<p>I don't know what else to do about it. I feel so sorry for my parents. What can I do to make Duke cheaper?</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat. I applied for like…4 merit scholarships lol b/c I was a) lazy and b) couldn’t find many non-need based scholarships. I have heard back from 3 of them (I’ll be saving my parents 15k over 4 years, out of what like 220k…yikes) and I’m gonna see if I can get a paying research position at Duke after freshman year. There should be some jobs on campus, right?</p>
<p>Many campus jobs are set aside for work-study students. I don’t know if Duke has paying research positions for sophomores, but the pay wouldn’t likely be high - probably just enough for pocket-money.</p>
<p>I’m curious. Why did you apply to expensive schools if money was a concern?</p>
<p>Did you get accepted to any schools that are more affordable? Or are your parents happy to pay?</p>
<p>If your parents can pay, they should pay. Duke is a great education, and if it won’t cause financial hardship of significant stature.</p>
<p>Look for summer jobs NOW. Work double shifts. You’re young, you can do it. Tutor, baby sit, pet sit, bus tables as well as any other job.</p>
<p>With effort, you should be able to earn at least $3-5K a year to help with college expenses – full time during the summer; perhaps some tutoring in the evening, plus finding a winter break job, which could be babysitting for a school-age child whose parents work or working for the holiday season at a store.</p>
<p>You can also save money at school by buying used books (especially via the internet, where they’re really cheap) and selecting the least expensive meal plan and dorm arrangement, and finding less expensive tickets to travel home if you need to fly, or perhaps not going home for Thanksgiving or Spring Break. Many students can shave $1K a year off the school’s estimated COA.</p>
<p>It all adds up. Between earnings and savings, you should be able to help you parents spend $4K-6K a year less than the COA, and over the course of four years at Duke that’s around a $20K savings, which isn’t chump change.</p>
<p>@Bedouin: Yes, my parents can pay. My dad works at Yahoo! as a Senior Architect in Software.
He earns 190k per year, but he’s only been doing that for the past three years. If Yahoo! continues to do well, he would be alright…but Yahoo! is…not exactly doing as well as it should so =/</p>
<p>Before that, he used to earn 40k per year. </p>
<p>We didn’t qualify for financial aid, but honestly, this country needs to lighten up. They are so focused on a person’s income that they fail to consider the assets an individual possesses. Just because a person’s income is so high, doesn’t mean he can afford everything.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>I don’t understand. You can choose to alleviate the problem/concern by going to a cheaper school. </p>
<p>Why shouldn’t schools be focused on income? Schools don’t have unlimited treasure chests. The first obligation to pay for college comes from the student/parents. Whose responsibility do you think it is??? Anything given from elsewhere is gravy and a gift.</p>
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<p>Duke is indeed a great university, but did you completely refuse to consider even the possibility of attending a UC school?</p>
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You’re right. People with that income really can’t afford everything. So what are you going to do to reduce the burden on your parents? You can’t make Duke cheaper but you can look at other schools that are more affordable to your family.</p>
<p>You can also make a promise to yourself that after you graduate, you’ll pay your parents back the equivalent of what a Stafford loan would have been each year. They may tell you at that point that you don’t need to do so, in which case perhaps you can put it in the bank and start your kids (whenever you have them) off with a healthy start on a college savings plan.</p>
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<p>EXACTLY!! Which is why Duke isn’t affordable to everyone. Its why some folks choose to drive a Hyundai instead of a Mercedes…because the Hyundai is what they can afford. They both still get you to work.</p>
<p>This brings me back to a favorite speech my husband and I preached to our kids when they were younger, and they still remember. Its about needs vs. wants. You can want all you can for something, but if you can’t afford it and you don’t NEED it, you don’t get it.</p>
<p>Everyone in this world doesn’t NEED a Duke education. There are more economical alternatives out there.</p>
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<p>Hell, even if you need it doesn’t mean that you’ll get it if you can’t afford it. And you’re right; no one actually needs a Duke University.</p>