Hmmm, Ive got a similar student/parent scenario that came in tonight...

18 yo Daughter earned 15K, it gave her the full standard 12k Deduction...she's marked as a  dependent on someone else's return.  Mom asked if she would get more refund if daughter claimed herself, I unchecked the dependent boxes just to be sure but everything stayed the same....so Mom didn't feel bad claiming her.  I get some parents that feel bad claiming their student child and the student doesn't get all their refund.

I'll be filing moms return first though, I don't have sigs from the daughter yet.