FAFSA with a Sibling in Medical School

<p>If I am currently a HS Senior (going to college next year) and my sister is currently a senior at UVA who is going to be going to medical school next year (accepted to EVMS), was I supposed to list her as a 2nd child who is going to be a college student on the FAFSA?</p>

<p>If she does count as a 2nd college bound child, can I still update my FAFSA and then contact the various college financial offices with the changes for a financial award appeal?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>You will need to call UVA and ask THEM if they consider professional school siblings in the count. Some schools MIGHT…others definitely do not. Also, your parents would have to be able to say that your sister is a “member of their household”…meaning she would have to be under a certain age, she would have earned less than a certain amount of money AND they are paying for more than 1/2 of her support. Even with that, many colleges do not count grad school students in the “head count” for other students in college in the family. That varies by college. Call UVA and ask.</p>

<p>Op did not say s/he was at UVA, his/her sister is a senior there. I believe OP is wondering how this will affect him/her at NYU.</p>

<p>Once your sister graduates, for FAFSA purposes, she will be considered an independent student and should not be on your FAFSA (she will be filing her own FAFSA, which will not include your parents income/assets).</p>

<p>OOPs…I thought the OP was going to UVA. She needs to contact HER college then!!</p>

<p>Actually Sybbie, our daughter’s college DID count her grad school sibling in the count. He was pursuing a degree (grad school WAS listed on the FAFSA at the time), and we were providing more than 1/2 of his support, and he was under the age threshold. </p>

<p>I do believe this is school dependent. However, having said that…I’ve never heard of a sibling in professional school (med school, law school) being allowed in the count. Grad school (masters, for example, is another story).</p>

<p>The med school sister will be filing her how finaid applications and can NOT include the younger sister…even IF the med school asks for parent income/assets.</p>

<p>For professional schools, students usually file their own FAFSA based on their income and assets (and their spouse if married). The parents income and assets are not included. Some schools require the Need Access, which is filed by the parents (similar to CSS profile) to determine the parent contribution (younger sibling would show up there).</p>

<p>Thanks for that clarification Sybbie. I knew that some professional schools asked for parent financial info…but didn’t know quite how they went about doing so.</p>

<p>Pah, that was my last hope. My parent’s had an EFC of just under 60,000, but they can’t afford to pay 60,000 a year. Having a bit of my tuition in aid would make things reasonable. Is there any hope in appealing the decision for special circumstances which would be my parents supporting my sister during med school? I found an application for special circumstances on the NYU fin aid site, but I’m not exactly sure what supporting documentation I should provide. I suppose her 2010 tax documents and her med school acceptance would be appropriate.</p>

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<p>I seriously doubt that your sister’s medical school costs will be considered a special circumstance by NYU…or any other college. Grad school and professional school students CAN take loans to support their own grad school costs. It’s a parent CHOICE if they want to pay the bills.</p>

<p>Also, keep in mind that NYU does not guarantee to meet full need of its accepted students and very often they don’t.</p>