FAFSA/Aid Question for a total noob, please help! Forum

[Neo]

Hey everyone,

So I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with FAFSA; however, since I am applying to law school I need to receive financial aid. I am applying this current cycle and wanted to get in my information as soon as possible. Do I wait until the next FAFSA is released January 1, 2011? OR do I fill out the current one? Basically, what do I need to do in order to get financial aid for law school if I am applying this cycle? Thanks in advance for the help!

[law_noob]

pretty sure you have to wait til jan. and you have to have it filled out before some date march. but i am a noob as well, I just remember that the FASFA site walked me through everything and it was super easy. Go on the site and see if you can start filling it out, if there is an option for the 2011-2012 school year offered. If there is not that option, you gotta do it in jan. Also, if you have a job, you have to fill out your tax return before your fasfa if memory serves me right.

G/L

[Bumi]

My understanding is: you get your W-2, then you do your tax return, then you fill out the FAFSA. All in January. But I am equally n00bish as everyone else in this thread.

[JDeterminedF]

You may be able to get a head start with your last paystubs of the year. But nonetheless, you're gonna have to wait til that time.

[Neo]

What if you don't have a job/never worked? Does that make it easier or do you have to put your parent's info? I thought that you are independent in grad school??

[Bumi]

What if you don't have a job/never worked? Does that make it easier or do you have to put your parent's info? I thought that you are independent in grad school??

Beats the hell out of me. I'm on the other side of things - I'm not sure what a FAFSA will do for me since I've been working for years. Financially speaking, I'm likely to be better off than most of my law school peers. But I can't write a check for the cost of law school, so I need aid of course.

[JDeterminedF]

What if you don't have a job/never worked? Does that make it easier or do you have to put your parent's info? I thought that you are independent in grad school??

Easier since you wont have to include any income info of your own. I'm speaking from always filling out FAFSA for undergrad. But i'm pretty sure law/grad schools require parental info, so whether they work or not, they're gonna need info for whatever income they get.

[clone22]

The way Fafsa stuff normally works is you fill it out with estimates of income based on last year's (parents and yours, obviously yours is 0 if you didn't work), and you can indicate on Fafsa's website that the numbers are estimates only because taxes haven't been filed yet. After you (and your parents) file your taxes, you go back on fafsa and update the numbers. As long as your estimates weren't wildly off, nothing should really change.

speaking as someone who has been living off financial aid for the last 3+ years.

[annapavlova]

Unless your school requires parent financial information, it will all be based on your information for grad school. Fill out the estimate in Jan. 1, get your taxes done fast and make changes if necessary, then submit by early Feb.