<p>i really want to apply to duke early decision, but i dont kno if i can afford to!!!</p>
<p>duke is my first choice school, & i kno my parents will try their hardest to make it happen, but i've heard of soo many people getting jipped by duke's financial aid that i really dont think duke is affordable!</p>
<p>my dad makes about $60,000 a year, & my mom earn about $15,000 working "under the table" part-time. plus my brother & sis go to private schools which cost about $7,00 each ( both get financial aid). we've gotten our efc calculated a couple times , & most of the time its around $10,000, which we can manage. </p>
<p>i guess my question is how much difference is there between duke's esidea of demonstrated need & those of the efc claculators?</p>
<p>Um, I don't know how helpful this is but our EFC was well over the cost of Duke and we got nothing, so in that way it matched up. </p>
<p>I have heard that you can get out of the binding part of an ED application if your financial aid package doesn't measure up.</p>
<p>If you're worried about financial aid, applying ED might not be the best thing to do.</p>
<p>Duke matched my need very nicely, though, and financial aid officers at most schools are open to negotiation. Keep in mind that loans (which can be easily managed through outside scholarships) can sometimes be fairly expensive to pay back.</p>
<p>I was the same way last year... I worried that I would be jipped in the financial aid department if I was accepted ED. My parents encouraged me to apply ED anyway if Duke was the school that I could really see myself at, getting a good education and having the best college experience. Well, I didn't get in ED, so the binding portion of my application was lifted, but the FinAid package I received after being accepted RD was the best one I received from any of my accepted schools. I guess it's different for everyone, though. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>seahorse- i hope i end up as lucky as u did!</p>
<p>thanks for all the advice!</p>
<p>Duke definitely came through with finaid for me as well. I was in the exact same situation as seahorse, and, ya know, I'm probably not the most desirable student, but the pretty much more than met our demonstrated need. Comparing packages...Wake Forest was pretty much more expensive.</p>
<p>Now if only they could get my loans right...</p>