<p>how does everyone afford duke? without financial aid which most people don't get, it's insane... is everyone made of money? my parents make quite a bit over the cutoff for no aid and say that it will still be very tough for us to make it work...</p>
<p>do a lot of people from well off family take out student loans? do they make their parents broke? is there some kinda catch?</p>
<p>i hate to not be able to attend duke because of money, but it looks like that's what it's coming down to... unless i take out a lot of student loans... i just don't know...</p>
<p>It depends on your parents commitment and point of view. Some parents are able to pay for college, but feel that debt will motivate the student to work hard and/or want to protect their retirement. Others have no problem investing everything they have into their kids, and hoping they will be compensated later when their kids are well off. So the amount of contribution expected from the student is extremely varied.</p>
<p>But if you are wondering how your situation is relative to other people, find comfort that a lot of people have to take out loans or have a difficult time paying for Duke. But the education/opportunity at Duke seems to be worth it for them.</p>
<p>If the amount of debt you will go in is reasonable and you really like Duke, then bite the bullet. In the long run, it's probably worth it.</p>
<p>60% of Duke students are on no financial aid. This means they have parents that are doctors/lawyers/ CEOs that are making at least $200,000 a year and they probably have college funds and trust funds in their own name too. Their parents receive a bill every semester for around $23,000 and just write a check and pay it in full.</p>
<p>"60% of Duke students are on no financial aid. This means they have parents that are doctors/lawyers/ CEOs that are making at least $200,000 a year and they probably have college funds and trust funds in their own name too. Their parents receive a bill every semester for around $23,000 and just write a check and pay it in full."</p>
<p>I disagree. This is a HUGE misconception assuming Duke students are all elitist rich kids. My family is an upper middle class family. We live with in our means with one house, three Honda cars for my family's three drivers, money saved but nothing like a trust fund for my brother and I set aside. I've always had a really comfortable, nice living. I get NO financial aid. Literally. Despite the fact that my parents have been able to give my brother and I nearly everything we want, including in my case, a Duke education, it is a hardship and there are times when I do feel like a burden. My parent's do NOT write Duke is $23,000 check a year. We have the payment plan, so my family pays roughly $1,500 a month. Of course, loans have been a big part of my education as well...with about $20,000 a year being taken out by my family and I combined. SO there are certainly normal people like myself attending Duke who have to foot the bill in its entirety. Yes there are people to which $50,000 a year is a walk in the park, but you'll also find many upper middle class families who don't meet qualifications for exorbitant amounts of aid, yet find a way to make it work.</p>
<p>I'm not going to get on a high horse or anything about how frustrating this is, but it is. You do see a huge divide between those receiving aid and those who don't (as in the people I know who get it don't pay a dime, and those who don't pay it al), and there are times I feel gipped because my family isn't rolling around in $50,000 extra a year, but I guess that's life.</p>
<p>So I guess, in essence, it's a little bit of both. It's a little bit of making your family "poor," relatively speaking, and a little bit of taking out loans. But I have enjoyed my experience here so much that I think it has been extremely worth it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You do see a huge divide between those receiving aid and those who don't
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Is that really apparent on a day-to-day basis? Are students really aware of who's getting lots of financial aid and who isn't? I'm interested in knowing how this divide affects student life at Duke.</p>
Are students really aware of who's getting lots of financial aid and who isn't?
[/quote]
nceph - it's on the nametags students are required to wear. On the left side, there's usually either a large dollar bill, festooned with small emeralds, denoting those paying full tuition, or a slightly smudged drawing of Mr</a>. R. U. Moneybags during one of his rare economic downturns. </p>
<p>People on merit aid have the Rhodes</a> Bird as a reminder of what we would like them to achieve. There are bluetooth transponders and RFID coils embedded in the tag so that the Office of University Scholars and Fellows can track them. The SmartMap at the main office is similar to the tracking system used by Nextel, but instead, the administrators at OUSF tell faculty members, "Don't Agitate The TOTS" (where TOTS is adminspeak for "Top Of the TopS").</p>
<p>Other than that, there is no outward expression of one's particular financial situation or relationship to the financial aid office.</p>
<p>Oh no, it doesn't affect student life at all. But I'm just saying from my experiences talking with friends and whatnot. I speak particularly from comparing the financial situation of a previous roommate and myself. It's not a blatant, outward divide but internally it exists.</p>
<p>nceph - well, when my D tells me that her roommate has hired someone to pack up her possessions in the dorm room - then yes, it is apparent there is a difference! To be honest I was flabberghasted!</p>
<p>Contrast that with the wealthy man known only by his initial seen freshman year carrying his D's possessions into her dorm on East Campus. Everyone was nudging each other to point him out - he was just doing what every other Dad was doing - lugging stuff to a dorm room.</p>
<p>Thanks for your helpful responses, Westcoastmon and LoveDuke22. </p>
<p>I'm sorry you didn't think it was a legitimate question, DukeEgr93. With my two kids, we've visited and investigated a lot of colleges, and at some of them the divide IS apparent. At some, the kids are driving cars that cost about the same as a year's tuition; at others, the day-to-day social opportunities are indeed different, depending on the student's financial situation. I'm glad to know you don't think it's a problem at Duke.</p>
<p>I did think it was a legitimate question. I'm sorry humor did not come off as an appropriate response. The last sentence was meant as the answer, and I was trying to make the point that there really is no such outward expression of who is and is not on financial aid. As someone who teaches approximately 500 of these students per year, it would greatly trouble me if there were. As someone who was on federal financial aid to cover tuition, it would personally trouble me as well. </p>
<p>Here's a different response - </p>
<p>Of course, there will be some folks with more or less expensive vehicles - or none at all - or other possessions/trips/etc that will give hints as to financial situation. But as for whether it's apparent or a social marker that stigmatizes people? Not to my eyes. The only exceptions (to knowing if someone is on financial aid) are the students who volunteered to be in the Financial Aid Campaign advertisements. There are also those with "names" that you can probably assume are not on aid.</p>
<p>In truth, I <em>did</em> end up "wearing" my financial situation in a way; I paid for Duke through the NROTC scholarship, and so at least once a week was readily identified as a person receiving financial aid from the federal government.</p>
<p>I thought DukeEgr93's humor was quite an appropriate response and answered the question perfectly. Nobody knows who is and isn't on financial aid on campus and there is no social divide in any way. I have friends whose parents are millionaires and others whose parents literally have less than $100 in liquid assets....It is not apparent at all who is on and not on financial aid, and when you talk to people, sometimes you are surprised at their actual financial situation (but, in the end, you don't really care). I think the "divide" would only occur with close friends after you talk about it, and then you are slightly bitter that they get money and you don't (or vice versa), but you don't really care about it in the large scheme of things because he or she is already your friend.</p>
<p>nceph - there have been a lot of threads in other forums about this topic. Some wealthy people are nice and some are not. Some are great at inviting their roommates to visit and treating them as a welcome guest. Some ignore their roommates just like non wealthy students do. I have to say it comes down to upbringing and manners.</p>
<p>I think there was a comment on a similar thread earlier this year or last fall in this forum from a student who said their roommate was a billionaire's daughter and one of the nicest people she had ever met. That's why it I say it comes down to upbringing and manners.</p>
<p>Thanks, all. Sorry I didn't appreciate the attempted humor. </p>
<p>I'm glad the consensus appears to be that it's not a significant issue at Duke. As I said, it IS an issue at some colleges, which is why I asked.</p>
<p>As I have posted elsewhere, you can probably find wealthy snobs on any campus. They were there at my State U when I attended. </p>
<p>Our son has significant financial aid. His friends come from families of just about every financial, social, religious and ethnic group you could imagine. He is not unique in that respect. The only time he is aware of any financial differences is when travel plans are discussed (and when he reads those name tags DukeEGR93 described, above ;)). And that is never a big deal. </p>
<p>Really, most of these kids are way to smart to care about something so superficial. And if there are some people who behave like jerks, as there will be just about anywhere, you don't much want them as friends, anyway.</p>
<p>We have met many of S1's friends and also some of their parents. They have all been really wonderful people--we have not met any we have not enjoyed being with when we are at the various functions, whether it's an Engineering BBQ, a football or basketball game, or an alumni event in our area. We have had a number of his friends in our home, during breaks or in the summer, and they have been terrific guests. S1 knows kids on financial aid, and some who have extremely wealthy parents--he says it doesn't matter, and that they are all great kids. We wouldn't know who is a "have" and who is a "have not", financially speaking. The few we do know to have significant wealth have been some of the most gracious and "down-to-earth"! All of his friends have summer jobs, and many (like S1) have jobs at Duke, or in the surrounding area during the school year.</p>
<p>I echo the statements above that there is not an overt divide among the kids - at least not so my D noticed. Maybe she's not overly sensitive, but after almost a year there she could not tell you very much about any particular friend's parents' situation. She said it is not a subject that readily comes up. I don't hear of a lot of arrogance among many of the students.
Along the same line, I asked her if she ever feels overwhelmed by all the smart students around her, and she replied everyone feels dumb compared to each other.<br>
I have spoken to and seen the kids in her particularly small dorm and they have been some of the warmest, most down-to-earth kids I have met.
Regarding paying tuition, the Tuition Management System deal where you can spread out payments can be very helpful.</p>
<p>Just because a student's parents are paying full freight doesn't mean they are rich. A lot of parents renew the mortgage on their house or take out a home equity loan to pay for school so that their kids won't be overwhelmed with debt. Our promise to our kids is that we will pay for undergraduate school but they are responsible for graduate or professional school. Retirement will be dicey for us as a result, but we were planning to work until we dropped anyway.</p>
