Filing the FAFSA

If I end up going to Colorado, I will be paying about $50,000 for tuition and fees for the 2009-2010 academic year, plus around $20,000 for living expenses. Multiply that by 4 years and I'm looking at a minimum potential debt of $270,000 by the time I finish medical school. Needless to say, I won't be paying for my medical education with cash upfront.

Almost all medical students have to apply for financial aid of some sort or another, and I can be fairly confident in saying that all medical students who do need financial aid apply through the Free Application for Federal Student Aide application (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov).

Filing the FAFSA seems a lot scarier than it actually is. The FAFSA is completed and submitted entirely online. Apparently, there are professional "preparers" who help you prepare your FAFSA for a fee. I am lucky to have had help from my father, who is good with finances. They say on the FAFSA website that it should take under an hour to fill out the application (if you have all the necessary information at hand); I did indeed finish my FAFSA application in less than an hour, and I feel very relieved that it's out of the way.