I have no idea how to pay for law school.

[pikey]

Here's one -

Can you always borrow the maximum in federal loans, regardless of what your LS budget is and whether you've got most of it covered?

I think you're only allowed to borrow the amount in your budget, but I'm certainly no expert.

you may borrow up to your "total cost of attendance" which is provided by financial aid.

F*ck.  Back to the budget drawing board.

Here's one -

Can you always borrow the maximum in federal loans, regardless of what your LS budget is and whether you've got most of it covered?

I think you're only allowed to borrow the amount in your budget, but I'm certainly no expert.

TITCR. You can appeal to your FA officer to increase your budget but you can't get more funding than is alloted by your school from the govt.  With regard to other sources...it may be possible, but most of the time scholarship money is forwarded to the school (as a part of the cerification process) and then disbursed to you.

Ok, but you get your FAFSA $ in a lump sum, right?

Dare I ask what you need extra $ for?

[Thistle]

Here's one -

Can you always borrow the maximum in federal loans, regardless of what your LS budget is and whether you've got most of it covered?

I think you're only allowed to borrow the amount in your budget, but I'm certainly no expert.

you may borrow up to your "total cost of attendance" which is provided by financial aid.

F*ck.  Back to the budget drawing board.

Here's one -

Can you always borrow the maximum in federal loans, regardless of what your LS budget is and whether you've got most of it covered?

I think you're only allowed to borrow the amount in your budget, but I'm certainly no expert.

TITCR. You can appeal to your FA officer to increase your budget but you can't get more funding than is alloted by your school from the govt.  With regard to other sources...it may be possible, but most of the time scholarship money is forwarded to the school (as a part of the cerification process) and then disbursed to you.

Ok, but you get your FAFSA $ in a lump sum, right?

you get a "change check" after all you expenses are taken out.  if you have a credit score of at least 640 (so i've heard) you can qualify for private funding -- try law school loans or rich uncle (i think are two sites)


...and she needs the extra money to fly to our private trysting place in the caribbean 

[pikey]

Here's one -

Can you always borrow the maximum in federal loans, regardless of what your LS budget is and whether you've got most of it covered?

I think you're only allowed to borrow the amount in your budget, but I'm certainly no expert.

you may borrow up to your "total cost of attendance" which is provided by financial aid.

F*ck.  Back to the budget drawing board.

Here's one -

Can you always borrow the maximum in federal loans, regardless of what your LS budget is and whether you've got most of it covered?

I think you're only allowed to borrow the amount in your budget, but I'm certainly no expert.

TITCR. You can appeal to your FA officer to increase your budget but you can't get more funding than is alloted by your school from the govt.  With regard to other sources...it may be possible, but most of the time scholarship money is forwarded to the school (as a part of the cerification process) and then disbursed to you.

Ok, but you get your FAFSA $ in a lump sum, right?

Dare I ask what you need extra $ for?

I don't, but I always like to have more money than I actually need, so I don't have to worry about going out for drinks, season tickets for Michigan sports, etc.

Well, and I need a big apartment w/out carpet. 

I totally agree.  My sister just sent my mother her budget and included manicures and a massage!  I'm like, you're supposed to pad the required stuff to include enough money for stuff like that, not blatantly include it in your budget!

[Thistle]

Riddle me this: what is the criteria for deciding who gets subsidized staffors loands and who doesn't? Is there a numerical formula? Does every school use the same formula/rules, or do they vary by school?

I get the very real sense that this whole aid/loans thing is really just the first stop on a loooong line of soul crushing experiences that will not end until several years after being out of law school (perhaps longer than that) -- at least in the case of most applicants. If it isn't Need Access, its 1L finals, or OCI, or billing 2200 hours a year, and so on. Grr.

need access is the devil.  it *made* me put in parental financial information.  i'm 46.  i put in all zeroes, and then in the comments wrote, "I'm 46.  My parents, who are in their 80's, told me to tell you that it's none of your damn business."

1L finals the son of satan.

on a happier note, your student loans are forgiven when you die.

[Thistle]

on a happier note, your student loans are forgiven when you die.

Awesome! So basically now ---> death = teh suck. Death ---> onwards (?) = gravy train. Great. When evil suicide bombers die they have 50 virgins or whatever waiting for them. When law students die, they become free from the iron grip of Chase Manhattan Bank?

[DISCLAIMER FOR THE PC CROWD/STAFF RESEARCHING MY POSTINGS PRIOR TO A SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARING SOME DAY DOWN THE ROAD: EXTREME SARCASM MAY OR MAY NOT BE AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT OF THE ABOVE REMARKS. PLEASE TREAT ACCORDINGLY]

what if an evil suicide bomber went to law school?  would he have to choose between the virgins and financial freedom?

[Thistle]

on a happier note, your student loans are forgiven when you die.

Awesome! So basically now ---> death = teh suck. Death ---> onwards (?) = gravy train. Great. When evil suicide bombers die they have 50 virgins or whatever waiting for them. When law students die, they become free from the iron grip of Chase Manhattan Bank?

[DISCLAIMER FOR THE PC CROWD/STAFF RESEARCHING MY POSTINGS PRIOR TO A SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARING SOME DAY DOWN THE ROAD: EXTREME SARCASM MAY OR MAY NOT BE AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT OF THE ABOVE REMARKS. PLEASE TREAT ACCORDINGLY]

what if an evil suicide bomber went to law school?  would he have to choose between the virgins and financial freedom?

Well, obviously he'd take the virgins. Same even if the terrorist was a she. Spend some quality time, yada yada yada with about a dozen of them, pimp the rest out on the side, and use the income generated therein to pay the loans off. Perfection!

Same disclaimer applies as in above post. Sucks that I have to say that, but I feel compelled to do so in this day and age.

brilliant!

and i never disclaim.  learned that in contracts.   

[Jhuen_the_bird]

Any income your parents have is still another asset for them to look at.  If they don't require it, then for all they know you dont even have parents. 

You're right ... but if I put "Didn't make any money last year, didn't file for taxes, have less than 1000 in the bank" ... they are probably going to assume I'm financially dependent on someone (parents ... I had to give parental information for scholarship stuff already anyway for the individual schools), and rather than have the "jumping to conclusion" that I have rich parents, rather than a single low-income mom and no support from a father ... yeah.  It probably doesn't matter either way though :-P

[zerofact0r]

You're not understanding how the system works.  They don't assume you're financially dependent.  They assume you're financially independent because FAFSA tells them you are because they can't ask for your parent's info since you're in a graduate program.  This can be your first lesson in legal negotiations.  Don't offer information that isn't required and that doesn't benefit you. 

They're not looking at your whole FAFSA, they're looking at your EFC.  If you put your parents info, your EFC is going to go up, which means you get less subsidized loans.

But whatever, that's more of us then.

[queencruella]

The federal government assumes two things- 1)Your parents will give you some support for undergrad and 2)Your parents will give you no support for graduate school. For that reason, it's fine to have no EFC now if you're still in undergrad because there's no assumption that your parents are going to continue to support you in law school. If you have no EFC, you'll have a chance to qualify for both the Stafford and the Perkins, so why not fill it out for yourself only to maximize your chances of getting loans with the most favorable rates?

[zerofact0r]

Especially since Perkins and Stafford loans are limited.