For entering medical school: Any reason NOT to file as independent on the FAFSA

[JoJo23497]

I apologize in advance if the answer is somewhere on the forum or if someone has answered this before.

I'm attending a US medical school this Summer/Fall 2009 and am trying to fill out the FAFSA for the very first time.

My question: I know that I can file as an independent on the FAFSA, but my question is, do I want to? Are there ANY situations in which I would not want to file as an independent?

My parents do intend to help me a little with my medical school tuition.

If I file as an independent on the FAFSA, doesn't that mean my parents can't claim me as a dependent for tax purposes and save themselves some money? But filing as an independent DOES mean I'll receive better loans/more aid than if I filed as a dependent, correct?

Which is better in this situation/will save me more money in the long run, filing as an INDEPENDENT or as a DEPENDENT?

Thanks everyone!

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[dragonfly99]

For all the medical schools I know of, the schools will request your parents financial info anyway, whether or not you declare yourself dependent vs. not. And the school will consider your parents info in deciding on your aid (if they even have/give any grants or scholarships at all). So if your parents have money this will be considered. They'll ask you to fill out extra paperwork (not the FAFSA) and probably turn in your parents' IRS tax forms from last year. I'm pretty sure I'm right about this. I heard there were a very few (? Northwestern) that would consider you truly independent (and not ask for parents' financal info) if you'd been totally independent from them for a number of years (like 5-10) but I'm not even sure about that.

As far as I know, for purposes of the FAFSA the gov't considers all medical students to be independent students, though. I'm not even sure you are allowed to put yourself down as your parents' dependent if you are a grad/professional student. You should ask your med school's financial aid office, b/c I could be wrong.

 

[TMP-SMX]

All medical students are automatically independent for FAFSA purposes. This is not a choice you have. Your tax dependency is irrelevant. It is in your best interest to add parental info if you want to be considered for need-based aid and most scholarships, however, your parental information is not included in the FAFSA calculated EFC so it doesn't count against you and can only help. Pretty early on in your FAFSA you'll answer some yes or no questions. Being a graduate student automatically makes you independent on the FAFSA, and therefore, gives you the choice of entering parental information. As I said though you should include it and the FAFSA also says something while you fill it out to that end.

 

[Habeed]

If your family makes over six figures, even if only just, then should you put the info? My family in particular would be reluctant to tell me, and if there's no way I would get grants and other need based aid and scholarships, then there's no reason to bother.

 

[yadayadadude]

Habeed, it really depends on the school. From the perspective of the feds, they consider you independant and don't offer grants to grad students anyway. If you're attending a school that doesn't offer need-based aid, then don't bother to interograte your parents. But if your school does offer that kind of aid, then it's worth your while to include the information. I'll also say, though, that my experience has been that schools with significant need-based aid tend to use another form in addition to the FAFSA. So my practice has been to leave my parental information off the FAFSA and fill out the institutional form with my parents' information.

 

[akpete]

Check with your school. Some require you fill out parental stuff on FAFSA and their additional form, and some are one or the other. But it's just for need-based aid and scholarships, so if it's gonna be a hassle to try to get the info outta your parents, figure out if it's worthwhile. Check with the school on how much they have available or what type of student typically gets aid. Might help.

Just as an FYI, I submitted parental info that consisted of an annual income of ~$65,000 and received $2000 in scholarship and about $3000 in institutional loans.