So I have been recently accepted for grad school at private schools that are willing to give me some need-based financial aid as long as I file for FAFSA. I've been reading around and I saw plenty of people posting NEVER FILE FOR FAFSA. I get it, we don't qualify, but in order for the school to assess how much to give me for financial aid, they want to see my FAFSA. I saw some people posting that it's ok to file for FAFSA as long as it is not sent to the Federal govt which confused me because I dont know how I can stop that from happening since FAFSA is technically run by the federal govt??
Are any grad students out there who have been accepted and received aid in schools like Brown, Dartmouth and Stanford? Are there any grants or loan forgiveness options that we are eligible for? Most of them are only for citizens/residents
I'm also worried it would expose my parents if I enter their information. I even asked my dad and he banned me from ever turning in or filing the FAFSA, but I dont know how else to get school financial aid without it.
