be expected of them by the school) and how much they save by having you listed as a dependent on their tax return. This may require modeling "aggie on the return" and "without aggie".