<p>Hi there everybody. I am a rising senior, and up until recently, I was dead set on applying to Duke early decision. However, my mom and I just realized something troday while we were visiting duke. I will be needing a good financial aid package in order to attend duke, and i was just told today that people accepted into duke early decision only get their financial aid plans in the spring. </p>
<p>So the nightmare scenario is this: I go ED, get accepted, and rescind all my other applications to other schools. Months go by, where i'm convinced that im going to duke. However, then when the financial aid plans are released, my mom tells me that we cannot afford it. So we grieve it, and the new plan still does not make me able to go. At that point, I would need to prove I'm not able to go, and duke would release me from the commitment to go. However, as it is the spring, I have no applications out, as I have rescinded my applications as I was accepted early decision at duke, and so I have no acceptances at any other schools, not even any applications at any other schools. This is stressing me out a lot! My mom says that if what i wrote above is true, I cannot go early decision to duke, which would lower my chances significantly of getting in. Help please??!!</p>
<p>I would advise you, to avoid the situation you described, to not apply ED. This way you will have as many options to compare as possible. If you are competitive for Duke, you are certainly competitive for many other fabulous institutions RD. I would apply RD to all of the schools you want and to compare to see what school offers you the best package. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Did anyone bother to tell you that Duke’s FA office provides an estimate to all ED students who send their parents’ W2 forms? When I was accepted ED, Duke estimated my total contribution to be 5k per year. My actual tuition in spring turned out to be closer to 2k per year.</p>
<p>If the aid they offer you isn’t sufficient, you can also send an appeal to Duke’s FA office. They will reconsider your case if you provide them details and context not included in your tax forms.</p>
<p>If their offer is still insufficient, then opting out of the ED agreement for financial reasons is completely permissible.</p>
<p>Bottom line is, it’s impossible to be screwed over if you apply ED.</p>
<p>Wired…hopefully I can set your mind at ease a bit and clear up some confusion. I’m not sure who you talked to at Duke - was it someone in the FA office? I’m a Duke grad and have a son who is a junior at Duke and went through the ED/FA process and I’m very familiar with Duke’s FA process and policies.</p>
<p>If you apply ED this year to Duke, you will fill out the institutional financial aid form - the CSS Profile - in October. On that form you (or your parents) will provide detailed information on all of your finances - income and asset information for both your parents and you. You will be providing ESTIMATES of your 2012 income. If you are accepted ED in December, Duke will provide you with a preliminary financial aid award. Then, in March, you will send in all tax forms and W-2 forms to Duke (through a processor called IDOC). If you were able to estimate your income and assets correctly back in October, then your financial aid award will not change. So, your ability to “trust” the FA award you get in December is directly tied to how well you and your family are able to estimate your income/assets for 2012. </p>
<p>With all that being said, I’ll also tell you that it’s much easier to estimate your parent’s income situation if they are married and either or both are salaried employees (ie, they get W-2 forms). If your parents are divorced or if they own a small business, things get much much trickier and it can be much more difficult to predict how Duke will assess your financial situation. Either way, as a first step, you should carefully run your numbers through Duke’s net price calculator:</p>
<p>Then, if you or your family have any unusual financial circumstances, I would suggest discussing them with Duke’s FA office before deciding to apply ED.</p>
<p>Bottom line is, in my opinion, Duke is very fair and generous with financial aid, and the award that you would be offered if accepted ED will be identical to what you would get RD. Your and your family’s ability to estimate your financial situation correctly in October should be the deciding factor on whether you can/should apply ED.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to the first posts (well read the other ones top) after you apply ED you’ll get an estimate of FA if you get accepted. Duke meets 100% of need so it’ll be a good financial aid package and pretty comparable with other top institutions. Contact admissions or the FA Dept and they’ll walk you through everything, but the poster above me did a good job.</p>
<p>Let me correct my previous statement- I forgot that Duke gives ED applicants FA forms in the winter when acceptances are mailed, so in light of this new information, as LmaoZedong stated, you can’t really get screwed applying ED. You will know whether or not you get accepted and your estimated aid package, so you can either withdraw from the ED contract due to financial reasons and apply to other institutions and avoid the said problem come spring.</p>
<p>Exactly, apply and if you get in youll get you’re estimated FA in the winter so you’ll k ow of its going to work out in time before other deadlines</p>
<p>While Duke, like many other colleges, meets 100% of need, each institution calculates need differently. </p>
<p>Two years ago, my son was accepted to 11 colleges RD. Even though each college meet 100% of need with no loans, the financial aid offered by each school varied dramatically. The lowest aid offered was 12k per year, the highest aid offered was 36k. </p>
<p>To get an idea of the money you would receive from each college, go to their net-price calculator. By law, every college must now have one on their website. See: <a href=“Net Price Calculator”>Net Price Calculator;
<p>OP, given what you’ve written, I don’t think ED is right for you. At this point, when Duke gives you your FA estimate is irrelevant whether it is in December or in the Spring. What matters is that if you are accepted ED, you are committed to going to Duke regardless of what FA you get and when you get it. As you mentioned, the only way out is if Duke determines you are financially unable to pay. However, the important thing to realize is that because Duke is the only one that can make that determination, in effect, there would be a conflict of interest. On the one hand, ED gives Duke the advantage of increasing its yield and thus its ranking, on the other hand, it may also equitably decide whether to release an ED spot that they would then have to admit 2.5 more applicants for. I would not bank on that happening even if you think you cannot reasonably afford Duke. </p>
<p>So in short, if you know that money could be an insurmountable issue, ED is definitely not the situation to put yourself into to find out.</p>
<p>@SBR, yes i would concur. OP, I think that due to this financial situation, it would probably be easiest to apply RD and compare packages, unless your heart is set on Duke, apply RD so you can compare options.</p>