Does anyone have army reserve experience?

Consider the risk versus the reward. There are people who joined the Army Reserve in order to pay for school who found themselves serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is not a recommendation against—it’s a recommendation to consider what you’re actually agreeing to in exchange for what you get. If the goal is to prevent your parents’ information from being considered, and you’re not interested in military service, then you can probably find a better solution.

Once you are 24 they don’t ask for your parents info on the FAFSA. I just got a job and partied until I was 24. Then I went to school. Shitty job but it got the partying out of my system. When I got to school I was able to sit down and write a paper on Friday night instead of going to a party. I’m not suggesting the route. I’m just saying that it is a option.

It could be an option, if you are completely aware of what you are agreeing to. You should study the contract carefully and make sure you know your obligations.

I suggest you talk to your financial aid office first and see if there isn’t a better alternative.

@johnpowell I only have three years to go before I turn 24, but I don’t really think that route is for me. I’m pretty tired of working crappy jobs and partying, and I just want to get my education finished. A lot of the people I went to high school with have already graduated, which really freaks me out.

I hear that some financial aid offices will make individual plans for students in my situation on a case-by-case basis. I don’t want to bank on it, though.

Unless you already have a skill that the Army can use, you will most likely be trained in an area that they need. This will almost certainly involve deployments to nasty places. Unless you have the test scores to get into a training program you want, and are lucky enough for there to be an opening, and are willing to commit to extra years of service, you are going to be stuck in an unpleasant MOS.

Unless you are interested in the military for other reasons, you should exhaust all other financial aid opportunities before going this route. You should make it clear to the school that your parents are refusing to provide finances.