<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I just received my financial aid offer from Duke University a few days ago, so this might be a time critical question.
I was given about 20k in aid, with 5k of that being an unsubsidized loan and 2k being work study. My parents would really like to send me to Duke (my first choice!) since I'm an only child. However, they'd essentially have to deplete their savings and budget their money strictly to pay our EFC, and I feel extremely guilty about this. I know they have to retire soon, and my state school, the University of Washington, would be less of a burden financially. Yet, I really feel that UW isn't a great fit for me, and it still costs a considerable amount of money. I also plan to attend medical/grad school which would eventually incur extreme debt.</p>
<p>So, I was wondering if I would be able to appeal my offer, and how to go about doing it. I'm not sure what reason to list for appealing, besides being unable to attend with the current offer. If I can get an extra grant of about 5k a year, I would be 20k in debt going into medical school, which is something my parents think is not ideal, but acceptable, and would allow me to go. How do I communicate this to financial aid officers? Or, what should I do?</p>
<p>Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Try to appeal, but as an only child without any serious issues, I doubt they’ll give you more.</p>
<p>If I can get an extra grant of about 5k a year, I would be 20k in debt going into medical school,</p>
<p>I don’t get this. Are you saying that if they give you $5k more a year, then your Stafford loans will be lower, but your parents will still have to pay out the same?</p>
<p>BTW…even going into med school with $20k in debt is a lot. Do you realize that your undergrad/med school debt is capped at $224k? if you have $20k for undergrad, then you’ll only have $204 for med school. Many med schools cost more than $50k per year, plus you’ll have living expenses (med students living expenses are around $15-22k per year)</p>
<p>Seriously, for pre-med, go to UWash. It’s insane to deplete your parents savings for pre-med. YOU ARE going to need their help during med school - I promise you that!</p>
<p>If they give me 5k more per year, along with the 5k loan already offered, then I would only be 20k in debt, which I might be able to work over the year/summer to pay off. It is still a lot, but my parents would still use most of their savings (unless I win a few more scholarships than expected) to send me to UW because of our high EFC. I hope to get into UW for med school, since the tuition is considerably less as I’m a resident, so I would incur about 40-50k of debt from med school if I remain in the same financial situation. I’m not sure if Duke is worth the extra possibly 40k of debt or 20k of undergrad debt (if I’m able to successfully appeal).</p>
<p>Do you have any financial aid offers from other colleges? Many students apply to lower-ranked schools that will offer more merit aid and use the offers that the lower-ranked school offered to convince a more expensive school to nudge their financial aid offers a little bit in the right direction. </p>
<p>If it’s not too late, see if you can find a mediocre LAC in your area that will still accept free applications online or for a minimal fee. It won’t take long for you to add them to your FAFSA and they will usually get back to you in a week. Then you can take their offer to Duke and DUke will likely match or even exceed it as part of their yield protection programme.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Top schools usually do NOT care if a student has better merit offers from lower tier schools. All top schools know that their students can easily get big merit from lower tier schools. </p>
<p>And, there’s no time for any of this. The student has to decide this week. There’s no way the student can submit an app, get transcripts sent and received, get school approval and a great FA package all in a week. You’re dreaming.</p>
<p>So, what you’re saying is that it would be better for the student to take more loans and get even deeper into debt than she already is? You don’t see how irresponsible that advice is? </p>
<p>I get what you’re saying about the time crunch, but it’s still doable if the student moves quickly. It often doesn’t take long to fill these applications (many of them attract applications by waiving essays and a handful even don’t require SAT scores). Many schools fill transcript requests within a week, and if you are in a desperate hurry it’s possible to talk to the high school guidance counselor to put a rush on it. I know Lynchburg College, which gives substantial merit aid, promises a response in a week for students who apply by their priority deadline, a rule that can be bent for high-stat talent that schools like that want to attract.</p>
<p>And as far as “top schools NOT caring about better merit awards” - I have two words: Yield Protection. Duke is a brand, and a key part of its prestige as a “top school” (which you acknowledge it is), is their U.S. News and World Report ranking. As of 2011, they dropped down 5 ranks in the U.S. News listings, from #5 to #10. The people who work there know that part of their problem was their poor yield management; it’s part of what led to their gigantic waitlist this year (2x the size of the Freshman class!!) Duke will renegotiate aid in a few select cases; if the difference between this student enrolling or going to some podunk state U is $5k, I wouldn’t be surprised if Duke forked over that grant and ran with it.</p>
<p>It’s worth a shot, and for the OP to give up on Duke when there’s a viable attack plan available would be reckless.</p>
<p>*So, what you’re saying is that it would be better for the student to take more loans and get even deeper into debt than she already is? You don’t see how irresponsible that advice is? *
**
Ha!!! I suggest that you READ what I wrote in post #2.<a href=“and%20she%20isn’t%20already%20in%20debt…she%20has%20no%20debt.”>/B</a> I suggested that she go to UWash and have NO debt.</p>
<p>I can use bold too!!! :D</p>
<p>I did read that. I also read the OP’s original post, where she indicated that:</p>
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<p>Not only will she end up spending a lot of money (not as much as Duke, but still quite a bit) she’ll be at the wrong school. Her grades could suffer and she could have limited internship and other opportunities at a state school that she could have gotten at Duke, possibly jeopardizing her chances of getting into the medical school of her choice.</p>
<p>Not only that, she might be able to reduce the debt from Duke even further by working summer and / or on campus and using the savings as leverage to successfully decline some of the loans offered by Duke for the remaining three years.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t put a lot into the thinking that UW isn’t a great fit. It may not be the perfect fit, but it certainly is a very fine school that would be acceptable. </p>
<p>Duke is a bad idea in this case. A desire for perfect “fit” does NOT trump spending all of the parents savings nor racking up needless debt when med school is on the horizon.</p>
<p>Not only will she end up spending a lot of money (not as much as Duke, but still quite a bit) she’ll be at the wrong school. Her grades could suffer and she could have limited internship and other opportunities at a state school that she could have gotten at Duke, possibly jeopardizing her chances of getting into the medical school of her choice.</p>
<p>Oh, please, cry me a river. She wouldn’t be at the “wrong school.” Only a spoiled brat would let her grades suffer at UW because she wasn’t at Duke. Do you really think that if she hadn’t got accepted to Duke, she’d be doomed to failure at UWash??? LOLOLOLOL</p>
<p>And, her parents can afford UW.</p>
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<p>We don’t know that. Both schools are reasonably expensive, and there might be loans involved in U-Dub as well as Duke (although letter for the state school, obviously). </p>
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<p>I’m glad you can be so flippant over this, but college is one of the first adult decisions that she has to make. She has to make sure she is going to an institution where she can thrive. If a state school lacks the resources of the opportunities that she needs to succeed, then her failure is indeed her fault for making the wrong choice and going to an inferior university when a superior alternative was available for only slightly less money. </p>
<p>At the very least, she should at least try and get Duke to give more money. If that fails, then U-Dub becomes a tolerable option. However, there is no reason to surrender now when there is so much time left to try available ploys and make a superior decision.</p>
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<p>Not true. Schools will SOMETIMES reconsider your aid based on peer schools. Schools in the top 20 couldn’t care less if you got great aid from a school that is not considered on equal footing. Yale might reconsider based on an offer from Harvard. BUT neither school would reconsider based on what you were awarded from your local community college.</p>
<p>Also…schools that use the Profile have varying formulas for determining financial need. Some of these schools won’t bend a BIT on the need based aid they offer you. Others will.</p>
<p>Most schools will reconsider if you have some change in your financial circumstances. This student doesn’t say WHY she needs more money from Duke. The tone of her posts make me think that Duke met her financial need but that her parents are unable or unwilling to make up the difference (which is what Duke has calculated they can pay).</p>
<p>BUT having said all of that…Give Duke a call FAST (May 1 is rapidly approaching). Tell them that Duke is your number one choice and your financial aid as it stands might prevent you from attending. Ask if there is any chance this can be reconsidered. Nothing ventured…nothing gained.</p>
<p>so I would incur about 40-50k of debt from med school if I remain in the same financial situation.</p>
<p>Why do you think that you would only have $40-50k in debt from med school?</p>
<p>*And, her parents can afford UW.</p>
<p>We don’t know that. Both schools are reasonably expensive, and there might be loans involved in U-Dub as well as Duke (although letter for the state school, obviously). *</p>
<p>*I know they have to retire soon, and my state school, the University of Washington, would be less of a burden financially. *</p>
<p>UW is in-state for this student. It is a LOT less expensive than Duke and would require less travel expenses. </p>
<p>COA for the 2009-10 school year (so obviously more expensive for the next 4 years)</p>
<p>Duke: $53,390,</p>
<p>UWash: $20,310</p>
<p>Obviously, if her parents can somehow afford Duke thru belt-tightening and savings, they can easily afford UWash. </p>
<p>If UW is so inadequate for her, why is she considering it for med school?</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone you replied. I took all of your comments into consideration and they’ve been extremely helpful. UW is a great school, I’m very lucky to have been accepted, and I’m sure I would be fine there, but the undergraduate situation is less than desirable (bigger class sizes, less opportunities, etc) whereas the medical school is considerably different. I would likely live with my parents if I were to go to med school at UW, which means my tuition would be 22k for the first two years and 28k for the last two. I guess I would have to borrow something around 50k-70k, with work and parental contribution covering the other costs. </p>
<p>But, back to the original problem, I called the financial aid office today and they were able to offer me an extra 4k grant after I explained my situation (provided I send in a formal, written request) which has convinced my parents to let me attend. 
So it looks like I’ll hopefully be a Blue Devil next year. </p>
<p>Thank you once again!</p>
<p>but the undergraduate situation is less than desirable (bigger class sizes, less opportunities, etc)</p>
<p>That’s only usually true for lower division classes. Often when you’re in upper division classes (300/400) the class sizes are much, much smaller. </p>
<p>What are the class sizes for lower division Duke courses?</p>
<p>*whereas the medical school is considerably different. I would likely live with my parents if I were to go to med school at UW, which means my tuition would be 22k for the first two years and 28k for the last two. *</p>
<p>For the past year, tuition and books are $24k for the first two years and $32k for the second two years. By the time that you’d be going (5 increases by then) the prices will probably be about $10k per year higher - at least.</p>
<p>[Budget</a> Information | UW Medicine, Seattle](<a href=“http://uwmedicine.washington.edu/Education/MD-Program/Current-Students/Information-Resources-Technology/resources-services/Financial-Aid/Pages/Budget-Information.aspx]Budget”>http://uwmedicine.washington.edu/Education/MD-Program/Current-Students/Information-Resources-Technology/resources-services/Financial-Aid/Pages/Budget-Information.aspx)</p>
<p>Since UW is ranked #1 and #6 for med schools, it’s hard to get in there. [University</a> of Washington - Best Medical Schools - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/items/04122]University”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/items/04122)</p>
<p>There’s no guarantee that you’d get accepted to UW for med school. What if you’re not accepted there and must go somewhere that you’d have to pay OOS costs and living expenses?</p>