I have no idea how to pay for law school.

[Sweetpri]

Baboon:

Click on this link - choose "law" and then "sponsored access loan."  It says if you have good credit you can get the loans regardless of citizenship.  Might be worth checking it out.

http://www.accessgroup.org/Student-Loans/find-a-loan/student-loan-finder.htm

[FossilJ]

Baboon:

Click on this link - choose "law" and then "sponsored access loan."  It says if you have good credit you can get the loans regardless of citizenship.  Might be worth checking it out.

http://www.accessgroup.org/Student-Loans/find-a-loan/student-loan-finder.htm

I don't see how this solves my problem.  It's the same sort of financial responsibility that requires me to have rich family members to bail me out.

Unfortunately, the entire loan must be on my shoulders.  My parents don't have the credit to back me up (even as co-signers), and the rest of my family is in South Africa (and not very rich, either).

[Sweetpri]

Well, I dont know anything about your situation but I'm Canadian and got permanent residency in the US so I'm eligible for the federal loans.  I don't know how long that takes or what you have to do, but maybe that's an option?

I don't understand why Citibank and Cank of America wouldn't loan money to an "international" Canadian student.  What about the banks in Canada?

[FossilJ]

Grants have nothing to do with this.  It's all loans.

And all banks that do offer money to Canadian students in the US (mostly Canadian banks, but a few American ones, as well) require, at the very least, Canadian citizen co-signers.  Most require a US permanent resident co-signer.  I have the luxury of neither of these contacts.


It will take too long to get permanent residency in the US.  Besides, if I could do that easily, I wouldn't even bother studying law in the US.  I'd prefer to work a crummy job and write.  That way I wouldn't be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

[Jhuen_the_bird]

I'm confused about the whole not needing parent's information.  That seems silly ... I made 0 dollars last year and am obviously still a dependent?  I thought they would definitely want parent's info?

Also, what's with the jan. 15th priority deadline?  Is that something new w/ law schools??  We always waited until after taxes so we could fill the FAFSA forms out correctly in undergrad?

My first choice doesn't say anything about Jan 15th, and I'm probably going there, so can I just wait until early Feb?

I'm so confused.

Will I probably qualify for the same things as in undergrad??

[queencruella]

I'm confused about the whole not needing parent's information.  That seems silly ... I made 0 dollars last year and am obviously still a dependent?  I thought they would definitely want parent's info?

Also, what's with the jan. 15th priority deadline?  Is that something new w/ law schools??  We always waited until after taxes so we could fill the FAFSA forms out correctly in undergrad?

My first choice doesn't say anything about Jan 15th, and I'm probably going there, so can I just wait until early Feb?

I'm so confused.

Will I probably qualify for the same things as in undergrad??

Some schools give out aid really early in the cycle or give out combo need/merit-based scholarships and want that info in ASAP so it will help them decide. If the school doesn't specifically request it then, you won't need to send it in immediately. Many schools don't give out need-based grants until much later in the cycle.

As long as you are a grad student, you are independent for FAFSA purposes and will have no EFC. The FAFSA is just for determining whether you'll qualify for the Stafford (almost everyone does unless they've maxed out their aggregate loan amount for grad school already, I believe) and the Perkins.

The CSS/Profile, individual forms, and NeedAccess typically require parental info and schools use those to help to determine whether you're eligible for grants or need-based scholarships.

[Sweetpri]

I just filled out the FAFSA and it classified me as independent, but then asked if I wanted to include my parent's information or not.  I don't think it's a bad thing that you are treated as independent even though you made $0 - your expected contribution will be a lot less!

[Jhuen_the_bird]

I'm confused about the whole not needing parent's information.  That seems silly ... I made 0 dollars last year and am obviously still a dependent?  I thought they would definitely want parent's info?

Also, what's with the jan. 15th priority deadline?  Is that something new w/ law schools??  We always waited until after taxes so we could fill the FAFSA forms out correctly in undergrad?

My first choice doesn't say anything about Jan 15th, and I'm probably going there, so can I just wait until early Feb?

I'm so confused.

Will I probably qualify for the same things as in undergrad??

Some schools give out aid really early in the cycle or give out combo need/merit-based scholarships and want that info in ASAP so it will help them decide. If the school doesn't specifically request it then, you won't need to send it in immediately. Many schools don't give out need-based grants until much later in the cycle.

As long as you are a grad student, you are independent for FAFSA purposes and will have no EFC. The FAFSA is just for determining whether you'll qualify for the Stafford (almost everyone does unless they've maxed out their aggregate loan amount for grad school already, I believe) and the Perkins.

The CSS/Profile, individual forms, and NeedAccess typically require parental info and schools use those to help to determine whether you're eligible for grants or need-based scholarships.

A couple of my schools had me fill out a pretty informal form about my income and my parents' income to be used for scholarship info ... hmmmm.

What about when I'm married (which I will be for my second year - do you put in your spouse's info, I guess?

[kirkcameronsgf]

Ok, for anyone that can help me, I have what is probably a stupid question..  On the FAFSA, you can only add 6 schools.  I am applying 11.  It said when you get it back (the SAR) or whatever, you can apply to more.  From what I can tell, in order to do so, I have to erase the original 6 schools on my list.  I am confused. 

[queencruella]

Ok, for anyone that can help me, I have what is probably a stupid question..  On the FAFSA, you can only add 6 schools.  I am applying 11.  It said when you get it back (the SAR) or whatever, you can apply to more.  From what I can tell, in order to do so, I have to erase the original 6 schools on my list.  I am confused. 

Once you get it back, the info has already been sent to the first 6 schools.