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Figured it may be a good idea to create something for people that have questions regarding Need Access.

My questions:

1) When you have to fill out information regarding 2014 and 2015 taxes, I'm assuming for 2015 they mean to estimate how much will be made between January 2015 and the start of law school. Is that correct?

2) Does it make sense to add the participating schools I applied to or just wait until I hear back from each individual one to add them?

Question 2: add all schools that you applied to

1) I think it should be all 2015 income, before and during law school.

2) You can add and remove schools at will. You might want to add all the schools before starting to fill things out because they all add different questions and you won't need to pull your records multiple times. When you are done you can remove whichever schools you don't want to send and the application will remember your answers to those schools specialized questions.

tag

any advice for how to make this easier on parents? mine are super bad with/afraid of money and it's a nightmare nagging them

everything_bagel wrote:tag

any advice for how to make this easier on parents? mine are super bad with/afraid of money and it's a nightmare nagging them

Ask for their W-2s and fill it out for them?

I guess it would get more complicated if there are investments/property/etc involved but my parents' situation is just like LOL @ assets, retirement is for the rich.

lc39 wrote:Ask for their W-2s and fill it out for them?

I guess it would get more complicated if there are investments/property/etc involved but my parents' situation is just like LOL @ assets, retirement is for the rich.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do. My parents aren't rich, but (I imagine for lots of us?) they have complicated lives. I think I just have to man up and quiz them, but it stresses them/me out.

[/whine]

everything_bagel wrote:

lc39 wrote:Ask for their W-2s and fill it out for them?

I guess it would get more complicated if there are investments/property/etc involved but my parents' situation is just like LOL @ assets, retirement is for the rich.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do. My parents aren't rich, but (I imagine for lots of us?) there's all kinds of other stuff--divorce, medical/dental expenses, credit card debt, mortgages, a baby, etc. (Guys: don't be my parents.) I think I just have to man up and quiz them, but it stresses them/me out.

[/whine]

Yeah this has been kind of a stressful process. I want the need aid to come back as soon as possible but usually my parents get a filing extension on their taxes so I had to beg them to do it early this year.

Yeah my parents normally don't finish their taxes until like April and I definitely can't wait that long

They also have a confusing number of things going on with stocks and assets and such but they were able to estimate the 2014 year from 2013. I think Need Access has an option to select "These values were based on an estimate" or something. Is it reasonable to submit with that?

Question 3: In the second to last section (the section before Special Circumstances), there is a question: "Provided Employment Information(Ref. c42):" with the mouse-over text reading "Have you provided employment information in the Student's (and Spouse's) Employment section of this application? Include all externships, research assistantships, fellowships, etc. No review can be done without this information."

I've looked over this application at least three times and the only "Student's Employment" section I can find refers to Summer 2015 employment and employment during the 2015-2016 school year....but this question seems to refer to past employment. Where is this section?

Any idea what qualifies as an 'unusual expense'?

jj2014 wrote:Any idea what qualifies as an 'unusual expense'?

I'm including moving expenses for law school.

My parents own their own business and have their accountant do their taxes before April, I'd like to get NeedAccess in before then. Would it make sense to use their 2013 tax return and just copy those numbers in and say it is an estimated for 2014 and 2015? Even though the numbers will be exactly the same for both years?

Needaccess is literally the stupidest form I've ever filled out. I just sat down to do it with my mom (let alone my nonresponsive makes-life-miserable-for-fun noncustodial parent). How can I predict what her finances will look like in 2015 after the first month?! Isn't it antiquated to think people work the same jobs each year and nothing changes?! Whatever. I made my 2014 estimate look like 2013, and 2015 matched 2014.

Also, how many times can you ask me what my parents expect to contribute to my college expenses? It's 0 God damn it!!! Zero! Nada! Nilch!! Not that the universities will beleive that.

Frustrated.

after adding all of my schools to needaccess, a new question popped up asking me to list all of the schools that I've been admitted to, but it's not required. any upside/downfall to doing so? advice would be appreciated as I'm hoping to hit submit tonight. thanks!

Another question... I accidentally submitted a Need Access Application to a school I haven't been accepted to yet. Should I e-mail the school and tell them it was an accident and to disregard it?

RGN121999 wrote:Another question... I accidentally submitted a Need Access Application to a school I haven't been accepted to yet. Should I e-mail the school and tell them it was an accident and to disregard it?

I think you are allowed to do that so no need to email the school?

How long does it typically take the PayPal payment to be processed? I submitted my payment Tuesday evening and it has yet to be processed by NeedAccess...

I checked my bank account and the charge is clearly there.

This is by far the dumbest and most intrusive form I have ever filled out.

I'm a non-traditional applicant and haven't had any financial dealings with my parents in 10+ years....why do I have to go ask them for their financial information? Can I get this requirement waived?

steakout319 wrote:This is by far the dumbest and most intrusive form I have ever filled out.

I'm a non-traditional applicant and haven't had any financial dealings with my parents in 10+ years....why do I have to go ask them for their financial information? Can I get this requirement waived?

Depending on the school, maybe, but probably not. You could ask them and see if they'll do it.

The Need Access form asks me to estimate the amount of educational tax credits I'll receive in 2015. Does anyone know if there's a tax credit for law school tuition? I think the Lifetime Learning Credit does apply, but I'm not sure how to calculate a non-refundable credit. Any thoughts? What have other people done?

There wasn't a question about credit card/other debt was there? My mum asked but I didn't see one. Now worried I've missed something

The need access asks for how much my tuition was last year at my undergrad institution. The reported cost is super low though because I studied abroad in the Czech Republic (where I paid a third party institution).

How exactly do report my cost of tuition last year? Should I include my study abroad program cost even though that money wasn't paid to my undergrad institution?

Jesus. This is driving me nuts. I'm going to be 29 before Sept 1 and I've been financially independent for years, so for most of the schools they don't require Parent Information from me, but for some reason I can't find a way to skip it on the NeedAccess form.

Has anyone figured out how to skip this part?

Also, like many of you, my parents won't fill out their taxes until April, they are separated, there are complications, they sure as heck don't want to give ME any info on their financial status, and they aren't computer savvy, and I'm thousands of miles away so I can't force them to sit at a computer. *head in hands*

This sucks more than the 250.

Does anybody know if you need to apply to need access if you qualify as one of the criteria (like being above 30 , etc.) ?

Donashimen wrote:Does anybody know if you need to apply to need access if you qualify as one of the criteria (like being above 30 , etc.) ?

That will depend on the school. Also your age would only matter for parent information on need access - you would still need to apply with your information.