<p>Finally my son got into one of his dream schools, Duke.
In our FAFSA the EFC is 13,000. We have an investment property in CA which is under water. Duke says it does not count that property as in loss, since it is on paper. so, no aid at all.</p>
<p>But, on the other hand UC Berkeley considered the 13,000 and willing to pay the rest of its fee.</p>
<p>Can any parent advice me how to deal with Duke.</p>
<p>Duke uses Profile, Berkeley only FAFSA. If you’ve already talked to Duke, there’s not much more you can do.</p>
<p>I’ve never seen anyone have a successful appeal with Duke financial aid. I’m sorry that his dream school may not be affordable.</p>
<p>Duke had you fill out the CSS Profile? </p>
<p>UCB was FAFSA, did they have you send the Profile to them?</p>
<p>Some schools, mostly private when distributing their own institutional aid use the value of home equity or additional real estate in evaluating a parent’s ability to pay.</p>
<p>Did you formally ask Duke FA (as in a written request for an appeal) to review your son’s package with the consideration that your home is “under water”?</p>
<p>is the property completely paid for or are you holding a mortgage that is more than the property is worth?</p>
<p>Maybe if you can “prove” the property is worth less than what you owe a reconsideration would be in order. The thinking being if you were to sell it and take a loss you would still have no ability to pay the $60K price tag.</p>
<p>However, since your EFC does not make you eligible for any federal aid other than subsidized loans the monies extended to you by Duke would be all institutional funds, ie their money.</p>
<p>Duke does offer merit scholie’s, did your son receive any of those?</p>
<p>FAFSA numbers are heavily weighted with income as a primary determinant however that is not true with the Profile and/or an institutional methodolgy for FA packages.</p>
<p>Asking at this point cannot hurt.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>You can always ask to talk to the financial aid director and go over the situation and see if there is any way they will look at a differently. It doesn’t hurt to ask and perhaps there are some aspects of the whole thing that can be reexamined. </p>
<p>Most of the time appeals do not work, and when they do, the amounts adjusted, unless there is an out and out mistake are usually very small.</p>
<p>Duke had you fill out the CSS Profile?
Yes</p>
<p>UCB was FAFSA, did they have you send the Profile to them?
Yes, they asked for and we have sent it already, resulting in for us to pay only 13,000 EFC.</p>
<p>Is the property completely paid for or are you holding a mortgage that is more than the property is worth?
The investment property bought for 330,000, now it is worth 150,000. Rent pays off the 3/4 of the mortgage+insurance. 1/4 we pay out pf pocket. None of it is paid off, since it is interest only loan.</p>
<p>My son did not receive any merit scholarship also, for which Duke said, they offer it to only 50-60 students and done with it already,.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>Are you sure that Duke did not refer to depreciation expenses as " on paper only", and not to your entire situation?</p>
<p>your son’s not alone!</p>
<p>I even went in person to Duke to discuss my aid, and they won’t even listen to my appeal. It’s crazy. whatever, Berkeley’s a great school, and everyone I know who graduated there have better careers than those I know at Duke. </p>
<p>Did your son get regents? if he did, definitely come to Cal! Duke isn’t worth 80k of debt. Seriously. And this is coming from a guy whose dream school was Duke since middle school.</p>
<p>I found the Duke FA office rude and disinterested in any appeal. They just send form letters that appear rude as they lack any personal connection to the individual student and the officer did not even bother to examine it beyond a quick look.</p>
<p>*UCB was FAFSA, did they have you send the Profile to them?</p>
<p>Yes, they asked for and we have sent it already, resulting in for us to pay only 13,000 EFC.*</p>
<p>??? Are you saying that Cal asked you to send them CSS Profile? Why would they ask for that? Is Cal now a CSS Profile school? If not, then why would they ask for it? If they’re FAFSA only, then what would they be using from CSS? Why wouldn’t they ask that for all students, then?</p>
<p>What is the mortgage on that property?</p>
<p>Something doesn’t sound right. Even if the property was purchased for $330 and was still worth that much at this point, once you subtract the mortgage, the asset wouldn’t be enough to go from $13k EFC to no aid. Something ELSE may be causing the high family contribution.</p>
<p>Is your income lowish? If you have income from employment AND rental income, why is your FAFSA EFC only $13k?</p>
<p>Good luck at Cal busterbeetle!:)</p>
<p>Thank you! :)</p>