<p>Hi guys. I have been planning on applying ED to Duke for quite a while now. My parents and I originally thought that we would be getting a fair amount of financial aid. At least enough to make the cost comparable to the University of Michigan where I would get instate tuition. Once we put all of our information into the financial aid calculator on the college board's website, we were very disappointed. My parents are making 110,000-125,000 and we own a summer home which is what seemed to make the cost increase. Anyone with experience with Duke's financial aid please help!</p>
<p>No experience with Duke but yes, equity in a 2nd home will count against you along with other non-retirement assets and income. Generally schools expect your family to leverage existing assets to pay for your school before they will give you their money.</p>
<p>What lead you to believe with that income and a vacation home you would be getting any need-based aid other than the $5,500 Direct Loan?</p>
<p>If cost is an issue you need to look at schools were you qualify for substantial merit aid. What are your stats?</p>
<p>With that income, there will be no aid at UM other than loans. But Duke’s COA is much more expensive, so you would have to pay your full Profile EFC (UM also uses Profile, but the COA there is less than your FAFSA EFC given the income level). What does Duke give you as your estimated EFC? I would think without the vacation home, the EFC is about 33,000; not sure the worth of the home, but your EFC may be around 38,000? You need to realize that you will be paying your EFC at any school … so the suggestion to concentrate on schools where you would receive merit is excellent. If you can get enough merit to get the cost down to UM’s COA, you are doing well.</p>
<p>Does your family rent out that summer home as well?</p>
<p>So, are your parents saying that they’ll pay for all of UMich’s costs, but not more for another school?</p>
<p>Or are they expecting you to get aid at UMich as well?</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you need help with. Most schools look at a vacation home as an asset that can be sold in order to help pay for college.</p>
<p>My stats are:
31 Act (retaking in october)
3.95 GPA
Top 5% of class
Most challenging course load my school offers
Varsity Dance
Varsity Downhill Ski
Orchestra
Company Dance- 20 hours a week
Part-time job during school and summer
Volunteer at local hospital
Special needs volunteering
NHS
Student Counsel Food Advisory Committee
A group dedicated to helping other students overcome depression
AP Scholar
Senior Couse Load: Ap Chem, AP Lit, AP Calc BC, Honors Physics, Psych and English at Community College</p>
<p>What I was looking for was just some input on Financial Aid at private schools especially duke. My EFC is about 45,000 which my family cannot afford. Our second home is not a source of income, just a cabin. Obviously I was not expecting a free ride based on my family’s situation, but according to the duke financial aid information, the average FA package for families with the same income is 40,000.
Im very new to college confidential, but I was just hoping for some input. Thanks!</p>
<p>Also, I expect no FA at UMich, but my parents have planned cover the costs of attending there. I understand loans are an option, but how are other middle class families paying these costs?</p>
<p>Most “middle class” people don’t own summer homes. And, frankly, your parents’ income is “upper-middle”, not really “middle”. Middle class is more along the lines of $50k-85k (or so).</p>
<p>Our second home is not a source of income, just a cabin.</p>
<p>Do you know what its value is? </p>
<p>It doesn’t have to be a source of income for it to count as an asset. Have your parents ever considered renting it out to bring in extra money?</p>
<p>but according to the duke financial aid information, the average FA package for families with the same income is 40,000</p>
<p>can you provide a link?</p>
<p>They have considered renting but we use the cabin during the summer months where tourism is big in our town. The value is about 450,000. It just seems weird to me that schools like Harvard don’t even ask about home equity. I do understand that my family is well off but I do not understand how my parents could just drop 1/3 to 1/2 of their income on school.</p>
<p>Is the equity in this ‘just a cabin’ $450,000 or is there a mortgage? I believe all schools ask about equity in a home that is not your principle residence, even HYPS. They don’t expect 1/3 to 1/2 of income to be spent on college. The expected contribution is expected to come from past income(savings), current income and future income(loans)? Students who attend Duke can afford their expected contribution from those sources, be it 0 to full-pay.</p>
<p>The value is about 450,000. It just seems weird to me that schools like Harvard don’t even ask about home equity.</p>
<p>Harvard WOULD ask about THAT cabin’s equity because that is not excluded “home equity”. </p>
<p>At schools that exclude home equity, excluded home equity ONLY consists of the equity of the home you LIVE in as primary residency. H would definitely count the equity of that second home. Otherwise, people would sink all their money into various second and third homes to have the money excluded.</p>
<p>Do you think that if your family owned a few vacation homes with considerable equity that schools (and H) would ignore it??? No.</p>
<p>Since H uses CSS Profile, that does ask about equity in homes, H wouldn’t exclude the equity of a non-primary residence.</p>
<p>*They have considered renting but we use the cabin during the summer months where tourism is big in our town. The value is about 450,000. </p>
<p>. I do understand that my family is well off but I do not understand how my parents could just drop 1/3 to 1/2 of their income on school.*</p>
<p>Think about it. Your parents have a large asset. Others who need aid don’t have that asset.</p>
<p>Your family chooses to use the cabin throughout the entire “high season” when they could be using it a portion of the time, and renting it out for income if they desired. (I have a vacation home, and that’s what I do. and, I know that in a “popular area”, people can pull in a few thousand a week - easily.) </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, you’re not being penalized for not renting it out, but it could be a source of income if your family wanted it to be…then your family could use that income to help pay for college. It really is quite the luxury to have a vacation home and use it exclusively for your family. that’s your right, absolutely. But recognize that with choices, sometimes you aren’t going to get what you want…in this case the aid that you need.</p>
<p>With your income, your parents either have significant assets (in addition to the cabin) and/or one/both of your parents is self-employed. Either way, this makes a difference, as the EFC formula is not “only” income-driven. You may find your situation to be different at other, similar private schools, but I doubt it. I strongly suggest you look at schools where you might get significant merit. The truth is, your family seems to have significant available assets. If they do not want to use those assets to pay for school, that is absolutely their right … but the schools will see that there is money available, so they will expect it to be used to cover costs. </p>
<p>I can answer the question of how other people do it (we have a similar income) … we decided how much we would pay per year, and our kids attended schools where the bottom line was one we could afford. We did extend ourselves a bit … had to cut back on extras … but we chose to do that. By the way, both kids turned down schools that were too expensive (although they attended great schools that they liked a lot).</p>
<p>Duke’s NPC is pretty accurate and reasonable. Though, You do need to get a better ACT score to have a reasonable chance for Duke. On the other hand, consider yourself lucky that your parents are willing to pay for UoM’s COA.</p>
<p>It is low income people who get comparable packages from privates, in my experience.</p>
<p>It is very clear that you can’t ED to Duke because you need to be able to compare financial packages. So you apply Duke, Michigan and a few more where you have a change for large merit aid.</p>