UltimateFrisbee

Hey guys,

So my bill for this upcoming semester alone is about 16k, and there's no way my family and I can pay that. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to get more grant aid from Duke before the Bursar bill is due Aug. 1? I don't understand how they consider our EFC to be so high and they don't count the fact that much of our income (which is 100k+) goes towards other expenses (a wedding this year, bills, the usual stuff, etc). I can't think of anything to do really...Outside scholarships are sooooo hard to come by too, I've been looking.
Any help?
I've already emailed them and have a lot of correspondence but they don't seem to budge unless there are some sort of "extenuating circumstances". Nothing works.

dalaboy

duke fin aid is pretty hard to budge... check your SARS report, if the EFC listed on there is close to what duke say it should be ... then it is very hard for them to change it.

You might want to look into doing the monthly payment plan.

latinac2

Yea, unfortunately it is close to impossible to get more money from FinAid. could you get a loan for this semester? it may not seem like the best idea, but your education is worth it

nmehta4

im in the middle of an appeal. appeals take FOREVER, i still dont know my true aid.

SBR

It's not impossible to have FinAid reconsider an award, there just have to be very good reason such as a parent being laid off.

biomed6

Yeah I may be in the minority on this but I've found Duke's fin aid to be fantastic. I think it REALLY depends on what exactly that "+" is supposed to represent on that 100k+. It seems finaid (reasonably, I think) assumes income over 100k is disposable. If bills are high due to strange but legit circumstances (medical expenses, other siblings in college) that is one thing, but high mortgage payments on half-million dollar homes and extravegant weddings, on the other hand, probably won't cut it. Being in the 100k income range (like my own family) truly is tough in the sense that your family really is forced to choose between a relatively affluent lifestyle (in comparison to the general population, that is), and an elite college education.