<p>Hi Frisbee,</p>
<p>First, let me just confirm: they're giving you no work-study whatsoever, and your parental contribution is zero?</p>
<p>Second, I'm not sure if there is an appeals process - but at Duke, it never hurts to ask. We have good people running the show. Still, you should remember that you are already in the upper half of financial aid packages, and I'm not sure that they have much more to offer.</p>
<p>It is always worth asking.</p>
<p>Do you know how they calculate fin aid?</p>
<p>They calculated my parental contribution as a whopping $14k, but the FAFSA says $11k, which my dad says he already can't afford. And yeah, I did receive $2,000 in work study. One more thing devilmike; if the average grant is around $22,000, then why does it say on Yahoo Facts that the average indebtedness for a Duke graduate is $25,000??? Shouldn't it be around $80,000, since a student would be $20,000 in debt every year (around 45k cost of attendance)? Or am I missing something? I am going to call and beg for more money. And also, if the scholarship I got is need-based, if my dad finds a job next year, wouldn't the scholarship go down since we would have more money? I would hate that, since my parents would have to pay even more of what they already cannot afford. Man, this sucks.</p>
<p>yeah i got a great package too! GO DUKE :-D</p>
<p>Duke's aid is not a jooke. YOU ARE A FREAKING joke.</p>
<p>how's this?</p>
<p>$647 a term in work study. </p>
<p>and I am by no means rich.</p>
<p>i think mine was around 9000ish...</p>
<p>Question:
What happens if we bring in an outside scholarship? I hear that at a lot of schools, if you have say a $5000 outside scholarship and your school finaid package is 10k, you might as well have nothing. Until you get over 10k, the outside scholarships don't even count. Is this true of Duke?</p>
<p>My EFC was 20,000, which was a joke for our family. But it was my dream to go to Duke. I have taken that 20,000 out in loans each year because I had to - which seems crazy - graduating with that much debt. My parents said it was up to me - they would cosign so I could get independent loans, or I could go to a state school with pretty much a full ride. I chose Duke and don't regret it a bit. Here's why:</p>
<p>To everyone who says "I can't graduate with that much debt," just think about where you'll be when you are completely done with all of your education. I myself am probably going to law school (after I take a year off). Once I graduate from law school, I will be making a lot of money. That $500/month payment is not going to feel like a lot when I am making 80 grand a year to start and well over six figures within a few years after that. In fact, I will probably pay well above the minimum amount so that I can just get it over with and not rack up more interest.</p>
<p>It's not as if you have to pay back your loans within five years or something. My best bud's dad just finished paying off his own med school loans a few years ago - but he probably pulls in 300,000 grand+ per year in a city with a very low cost of living. The payments feel like a lot for those of us who come from families that need financial aid in the first place. However, the point of going to a school of Duke's caliber is that it really pays off in the end. I'm glad I took this road and had the Duke experience . . . I really think it was more than worth it. I really really really really wanted to go to Duke, and I'm glad I didn't let money stand in the way - cause if everything goes as planned I'll have more than enough to pay it back later.</p>
<p>Thanks Alexa. By the way, what major at Duke would lead to the highest salary? Not that I am basing my decision on salary, but I do need a high-paying job after graduating from Duke to pay off an $80,000 debt.</p>
<p>Hi Frisbee,</p>
<p>I'm confused. Let's go over the math. If you are being granted $25,000 a year in GRANT money, then that leaves the cost of a Duke education at $19,000 a year. If you are going to get $2,000 a year in work study, that leaves $17,000 a year. Will you be incurring this entire amount (you said $20,000, but I think that's a reasonable approximation) in debt?</p>
<hr>
<p>Second, as for Yahoo! facts, you're assuming that every student gets financial aid and that no parents contribute anything - both false assumptions.</p>
<p>About 55% of our students receive no financial aid whatsoever. If you assume they graduate debt-free, that already reduces the average to $40,000 (roughly). Now, remember that parental contributions will further reduce this debt - if you assume that the average parent on financial aid is able to make some contribution, then this will reduce the $40K number.</p>
<hr>
<p>As for what happens with outside scholarships, you will need to double check, but I BELIEVE that your grant money is the last thing they will touch.</p>
<p>Say a Duke student is paying $5000 in loans, $2000 in work study, $10,000 in parental contributions, and has $27,000 in grants.</p>
<p>The FIRST thing they will subtract the money from is the loans. The second is work study. The third is the parental contributions. The LAST thing they will touch is the loans.</p>
<p>But double check this, as I am not sure.</p>
<p>My Financial aid package was pretty sweet. I got $35,000 total, $29,000 of it in grants. It was about what I expected though, since our EFC was around $10,000.</p>
<p>Oh, sorry Frisbee, missed a question.</p>
<hr>
<p>Yes, if your family's income goes up next year, your EFC will also rise, hence reducing your grants and loans.</p>
<p>However, your EFC should rise by less than your family's income rises - that is, if your dad starts making an extra $30,000 a year, your EFC will most certainly rise by less than $30,000 - so your family will have more money to work with.</p>
<hr>
<p>Straight out of college, only the employable majors (essentially economics and engineering) will make high salaries. If you go to law school, however, that makes up for itself rather quickly - and your major doesn't matter (most students go with polisci or public policy).</p>
<p>Edit: some students enter economics careers without actually having an economics degree - they tend to major in math, public policy, or engineering.</p>
<p>UltimateFrisbee, a couple of things to keep in mind:
1) Loans will increase each year, and grants will decrease. This is likely to occur even if your family's income remains constant.</p>
<p>2) You are expected to earn a portion of the EFC through summer work. Like loans, this amount will increase each year. For incoming freshmen, it's about $1800.</p>
<p>3) $20,000 a year (or possibly more) in loans is a lot of money. Period. I personally would not be willing to shoulder that debt for any school. Pick a college that you like, but don't be unreasonable. Very few careers would allow you to start out making enough money to quickly negate that debt. If you suddenly decide to go to medical or law school, do you really want to be even farther in debt? I would rather come out making a profit, personally.</p>
<p>Warblers,</p>
<p>I don't mean to dispute your points, but I am curious as to why your first point is true. Your experience may well be closer than mine, and so I take your word for it - but why would this be the case?</p>
<p>As for the third point, I think that Alex is probably closer to my opinion on the subject - $80K will go away eventually, and quite quickly if you are making the kind of money that most economics and pre-law students do.</p>
<p>Your education never will.</p>
<p>In point one, I was primarily referring to Federal Stafford Loans (subsidized), although it may also apply to other loans. Freshmen usually get about $2625 in FS loans, sophomores $3500, and juniors and seniors $5500. </p>
<p>I went through a similar experience last year. I don't expect everyone to share my views, especially since it's unlikely I'll ever be wealthy (the drawback to a life in academia).
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54179%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54179</a></p>
<p>alex, that's a hefty wager on your future... the interest you will end up paying on that loan will be ridiculous. By the time you finish paying it off (like your best friend's dad), it'll be time to start rushing for retirement. Any financial advisor would say what you did is scarily risky.</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK by all means.</p>
<p>Assume Alex is taking out an $80,000 loan. Some of it will have interest, some of it won't - so let's say it averages out to 5% annually, such that he's in debt for $92,000 when he's done with law school. I think this is high, since most student loans defer interest until your career actually starts.</p>
<p>To compensate for interest payments while he pays it off, which I don't really want to calculate year-by-year, we'll round that up to a very-excessive $120,000.</p>
<p>Now, his lawyering career, if he gets into a reasonably good law school and does well for himself there - which for a Duke student is the overwhelmingly likely outcome - he can probably afford to start paying back $20,000 a year - and that's a VERY conservative estimate. The actual number, if he were to push himself, would probably be much higher.</p>
<p>He's done in six years - age 31. Hardly pushing the edge of retirement.</p>
<p>Any financial advisor would tell him that he is going to get a very high rate of return on his loans - and that a degree from a renowned institution is worth far more than he's paying for it.</p>
<p>i love duke's financial aid. i ended up w/ 0 in grant and like 900 in work study. super!!!! i will be broke. i'm hoping cornell will have a more enticing financial aid package that i can show to duke and hopefully get something. also, my sister is in college now also and her tuition's 10,000 a year. is there forms i have to fill out or how should i tell them?
im not sure i can go to duke. 43,000 a year is a ton.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike, what about engineering as a major instead of law. Could I expect such a high income as to pay back $20,000 a year in engineering? And also, what if I cannot afford graduate school?</p>