<p>Another school’s procedure:</p>
<p>If you consider only the cost of living, the four years required for the Doctor of Medicine degree is a costly investment in one’s future. With the additional charges for tuition and other fees, the annual cost may be beyond the financial resources of an accepted student and his or her parents. When documented financial need exists, students should apply for financial aid. </p>
<p>A frequently heard comment from both students and parents is that financial aid “forgets” the middle-income family. Washington University has addressed this matter by providing need-based scholarship support as a part of our financial aid award while most other medical schools offer only loans. Using the 2006-07 estimate for the cost of education at $56,802 for the first year of study, if the need-analysis estimates that the student and parents can contribute $26,802, the student “documents” financial need of $30,000. Once this amount is determined, we fund the first $5,000 with a Federal Stafford Loan, and the remaining need ($25,000) is funded half by scholarship and half by additional loan. Therefore, the student with $30,000 of documented need would receive a $12,500 scholarship and $17,500 in loan support. Many medical schools do not provide any scholarship funds until a significant portion of the student’s need is covered by loans. </p>
<p>They do NOT pay the EFC for the family. That number is determined by FA and your folks’ income and assets are looked at each year, just like UG school.</p>
<p>It’s pretty clear none of these school consider a student independent for FA purposes but I sure am hoping somebody can link me up to some schools that do. 
(I have been steady looking, and I don’t think there are very many, if any. )</p>