<p>oldtimeyfan, you are quite a nice parent. My parents already have the mortgage on the house we live in right now....and there's at least 150-180k left on that...so I don't think they would take another one lol</p>
<p>Everyone else has already mentioned that no one really cares how much (or how little) money your family has, and, as a financial aid recipient, I completely agree. </p>
<p>In fact, I personally think that most people here think it would be stupid to judge someone on their current financial situation. After all, think of how many Duke students are going to go on to be rich and influential doctors, CEOs, or investment bankers. Looking down on someone at Duke because they don't have money now doesn't take into account the success they will probably have in their future.</p>
<p>So, in addition to everyone being nice about money because everyone is honestly just nice, there's also a common sense aspect to think about.</p>
<p>My family is having a hard time paying for college. We applied for FA and didn't get any, but they believed that since I got into Duke that it was worth the money.. I actually couldn't apply to any private schools below Cornell which didn't offer merit scholarships, lol</p>
<p>While I appreciate that no one gets looked down on for NOT having money, I actually took some of the earlier posts a different way; feeling like a "sucker", or being jealous or resentful of those who qualify for aid ( "not having money" ), because it seems less fair to have to pay full price. While I am very greatful to be able to have that option and wouldn't have it any other way, and while I recognize it's all relative, at this point, less than 2 weeks from decision deadline, my FANTASY is it would be a much easier decision to make to turn down merit aid eslwhere if there was even a token "discount'.</p>
<p>Hopefully, Duke will follow the lead of Harvard, Yale, etc. to make sure the middle class doesn't go into hock to afford a private school education. Since they've made the move to limit tuition to 10 percent (think thats right) for those making between 100-200k, I told my daughter who is competitive for the Ivies but loves Duke, that if she does get into one of those "10 percent" schools she can kiss Duke goodbye. Means that Duke will continue to play second fiddle to those schools when it comes time to compete for the cream of the crop.</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>You seriously believe this? Very, very ignorant.</p>
<p>My parents make about $215,000 per year. LMAO no neither is a lawyer or CEO. CEOs make a lot more than that. Anyway, after taxes that comes down to about $130,000 per year. People tend to forget that the highest income bracket pays 40% for income/s.s./ma taxes. </p>
<p>Anyway, after $55,000 in tuition my parents will be left with about $75,000 cumulative, for high responsibility, high stress jobs that have them working longs hours to pay off an exorbitant mortgage for a house that was bought before the market slump in Southern California.
It's especially painful considering all the financial worry my parents are in right now - to the point that they've asked my sister to postpone her wedding so they can rebuild the savings that they are going to use on my college (and she just graduated from a $40k/yr 2-year vocational school that my parents paid for).</p>
<p>I don't like making incendiary comments on a message board, but I have to say I'm surprised that Duke accepted a student that would interpret this statistic so poorly. ("60% of Duke students are on no financial aid. This means...")</p>
<p>There are a good amount of very wealthy kids at Duke. Let me give you some examples: on my hall, one kid has an auditorium named after him and his family (Love auditorium), another kid's dad is the VP of Morgan Stanley. You see nice cars everywhere. At least half the kids you meet will have gone to an exclusive private school. Of course, there are also plenty of normal kids as well. I wouldn't look into it too much.</p>
<p>Another thing, Duke is absolutely horrible about financial aid. They passed a bill making financial aid more flexible for the coming years, then subsequently raised tuition by 5%. Duke provides aid for 100% of those whom 'qualify.' Unfortunately, Duke's definition of 'qualify' is different from about any other university in its tier. Be skeptical.</p>
<p>^I'd agree. It's tough to get FA.
I didn't get any financial aid from Duke. It was tough to pick Duke over UVA or Rice (places which would have been decently cheaper) and Binghamton. </p>
<p>I recently hosted a p-frosh who said that he liked Duke but wasn't going to pick Duke because it was the only top school that he got into which didn't give him financial aid (he got some money from Dartmouth & Williams.. and a full-ride to Wash U).</p>
<p>I don't think Duke is that bad with financial aid. My family is middle class(parents make between 100 and 150k combined) and I received a generous FA package which included a scholarship, loans and work study that knocked my EFC down to about 25k, which I think is very reasonable. Duke is much better than other schools like UChicago and Cornell in this matter.</p>
<p>While no one on campus wears "badges" identifying their family's financial status, is there a distinction made based on what the student has to spend for entertainment, dining out, etc.? Obviously, this will have some impact on social interaction if the student cannot afford to spend $100, or $200, or more each week on entertainment. Can current students kindly address this issue?</p>
<p>As of this date, we have still not heard from Duke regarding financial aid. We have narrowed our list to three schools, an Ivy (we don't qualify for FA), Duke and another top ranked (Top CC College) private university which has offered significant merit aid.</p>
<p>We do not meet the Ivy requirements for FA due to our non-liquid assets in our family business. However, our part of the US is experiencing a recession and rising gas prices, rising food prices, rising material prices and their delivery costs have narrowed our margins and as well as reducing our income. As a result, our child will be limited as far as discretionary spending is concerned, however, she is accustomed to being frugal.</p>
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"While no one on campus wears "badges" identifying their family's financial status, is there a distinction made based on what the student has to spend for entertainment, dining out, etc.? Obviously, this will have some impact on social interaction if the student cannot afford to spend $100, or $200, or more each week on entertainment. Can current students kindly address this issue?"
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<p>I mean, it's no different than the real world. Obviously, if in a group of four friends, three of them have a lot more money than the fourth person and they choose to go out to a fancy dinner or what have you, the fourth person might be left out. This happens before and after college and is just a part of life. If one person has a lot less money, it obviously affects spending habits for entertainment, dining, etc. So, I won't say that it doesn't. However, it's typically not a big deal and most people I know don't spend exorbitant amounts on entertainment (Durham just isn't that expensive; it's not NYC). So, "poorer" people shouldn't really be left out of much that I can think of. Duke students are also aware enough that if there friend can't afford something, they'll change plans accordingly....It's really not a big deal, but of course money dictates certain habits.</p>
<p>^^Right. And even some of our son's more well-heeled friends are quite aware of expenses and aren't comfortable with conspicuous self indulgence. (Enlightened parenting, I'd guess!, or maybe just the result of intelligence?)</p>
<p>Echoing bluedog, I agree that entertainment at Duke is really not that expensive. Most things are on campus and are either very cheap or free. It's not like Duke is Columbia or NYU (and in fact, that's why I didn't apply to those schools, because I knew I couldn't afford the social life in New York). </p>
<p>And I also don't think Duke is that bad with financial aid. My parents make a little over 100k and WashU gave me $800, haha. Obviously not going to happen. Duke was much better, although still very expensive, as was expected.</p>