Financial Aid

[banditalfi]

So... how do we go about this? What forms do we need to fill out?

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[rexosaurus]

The financial aid workshop I attended at MSU pretty much broke it down for us. They said (of course) fill out FAFSA asap! Then if you get accepted they send you a bunch of stuff in the mail, as far as scholarships, all that stuff. They told us how much Stafford Loans we can take out (subsidized/unsibsidized), what type of personal loan we should take out (as a last resort), and all that stuff. From what I understand, the people at interviews should give you a bunch of info (I'm not at home, otherwise I would have more details). Hope this helps a little

 

[ri23]

Pretty much for most schools the only thing you need to do right now is fill out the FAFSA. Most schools deal with financial aid info much later than acceptances and you really won't hear anything until after you have committed to a school.

 

[TractorKid]

I just wanted to bring this up as it was news to me. Even if you are independent from your parents you still have to include your parents financial information on your FAFSA to be considered for certain federal loans and scholarships.

Did you guys already know this?

I had no idea! If it was discussed in an earlier thread, I SO missed it (and I'm sorry for the double post then).

Note: I got this information from OSU and I have no idea if other schools have different rules.

 

[tealamutt]

tractorkid, I think you only have to provide parents' info if you're under 24 regardless whether or not you're independent. I'm not totally sure but that is how it went for my undergrad financial aid info...

 

[ri23]

No, you have to provide your parent's financial information to be available for some of the loans for professional school (I believe it is the Health Professions Loan). This will not effect your status as an independent, but if you don't provide that information you will be ineligible for this loan. This is not an OSU policy it is a federal policy.

 

[Truth74]

Yup. I took umbrage about having to fill out the parent information on the VMCAS. I can only assume that some schools are very "traditional student" oriented and sometimes do not take into consideration the number of years the student has been independent of their parents.

 

[clawsbeatskin]

Yeah, I'm over 25, and I still had to include my parents' info last year.

 

[MickeysPet]

Not sure if this matters, but I applied for fin aid for the past 3 years (undergrad) and I'm pretty sure I had to give at least parents' name, address, etc.-and I'm over 30. They didn't, however, require their tax info.

 

[amberspyglass]

I'm pretty certain that if you do not include your parental information on the FAFSA or individual school applications you are only eligible for unsubsidized federal stafford loans (max $40,500 annually at 6.8%) and graduate PLUS loans (7.9%, no maximum, usually used to cover what you cannot get through aid). The FAFSA site www.fafsa.ed.gov and individual school sites do a pretty good job of explaining. The rule does put at a disadvantage anyone whose parents are not willing to pay/not interested in helping out with vet school.

 

[VAgirl]

I'm pretty certain that if you do not include your parental information on the FAFSA or individual school applications you are only eligible for unsubsidized federal stafford loans

Dunno about vet school, but this was definitely not true for my graduate program. I had both subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans, and I didn't fill in my parents' information (at least, not their tax info or income info...I may have listed their names/address and the like). There was some box to check that I had been financially independent for X amount of time or was over X age or whatever. It may be different for some vet school loans, but I can't imagine it's different for Staffords.

 

[ri23]

Yes, as I said earlier, it isn't the staffords rather the Health Professions Loan that requires parental information.

 

[Rebeki]

Tufts has their own forms and require parental information if you want to qualify for any of their financial aid, as in if you want $$ from Tufts you need to give them your parents info. I'm married and 26, obviously I'm not a dependent and haven't been for awhile. In order to prove to Tufts that you have been independent they require your tax returns for the last five years! I know I should have them but I don't think I do.

Oh well, I'm planning on having the equivelent of a mortgage on my brain after I'm all through anyway.

 

[anxwaiting]

I wonder if I will have to include my parents when I am a parent myself.

 

[krodriguez]

I'm pretty confused about this financial aid stuff. I am going to declare myself independent for Tufts since I will be paying for school completely on my own (I'm past the official 5 year mark so I qualify for their affidavit of independence and have a house and family of my own) but can I still fill out my parents info on FAFSA so as to get the Health Professions loan? I will not be receiving any money from my parents for school. But is Tufts going to wonder what's going on if I say I'm independent but give their info for FAFSA which I believe they see in the end too?

 

[Angelo84]

I'm pretty confused about this financial aid stuff. I am going to declare myself independent for Tufts since I will be paying for school completely on my own (I'm past the official 5 year mark so I qualify for their affidavit of independence and have a house and family of my own) but can I still fill out my parents info on FAFSA so as to get the Health Professions loan? I will not be receiving any money from my parents for school. But is Tufts going to wonder what's going on if I say I'm independent but give their info for FAFSA which I believe they see in the end too?

call and ask ther're friendly!

 

[amberspyglass]

Yes, as I said earlier, it isn't the staffords rather the Health Professions Loan that requires parental information.

I'm sorry, I should qualify my earlier statement. Unless you go through the process of declaring yourself financially independent (at least for the last five years) you are only eligible for unsubsidized staffords and graduate PLUS, I believe. I think the schools differ in their leniency for accepting financial independence.

 

[pika8]

So, the fafsa we fill out needs to have 2007 tax information correct? So we have to wait for our W2's from this year, do our taxes and then fill it out?

thanks for any info.

 

[VAgirl]

So, the fafsa we fill out needs to have 2007 tax information correct? So we have to wait for our W2's from this year, do our taxes and then fill it out?

thanks for any info.

Yep.

 

[Angelo84]

you can also estimate from last year for the FAFSA.

 

[chris03333]

I'm sorry, I should qualify my earlier statement. Unless you go through the process of declaring yourself financially independent (at least for the last five years) you are only eligible for unsubsidized staffords and graduate PLUS, I believe. I think the schools differ in their leniency for accepting financial independence.

I did not put parental information all four years and I received all of the max subsidized and unsubs for all four years. You are considered independant if you are in graduate/professional school, which you are as a vet student. Only if you want the Health Professions loan do you need to put parental info (Western does not offer these loans to vet students anyway).

And you do not have to wait until you get your W2. You can fill out FAFSA as estimated 1040 (or whatever form you use for taxes). They will just ask you for varification later on.

And for those who have no clue where you might go, you can put all of the schools you applied to on FAFSA just in case. If you do not gain acceptance you might just get a letter from the school saying that they denied your financial aid application, but you will still have everything in and ready for the school you do get into.

Hope this helps some.

 

[VAgirl]

Can somebody explain to me what the deal is with the HPSL? I think I'm mixing it up with the Army's Health Professions Scholarship. Should one qualify for the HPSL, they're not signing up for the military, right?? I looked all through the Bureau of Health Professions's website on it, and it didn't say anything about military service. But the name is so close, it's kinda freaking me out.

Also, I've been reading through this document http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/dsa/sfag/health_professions/bk1prt1.htm and it seems to say (as best I can understand it) that if you meet the criteria for an independent student, then rather than counting your parents' expected financial contribution (though I guess you still have to provide their info?) you can sub in whatever financial contributions you will get from other Dept of Ed programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Edu Act.

I'm reading that to be that if you count as independent:
Cost of Attendance - (Your EFC + other financial aid) = amount you qualify for under HPSL.

Does anyone know if I'm interpreting this correctly? I would like to ask someone who knows about this stuff, but I don't really have a school to call and ask about it. I suppose I could call and ask at my undergrad or where I did my masters as they both have med schools...

Does anyone know what the deadline is for these various loans? I feel like for Stafford loans there wasn't really a deadline...but I can't remember.

Sorry for the long post. This is confusing to me.