Duke University Financial Aid Policy confusion

Colleges & Universities Duke University
1

<p>Yeah I’m planning to apply ED to Duke but I’m currently confused about the financial policy.
My biological father died when I was 12 and my biological mother remarried.
However, my stepfather (my mom’s current husband) didn’t adopt me.
Will Duke consider the income and assets of both my biological mother and my stepfather or just those of my biological mother?
I have already gone to the school’s financial aid website. I was confused about how you would calculate my financial aid package.
It seems that the stepfather’s income and assets would be excluded from the financial aid calculation because Duke only requires the income and assets of biological/adoptive parents. However, my parents have a different interpretation. So I want to find out the exact situation.</p>

<p>My biological mother earns a little bit and has super insignificant assets; if combined with my stepfather’s income, my mother’s income is only about 60K anyway. But I want to know exactly how they would calculate my aid.</p>

<p>Any insight from Duke alumi or just insiders will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!</p>

2

<p>Calk the financial aid office. They are very friendly and would be the ones who can give you a more definitive response on your particular situation than anyone on here could. I don’t know the answer to your question and would be just guessing. </p>

3

<p>I agree that a call to Undergraduate Financial Aid is wise, however, their FAQs (<a href=“http://financialaid.duke.edu/undergraduate-applicants/common-questions”>http://financialaid.duke.edu/undergraduate-applicants/common-questions&lt;/a&gt;) fundamentally answer your question. </p>

4

<p>Hello TopTier, thank u for your response. Could u please chance me at Duke ED? I posted my profile on my other threads (I only have 2 threads in total).</p>

5

<p>@PeterWong‌: You’re an entirely competitive applicant; unfortunately, thousands of others are, too. Therefore, your essays will be very important; I suggest you consider emphasizing the following ideas/rough outline:

  1. The “I worked my butt off” theme (language, academics, etc.). already suggested in your other thread
  2. The journey to freedom (intellectual, political, economic, personal liberties) was critical, inspirational, and pivotal in shaping my character and objectives (which include)
  3. I ardently want to attend Duke because . . .</p>
6

<p>Thanks Toptier, I will work on improving my act and essays.</p>