FAFSA

It is that time of year.  No, not tax season, but FAFSA season.  The FAFSA (free application for student aid) is a service by the US government to apply for federal loans and grants.  Since the vast majority of medical students are unable to pay for their entire education out of pocket, this is the first step to acquiring loans, grants and scholarships.

Most schools have March 1st as the deadline for the next school year's early filing of the FAFSA, and since your tax information is required to fill out the FAFSA, completing your taxes early is key.  The trick part is, even though federal grants and scholarships usually don't require parental information for graduate students, most schools require parent information for considering need-based scholarships, so your parents' taxes are also needed on the FAFSA.  Thankfully, you can estimate your (and your parents') tax information and later edit the FAFSA to include the real numbers.

Each school will handle financial aid differently, but at my school, the financial aid office will automatically apply for every available scholarship for entering first year students (once the FAFSA information is available, of course).  For the subsequent years, the student needs to apply for the scholarships they are interested in themselves. 

The first year student has a pretty basic task.  Once the FAFSA is filled out and submitted, the school will receive the information about the grants and loans available to that student.  The school will then consider the student for any scholarships or grants they are eligible for.  Once the financial aid package is put together, usually made up of mostly loans, the student is presented the package.  At that point, the student can either accept or decline the package.

At this point I am simply awaiting my loan package information, to ensure there are no issues with my loans so I know I can finance the first year of school.  Once I have confirmation that I will be able to pay for my living expenses as well as tuition, I will consider the best time to give my work notice so they can have me train someone in my job before I leave.