Negotiating Financial Aid Package at Duke -- HELP?!

Pawrrrrrr
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:21:46 +0000

Long story short, after being accepted to Duke, I learned I did not qualify for financial aid. Paying full-tuition is impossible for my family w/o taking loans. Here would be the key points in the appeal:

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Parents income decreased considerably last year. Because our FAFSA only shows our 2016 income, Duke’s financial aid office wasn’t even aware of this. My parents’ income is still high (roughly 250k), but it is currently impossible for us to pay Duke’s sticker price, as much as we want to. I’ll have sibling who will be simultaneously in college, the income from my father’s job is highly variable, there is an additional dependent in our household, and we live in an expensive city.

I was accepted to USC w/ their Trustee Scholarship, which would grant me the entire four-year tuition (~230k) in merit-based aid. I was also accepted to Rice w/ their Trustee Scholarship, which would grant me approximately half of their full tuition (~100k) in merit-based aid.

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I need you guys to be completely honest here. I desperately want to go to Duke and I love the school, but my parents simply cannot afford the full-tuition and I’ll need to make an appeal. If it means anything, I also received a likely letter from them where the academic dean considered me “one of their top recruits.” I didn’t qualify for any of Duke’s merit scholarships. Some scholarships needed to me to be from the Carolinas and others had a need-based component too, so it was impossible for me to qualify for any.

I’m not looking for a full-ride. I just want to be in a situation where attending Duke won’t seriously compromise my family’s finances and my sister’s college education. Advice?