I cannot add my family members to the FAFSA when it asks who I live with. I’m 24 so I’m considered independent even though I live at home and do not have a job or qualify for one.
What do I do?
If you are 24 and independent…who are you trying to add to the fafsa…and where is that question?
Also…you say you don’t “qualify for a job”? What does that mean?
@PiperCat, you are automatically independent for aid purposes. The only person’s info that will go on your FAFSA is your own. Your family size is 1. If you didn’t make any money, you enter 0.
@thumper1 I do not qualify to work. I have zero job experience therefore no one will hire me. I’ve been trying for six year’s.
There are plenty of entry level jobs…look at restaurants, for example. You could start washing dishes, or busing tables. Hotels need housekeeping staff. What about working for a lndscaoe person (around here they are always looking for summer help doing lawns…and winter help with snow plowing).
What about doing some self employed work like house cleaning, or pet sitting?
What about working at a car wash?
What about going to a temp agency? Many of them do a job survey, and help you find temp jobs…which would give you some experience.
By end of September, almost every retail business will be looking for seasonal employees for the holiday season…Walmart, Target, all of them.
BUT…this has nothing to do,with completing your FAFSA…which does not require you to list the people you live with…at all. You are independent for FAFSA purposes…only your info matters.
Your EFC is going to be zero since you have no income. So why do you need to add any family members anyway? 0 is 0
By the way, you’re not supporting your family so why would you think we would need to add them as an independent student
Frankly, it doesn’t sound like you’ve been trying hard enough to get a job… every young person has a first job with no experience and yet they get jobs. Apply at McDonald’s
What jobs have you been applying for over the past six years? Unless you’re in an area with an extremely depressed economy or are very limited geographically, I’d be surprised if you couldn’t find something. My kids, who had no work experience and no real skills, got jobs at a supermarket, an amusement park, a dog day care and as a server in a restaurant. My nephews all worked at McDonalds. When I was young and unskilled I worked at a retail store and a movie theatre, and was also placed by Kelly Services in office jobs (I could type). Thumper’s suggestions are also on point. If at all possible, get a job now while you’re in school. Finding a job once you have a degree when you have no work experience whatsoever will be more difficult, as employers will wonder about your work ethic and why you’ve never worked.
Seriously, when my son was turning 16 (still 15) he showed up at McDonalds and they hired him to start on his 16th Bday (after he got his DL that morning…lol).
Unless you live in some rural depressed area, there’s really no excuse for not having had a job yet. The economy has been pretty decent for awhile. Right now, unemployment is very very low.
Walmart will be hiring seasonal employees soon for the holiday season.