Let me get this straight. FAFSA is only available for US citizens and/or permanent residents (including political asylees and refugees). It can therefore be used whatsoever for LLM, SJD, JD as well as for any other Graduate Program in the country.  Regardless their immigration status (F1), international applicants {foreign lawyers} may not use FAFSA to cover their LLM expenses, but after some years of residence (whatever they decide to work or study after LLM) and of course, previous adjustment status; they may use FAFSA in the future for their JD or SJD program.  So, the question here comes to determine whether the FAFSA deadline- and for what matters the FAFSA application- may or may not affect your scholarship and grants eligibility. In fact, considering that there are several FAFSA deadlines (State and Federal deadlines), the question here is to know when is the best moment to apply for FAFSA? Which leave us two specific options: 1)     Early in the year (between January 1st and March 15th) regardless of Tax returns, etc And this would be usually before the universities make a decision regarding the LLM application, or;2)     After an acceptation letter has been delivered to you (between March 15th and April 15th)  The problems here basically are: -        HLS Graduate Program often advises students to apply for financial aid (Federal FAFSA) after one has been admitted and, more important, after they have offered to you the FAP or financial aid package, which may include other kind of loans, grants, and scholarships. The problem is that you wont get such FAP until April 10 when some FAFSA deadlines have already expired.-        Yale Law School, on the other hand, asks you to submit your FAFSA application no later than March 15th, because otherwise; money may run quicklyMore info,seehttp://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Financial_Aid/0910HandbookRevisedpdf.pdf -        Last but no least, youre compelling not only to conceal two different policies regarding FAFSA (HLS v YLS), but you also need to be aware of the fact that in the Ivy league, FAFSA may decrease the financial aid available that the university can eventually offer to you.  If somebody have any advice on this regard, it's more than welcomethanks in advance.