<p>I am past the mid Feb deadline and I finally got my taxes done. I have sent the 2010 tax forms to IDOC, but I wondered if I can fax or email the SC FA form to the FA office? two emails have gone unanswered on this and I missed them since they were closed.</p>
<p>It does say in the instructions not to, I’d call bright and early tomorrow 8:30 EST</p>
<p>I don’t want to not follow the directions - tho I am already doing so by being past teh mid feb. deadline</p>
<p>Just to put your mind at ease, I gave them a call about submitting the materials late and they said the only consequence was that my admission and finaid decisions might arrive separately.</p>
<p>I would mail it now, by the quickest method you can afford and definitely with tracking. Swarthmore is relatively flexible about deadlines, though (I remember being confused that the deadline really was as nebulous as an approximate time of the month, since every other school had a specific date). Applying late will still get your full need met, same as everyone else. However, too late and you are not guaranteed to receive an FA decision before the May 1st decision deadline. (For reference, I submitted FA forms for EDII in mid- to late January, and received my aid estimate in the same envelope as my acceptance letter.)</p>
<p>I think one reason colleges use IDOC is to maintain control of sensitive information of its constituents…and the liabilities that can flow from mismanagement/mishandling of that information. Sending a fax to the school is basically leaving your SSN and other sensitive information on the reception desk. Students might be able to pick it up. Total strangers, too, depending on where the fax machine is located (if the faxes aren’t handled by a server). It puts you at risk and creates an unwanted liability for the college. The underwriters and the risk managers would probably have strong opinions about this. The financial aid office…they may or may not have strong opinions.</p>
<p>But what are we talking about here? A day? Possibly less than that. The IDOC papers go to Mt. Vernon, IL and I believe they’ll get there overnight using regular first class postage from where you live. IDOC date-stamps the file when they arrive at the facility. That means they’ll be at IDOC on Wednesday – latest for you. After that IDOC takes several days to scan the materials so that they’re in the system, with a March 2 date-stamp, and in a format that Swarthmore is prepared to handle and process. Your fax on Wednesday would arrive at Swarthmore about the same time the mail arrives at the IDOC facility (give or take some hours) and it will possibly be in a format that makes it more difficult to process. You can send an e-mail offering to fax the return or send them as an e-mail attachment if you can scan them to a .pdf…but I wouldn’t take it upon myself to do so without being invited or encouraged to do so. I don’t think you’re gaining anything but peace of mind that you covered all the bases – which you can do just by sending in an e-mail asking them if they prefer a fax. If you do send such an e-mail, do not fret over the ensuing silence.</p>
<p>thanks, all. I mailed it today priority with tracking. I emailed them about this, too.</p>