Age 24 = Independent?

Joy_N
Tue, 24 May 2016 03:52:02 +0000

So long story short, I’m 23 years old. I earned my associate’s degree back in 2013. While I did manage to find a position for some time, I lost my job (long story).

I’ve now been out of work for, again, quite a while. People told me this is actually very common and if I cannot find anything else to do I should try returning to college. My relatives also think similarly.

Not surprisingly, I have reached that point where I seem to have hit the absolute dead end. I can’t find work, I’m miserable, and I am seriously thinking about returning to school.

Yeah, I still don’t have enough saved up for most places. So my dad told me it seems that the only plan for me now is this:

1. Find some other temporary minimum wage job/volunteer position/whatever for the rest of this year. It will be hard. Just stick it out.

2. Once January 2017 rolls around, apply for FAFSA again. Since I would be 24 in the springtime, they should consider me Independent and then grant me more much-needed financial aid.

3. Enroll in some school for a severely discounted amount. All this is due to the Independent status. Well, there you go.

The only problem is, I do not know if they will still give me the Independent benefits since I already have my AA degree.

Does anybody have any other info or advice on this? I’m in Los Angeles if it matters. Thanks.