<p>So I have gotten into my dream college - Duke. I am so excited to have been accepted and the only thing i had to worry about was financial aid. And I got my financial aid package today. It sucked. I cannot afford to pay that much for college. I received 4800 dollars in aid. I am so incredibly sad. My family does not make that much money. My dad is a police officer and my mother does not work. The reason our financial aid is so crazy is because we own rental properties. We literally have no money. none. I am going to be denied my dream school because I cannot afford it, that is the only reason. I cannot believe I worked so hard and did so well to only be denied because of my financial situation. What can I do? we are appealing the financial aid decision, but should I write the undergrad admissions office as well. They are the ones who admitted me and if they want me to go there, do you think they would encourage the financial aid office to give me some more money? Can I beg? I got am amazing financial aid package from Wash U, BUT I DONT WANT TO GO THERE. I understand it is a great school, but Duke is where I want to go. I DESERVE TO GO, THEY ADMITTED ME! I know life is not fair, but this hurts so bad. I cannot even explain how incredibly sad i truly am. If anyone knows how to get more money out of colleges, could you please help me. I have applied for tons of outside scholarships, but that will only get me so far.</p>
<p>I am in the exact same situation, except I only got 1800 in financial aid, plus the 2,600 stafford loan. :-(</p>
<p>I got some FA, but not nearly enough. Duke is (was, it looks like) my top choice! Can I appeal it? :(</p>
<p>Yes, you can appeal financial aid, because someone else I know did and had it upped by 700 dollars, not much but something still.</p>
<p>Yes, you ought to explain your situation if you think you're not getting a fair deal.</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> if only money didn't matter</p>
<p>I am very afraid we'll be in the same situation. Our income last year was somewhere near 100,000 dollars total (from both parents). So colleges see this...but they don't see that this past year was an anomaly; for the past 10 years we've made half that per year. How much hope is there of getting fin. aid changed to a reasonable amount in a circumstance like this? Are there any scholarships you (collectively) would reccomend?</p>
<p>I emailed my FA counselour twice today and got prompt responses telling me to write a detailed letter explaining my situation. Apparently for children of divorced parents, Duke considers both parents when making the Family Contribution number, while FAFSA only considers custodial parent.
That sucks when you non custodial parent is not willing to contribute much but their income is very high therefore boosting the Family Contribution number and almost tripling my EFC. So I will be writing an extremely detailed letter tommorow in hopes that I can do something.</p>
<p>I agree with the earlier post, WE GOT IN TO AN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT COLLEGE AND NOW BECAUSE OF DOLLAR SIGNS WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO GO. Life sucks sometimes!</p>
<p>Have you ever heard of those kids from extremely depressing circumstances, e.g. father died when they were young, mother is a welfare recipient, etc., etc., etc. and they end up graduating from top-ranked schools like Duke? [See the movie "Rudy."]</p>
<p>Quit whining and do something about it. You sh/ have ALREADY been looking for scholarships and financial aid. [Okay, your post says you have applied for "tons" of scholarships; whatever that means.] I know personally, for example, that children of law enforcement officers are frequently eligible for scholarships.</p>
<p>If you REALLY wanted to go to Duke, you would figure out a way to pay for it. That, unfortunately, includes loans.</p>
<p>you say the rental properties probably make you seem more well-off than you are. perhaps elucidate them as to how those properties arent as much of an asset as they think they are (i thought fixed assets like land properties werent counted for FinAid?)</p>
<p>Bill0510, I don't think this is the place for tough love. mjs4n6 got into Duke - he is obviously not a stupid person and is probably well aware of everything you pointed out. He did apply for many scholarships (which is what "tons" means, since you seem unclear about that) but Duke costs $44,330 per year. Unless a student is a recipient of the few large scholarships such as Coca-Cola Scholars, etc., the number of scholarships needed to fill the remaining $39,500 is staggering. With most scholarships ranging from $500 to $1000, it is simply not possible to get that kind of money. </p>
<p>About the welfare/dire circumstances sort of kids graduating from top schools like Duke, that's because below a certain level of income, finaid makes college free. I acknowledge the profound hardships these people had to overcome, but finding money to pay for college was not one of them, which is the object of this thread.</p>
<p>There are a whole host of issues that a prospective student must consider when selecting a college, one of them being how much debt he or she wants to have upon exiting college. With many people now extending their studies beyond four years, the potential debt could be above $300,000 - a formidable price for anyone. To translate having such a debt into a demonstration of "really" wanting to go to a school is ludicrous and offensive.</p>
<p>So, please, before you chastise someone for voicing their worries about their financial situation, at least show some more compassion for what they're going through. It's not an easy experience and you should have at least a modicum of respect for that.</p>
<p>"Tons" probably means many, incase that was unclear in his message lol</p>
<p>Hey Bill0510,
I dont know where you get off saying what you just said. YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO I AM. If you would have thought before you opened your mouth, perhaps I have applied to about 50 scholarships, maybe I have been thinking about this for a long time, maybe I do have crazy family circumstances! WAHT IF MY FAMILY HAS TO PROVIDE FOR THE REST OF MY FAMILY! DO I NEED TO POST THAT ON THIS SITE!?!?!!? NO!
I think i can speak for many people when I say that I had NO IDEA college was this expensive! NO IDEA! I applied for every scholarship I was eligible for, but of course i am not going to get them all. Getting 12 $1,000.00 scholarships only adds up to $12,000.00. Duke costs $42,000.00 I have called and exhausted every connection that I know of! AND YES I GOT SOME SCHOLARSHIPS FROM MY DAD'S WORK, BUT GUESS WHAT!!!! 1,000 DOLLARS IS NOT GOING TO HAVE ME SET FOR DUKE IS IT?
COMPLAINING AND WHINING!!! COMPLAINING AND WHINING!! I HAVE DESIRED TO GO TO DUKE FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS, HAVE WORKED HARD TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS IN ORDER, I MADE SURE I APPLIED FOR SCHOLARSHIPS, MANY MANY SCHOLARSHIPS (SOME I DID NOT EVEN QUALIFY FOR), AND NOW I AM HERE. I CANNOT PAY FOR MY COLLEGE EDUCATION. I am stuck. I am not complaining. I am hurt. I wish the world worked like you say. IF YOU WORK HARD ENOUGH FOR SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE GOING TO GET IT. THAT IS A FAIRY TALE. I DID EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE, I UNDERSTAND THE WORLD IS NOT FAIR. I simply wanted to know if anyone else could offer some input or advice for me. Maybe you were trying to be helpful with "tough love," but I did not find it helpful. OBVIOUSLY I EXHAUSTED EVERYTHING I HAVE, I WOULD NOT HAVE POSTED THIS IF I DID NOT APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS!
COLLEGE SHOULD NOT BE THIS MUCH OF A FINANCIAL HASSLE IF YOU HAVE WORKED HARD, BUT THAT IS LIFE, I KNOW, I JUST WANT SOME WAY TO GET AROUND THIS FACT!!! WOOOO your post ****ed me off, I am sorry, i need to go and run to relieve some anger.</p>
<p>Thanks for that post, slipstream. I think we all agree. Bill0510, if you look at financial aid policies at elite schools, many (like Harvard, Yale, etc.) say quite clearly that they do not expect any contributions AT ALL if your family makes under $40,000 and have a lot of aid for families in the $40,000-$60,000 range, which explains many "overcoming obstacles" stories. Scholarships are mostly intended to reduce loans, not pay $40,000 for a Duke education. </p>
<p>mjs4n6, try to contact Duke's FA office. I called yesterday, and they were surprisingly willing to negotiate once I explained my situation. If you're planning on going to graduate school (like many Duke students), tell them. It helped me, at least.</p>
<p>The problem with Duke's backwards FA Office is that in my case where I got a 30,000 dollar Duke University need based scholarship, if I started to apply outside scholarships towards my tuition, it would only lessen the amount of need based aid from Duke and do nothing to lessen my family contribution so unless I get over 30,000 in scholarships from outside sources, I'm sunk. That seems pretty backwards to me and gives a lot of people no incentive to apply for scholarships.</p>
<p>Question: The form everyone received on their Duke admit packet that we have to sign to accept our financial aid - when do we have to sign that by? I don't know if I'm going to Duke yet, so would I only have to do it if I chose to enroll?</p>
<p>Correct me if I'm wrong, Bill0510, but let me guess you are not eligible for any aid at Duke based on your high family income. Otherwise, no one has any excuse for not knowing about the realities of merit aid - outside scholarships are sparse. Silly, silly. You shouldn't provoke such attacks. CC'ers are mean!</p>
<p>Actually, we are eligible for some aid. A combination of scholarship money, savings, and loans will pay for a Duke education. Just as most people sh/ anticipate.</p>
<p>For one to suggest that they had "No idea" as to the expense of a Duke eduction reflects a naivete that is somewhat unbelievable. Duke is not a community college and scholarship funds are limited at schools such as this. This is no secret. </p>
<p>If one has been planning attendance at Duke for "years" then savings are a necessary component of that plan. If there are no savings, then expectations of a full scholarship were not realistic. The fruit of misplaced expectations is bitter one to taste. No "tough love" intended.</p>
<p>[By the way, "tons" is a measure of weight, not a measure of units.]</p>
<p>If you use some simple logic, then tons is a measure of units.</p>
<p>Weight is a type of unit
Tons is a type of weight
Therefore Tons is a type of Unit</p>
<p>mjs4n6 and billo5 cool down here a bit. mj is frustrated and is trying to vent his frustrations. Perhaps this is a wrong place. Bill05 you said is rather correctly," that the fruits of misplaced expectations is bitter one to taste". I would add one more that not having a talk with your parents about finances before you apply is also wrong. </p>
<p>mj, you said your father is a police officer and may or may not make very high salary and you have very little liquid assets, but your family has rental properties. However, need base aid does not only depend on lquid cash or yearly income. The approximate EFC calculation = 12% of yearly income + 5.8% ASSETS (fixed, liquid, life insurance, stocks and bond etc)+25% child's assets. It is not the salary that hurts it is the assets.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The problem with Duke's backwards FA Office is that in my case where I got a 30,000 dollar Duke University need based scholarship, if I started to apply outside scholarships towards my tuition, it would only lessen the amount of need based aid from Duke and do nothing to lessen my family contribution so unless I get over 30,000 in scholarships from outside sources, I'm sunk. That seems pretty backwards to me and gives a lot of people no incentive to apply for scholarships.
[/quote]
Actually, that's not true. Outside scholarships first decrease your self-help.</p>