Question about the FAFSA! Thanks!!

[RaiderTXgirl]

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Are there any vet students that enter parental information on the FAFSA? I am definitely considered an independent student, but it says that students in the health professions should enter parental information anyway (not sure why?). I also wasn't sure if (by FAFSA standards) veterinary medicine is considered a "health profession". I mean, obviously it is an animal healthcare profession, I'm just not sure if they might only be referring to human fields.

Basically, is there any benefit or drawback to entering parent's data as an independent student? Thanks!! 🙂

 

[withoutane]

TT posted some good advice on this but I have no idea where! Perhaps she will come along and save us all...? 😉

 

[EllieGirl89]

They tell health profession students (which does include vet students) to enter parental information because you might qualify for a specific health professions loan if you enter it. That's the only thing it does. Otherwise, as a graduate/professional student you are considered and independent and are not required to enter your parents' information. I definitely didn't-too much work 😉

 

[heylodeb]

I ended up not puttingt my parents info in. (mostly because I did it at 2am and my parents probably wouldn't have appreciated the phone call) I was reassured that their info would ONLY be used in order to qualify you for the Health Professional's loan and would not affect you economically for the rest of the financial aid packet.

 

[skittles12]

I didn't put my parents' info in this year or last year, mostly because I didn't feel like filling out extra info. I still got offered the major loans, so I don't think there is any huge drawback to not filling it out.

 

[twelvetigers]

TT posted some good advice on this but I have no idea where! Perhaps she will come along and save us all...? 😉

Yanno, I hate to admit it, but I'm having a bit of trouble finding it. I'm in class though, and trying not to be too obvious (and trying to halfway kinda sorta listen) so yeah.

But I can sum up what I said before, anyway. The health professional loan is the one that you fill that information out for. It won't give some super amazing amount of money, but it's nice to get that 'little extra' and it's subsidized or whatever so it's another bit of loan money that won't gather interest from day one. So it's a nice extra if you *can* provide the information, but it's pretty nosy so I don't blame anyone for not filling it out.

If y'all are patient, I'll find that damn thread. I remember posting links and everything, but I don't know if it was a financial aid thread or not - it might have a misleading title. Sneaky sneaky.

 

[cowgirla]

Its for the HPSL like TT said, which means you get a chunk of money at 5% interest (instead of Grad Plus at 7ish.) It's not huge compared to your total loans, but I know a few people who have gotten 3-5K from it. Even if your parents income is high, you can still get it, so I don't really know what they look at when deciding, but I'm not complaining.

 

[twelvetigers]

Okay. Snot. It was in the rant thread, buried under nearly a month's worth of bitching and random food conversation. But, I prevail!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=10722455&postcount=2548

 

[Raptorlovr88]

Has anyone received financial aid in the first year while working full time before vet school? Seems impossible to get any money except the expensive route (>7% interest rate).

 

[pennyonthefloor]

Has anyone received financial aid in the first year while working full time before vet school? Seems impossible to get any money except the expensive route (>7% interest rate).

I had my Masters paid by working full time at OSU.... I thought about asking my former boss to hire me on for desk work so my tuition could be covered......

....don't know that I could swing a FT position and vet school, though....

 

[cowgirla]

Has anyone received financial aid in the first year while working full time before vet school? Seems impossible to get any money except the expensive route (>7% interest rate).

You are garaunteed loans up to the cost of attendance. Generally ~40K sub/unsub stafford, and then Grad Plus and HPSL will cover anything else up to the COA specified by the school. How much you made shouldn't have anything to do with it. You can ACCEPT less money if you have savings, but I believe the school will still offer all of it to you.

 

[RaiderTXgirl]

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it!

Oh, and TT, thanks for finding the link! 🙂 I'll check it out...

 

[Raptorlovr88]

You are garaunteed loans up to the cost of attendance. Generally ~40K sub/unsub stafford, and then Grad Plus and HPSL will cover anything else up to the COA specified by the school. How much you made shouldn't have anything to do with it. You can ACCEPT less money if you have savings, but I believe the school will still offer all of it to you.

Thanks for the clarification. I'll look into it.

 

[CurrySpice]

You are garaunteed loans up to the cost of attendance. Generally ~40K sub/unsub stafford, and then Grad Plus and HPSL will cover anything else up to the COA specified by the school. How much you made shouldn't have anything to do with it. You can ACCEPT less money if you have savings, but I believe the school will still offer all of it to you.

You are guaranteed loans, but if you have a lot in savings ,you won't get subsidized loans and you may get reduced unsubsidized Stafford loans. This means your interest rates will be higher, but hopefully you will take out less loans if you have that much $$$ saved up.

 

[sabriel777]

Hey all! Anyone know what the deadline is for filling out a FAFSA?

 

[Minnerbelle]

Hey all! Anyone know what the deadline is for filling out a FAFSA?

You can apply at any time. I believe the deadline to be guaranteed to be considered for everything has already passed, but that does not mean you won't get it. You will still be able to get direct loans all the way up to the COA, but it's just a matter of whether you'll get the same consideration for subsidized/HPSL. If they've run out already for this year, you may not get as much of those.

 

[elefante7]

I know some of this has already been said, but I thought I would add my two cents.

Some schools require that you put your parental info no matter how independent you are. Tufts is one of these schools, or at least they were when I applied.

Not all schools offer the Health Profession Student Loan. For instance, since Wisconsin is a relatively new school, the money for this loan was already divided up between schools before it even existed. So, being a Wisconsin student, I can't get this loan.

Therefore, since I can't get the Health Profession Student Loan and my school doesn't require parental info, I never add it to my FAFSA.

Also, if you added it or didn't add it and want to change what you did, you can always go back and edit your FAFSA.