When to apply for financial aid?

[TraySee216]

Hi,

I was wondering for people starting programs in January of 2018, when do you start filling out financial aid applications? Is it too early to start now?

Thanks

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[tpath11]

If you are referring to FAFSA, or anything federal, in terms of grants ,I don't think any graduate programs in this country have that, but if you are referring to a school specific scholarship, you need to look into their website for the details. As far as loans, you can probably get a much better rate from a private institution than any government one including FAFSA. Basically you will need to take out loans, no grants for graduate school

 

[TraySee216]

@tpath11 Thanks for your response. I wasn't really expecting to get any grants but I was under the impression that you had to fill out the FAFSA no matter what (just as a starting point), even if you won't qualify for any grants. I also have an e-mail out to the school that I will be attending, just thought I'd ask on the forums as well in case someone else has already gone through the process and could provide some input as to the timeline for applying. I'm a year away from my start date, so just wondering if it's too soon to be figuring this part out yet.

 

[FutureDPT2020]

You still need to fill out a FASFA. I had loans from them throughout my undergraduate career. Once you graduate you need to start paying them off after 6 months. Even though you might not get any money from them they need to know you are in school so they can freeze your account so you do not get an increase in interest. The deadline for the summer I believe is in February but you still have a lot of time until ur deadline

 

[tpath11]

Yeah, i'm starting in the fall, I've banked with Chase for a long time and used Discover card for a while with a good credit record, so i'm just going to take the lowest offer out of those two, it wouldn't hurt to fill out FAFSA but I wouldn't put much hope in their rates

 

[PTfuture]

How does applying to FAFSA work once you have been admitted to a PT program? Is there a certain deadline? OR since we only receive loans we can do it at any time? I am a little lost, any help would be much appreciated! Thank you in advance!

 

[PTMELS]

How does applying to FAFSA work once you have been admitted to a PT program? Is there a certain deadline? OR since we only receive loans we can do it at any time? I am a little lost, any help would be much appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Your school should have the deadline for you because they will be the ones dispersing the funds to you. You can fill out FAFSA at anytime, but check with the school to see when they would like for you to have it complete.

 

[nd_dpt]

Absolutely fill out fafsa. You'll receive $20,500 in loans from them every year you're in grad school and you have the opportunity to receive grants. I received $10,000 in grants from them for my second year in PT school. I always fill mine out as soon as it becomes available.

 

[PTfuture]

Thank you so much for the information !

 

[PTMELS]

Absolutely fill out fafsa. You'll receive $20,500 in loans from them every year you're in grad school and you have the opportunity to receive grants. I received $10,000 in grants from them for my second year in PT school. I always fill mine out as soon as it becomes available.

What is the name of the grant that you receive? Is it from the state you live in? Because federal grants, like the ones offered for undergrad, aren't available for graduate students.