So, I applied to school “x” and filled a css profile as instructed in order to receive financial aid. After that, I called more than 5 times over a period of 2 months (not exaggeration) in order to check if my application was complete or I was missing anything because it was taking very long to receive the decision. Every time I called I would be told the same: that everything was in order by each of the phone operators I talked to.
However, today when I called, I was told I was missing supplemental documents called IDOCs or something like that and that I did not receive aid because of it. According to my school, the college board should have sent me an email after completing css profile. I never received it and it was not in my junk folder. I called the college board and they confirmed the fact that they did not send me the email (I have it recorded). They told me they made a mistake and thought I was a “renewed student” even though I clearly marked that I was transferring in and that I never applied for aid.
Submitting the documents now is irrelevant because I was told that the financial aid funds have already run out. I have already started a case with the school and asked the college board to take responsibility for ruining my financial aid. My question would be, beyond this, is there anything I can do? Would suing be possible if things turn out badly? Any advice?
Suing is unlikely to be helpful. Your best bet is to talk with a manager at the school. To be honest, the school website very likely explains that you need to file the IDOC, and the school rep to whom you spoke was probably looking at what school-specific documents you had submitted. Please recognize your own responsibility, by which I mean do not be too adversarial. Explain the IDOC mistake, and ask is there is any way you can be reviewed for aid. If not receiving aid means you won’t be able to attend, be honest about that. And if you don’t get the aid you need, be prepared to walk away.
The website does say that transfer students need to file the IDOC. However, since I am an international student and do not have the documents they mentioned “IRS 1065, 1120, or 1120S Corporate tax return.”, I assumed that it was for us citizens only. Additionally, none of my other schools asked for this.
I understand where you are coming from in saying that I have part of the blame. However, I disagree. Your line of reasoning leads to the inevitable conclusion that the student needs to be paranoid and ask about every little thing even if it doesn’t outright apply to them. It is ridiculous; clearly the fault here is in the school and the college board. They should train their phone operators better so that when a student asks “is everything complete”, they mention the IDOCs.
Each school is vastly different when it comes to financial aid. Each has funds, but does require different financial aid documentation. The IDOC is done online and is very, very specific to each school that requests its use. The school adds its own supplemental forms. After the family and student complete it, the IDOC is mailed to a national center that sends out the information to the respective universities.
If you didn’t have the documentation that the school was requesting, you would have continued to fill out the parts that applied to you. There’s another spot for explaining when you don’t have the documents. With funding, of any type, from any US school, you can’t **assume **that requested information doesn’t apply to you; everything is filled out. This is especially applicable to international students who are requesting a lot of dollars to attend a US university. You’re asking for thousands and thousands of dollars and so is every other student. No other country does that for international students.
The school usually sends a code for you to fill out the IDOC. If you were able to get into the IDOC, it means that everything applied to you. They are very, very strict about that, especially the wording on the IDOC indicating that everything needed to be filled out and submitted. Yes, it is very time-consuming and, yes, it’s a pain, but it makes a big difference in whether or not you get funding. I filled out these forms for three students. Yes, every little thing needs to be filled out.
Phone calls can do only so much because financial aid staffs include students and staff who won’t receive the IDOC paper until after it has been submitted. When you called, the staff had what they required, and we’re probably waiting on your IDOC information.
You can submit a letter to that university and ask them if you can access funding maybe from students who have decided to go elsewhere. I wouldn’t call them because they’re swamped, and, as you’ve experienced, you need written documentation. You can also attend one of the other universities that has funded you.
The posters here are trying to help you. This is another assumption based on your frustration. YES, be paranoid-every little thing needs to be completely read, comprehended, filled out and submitted when asking for someone to fully fund your education. This is what is expected of incoming, university- level students. Making assumptions only puts you in a worse position.
Call the financial aid office back at the school and ask to talk to the director or assistant director.
Explain (calmly) that you were never notified by college board that you needed to submit IDOC documents and what college board said to you when you called. (My understanding is that you can’t complete IDOC documents without the invitation from college board). Offer to provide the school the recording you made. Ask if there is anything you can do now.
Many schools are anticipating having much lower yield this cycle because of Covid-19 so it’s possible that aid may get freed up.
That said, aid for transfer students is typically very difficult to come by, even more so for international students. As noted up thread, I hope you have another affordable option on the table.
That information might help you, because there may be people reading this thread who have direct experience with the financial aid policies and staff at the school concerned and can therefore provide meaningful tips and suggestions based on personal experience.
OP states that notification was provided on the school’s website: “the website does say that transfer students need to file the IDOC.” The OP made the assumption, without asking the school for clarification, that this requrement did not apply to him/her because of his/her status as an international applicant. That failure to clarify is, in my opinion, part of the reason for the problem that OP now faces.
Ultimately, it’s the family’s responsibility to submit all required paperwork. If the website says transfer students have to submit the IDOC, all transfer students are responsible for submitting it. Domestic students who didn’t wouldn’t be eligible for aid either. If you had asked the college staff specifically about the IDOC you would have gotten an answer about it. But you can’t really sue and expect it to go anywhere if the website clearly states the requirement and you never asked about it.
One of the things we may be able to tell you if you name the school is if they offer aid to students without SAT scores (something you said you needed in your other thread) and how much aid they may have available for internationals. Most colleges don’t offer much aid to transfers, and there’s less available for international students.
Unfortunately, when colleges have given out all their aid for the year there’s usually not much chance of getting any, so you may have to consider one of your other options. Are any of them affordable?
“ADVICE:
-Take a gap year and reapply with available funding, or,
-Go to another school that has funded you, or”
The problem with this is that I have not found many schools that offer fin aid to international transfer students and that have good acceptance rates as well.
I applied to 6 schools, this one included. 4 of them rejected me (even though I have a 4.0 gpa) 1 offered no aid. If you have any schools that are not Brown, Colgate, U Richmond, Carleton, or Amherst, then shoot and I will apply next semester if the situation does not resolve in my favor.
At the end of the day, it is the student’s responsibility to submit all required documents. The college website clearly says you should have submitted documents to IDOC. You made an assumption, apparently without contacting the college for clarification, that you didn’t need to do so.
I’m not sure what you are expecting. But the only thing you really can do is speak to a financial aid manager at this college. As noted, there are lots of students who won’t be attending for one reason or another. It’s possible they will consider your aid.
Have you submitted the documents you have via IDOC yet? If not, get on that ASAP.
Your only other choice is to find a different college. Did you get accepted elsewhere with sufficient aid to attend?
“If you had asked the college staff specifically about the IDOC you would have gotten an answer about it. But you can’t really sue and expect it to go anywhere if the website clearly states the requirement and you never asked about it.”
Let me explain how unreasonable that logic is with an analogy: let’s say you went to a doctor and you paid him to tell you if EVERYTHING is fine with you, but it turns out he didn’t diagnose you for let us say cancer. When you ask him why he didn’t diagnose you for cancer, he says it was because you didn’t ask specifically if you had cancer.
"One of the things we may be able to tell you if you name the school is if they offer aid to students without SAT scores (something you said you needed in your other thread) and how much aid they may have available for internationals. Most colleges don’t offer much aid to transfers, and there’s less available for international students.
Unfortunately, when colleges have given out all their aid for the year there’s usually not much chance of getting any, so you may have to consider one of your other options. Are any of them affordable?"
Don’t worry about that because I submitted my SAT. They have already given out all their aid by this point and my problem is that I wasn’t considered for any due to this situation. None are affordable 60k+. The school has hundreds of millions in endowment money. I am hoping that they will use some of it seeing as this is a rare occurrence.
You want to schedule an appoinment with a well-known and highly respected oncologist for a cancer screening. On the doctor’s website, one of the requirements to get an appointment scheduled is to have the results from a blood test that screens for a cancer that is most prevalent in those under the age of 18, but you’re 20 and don’t think that requirement applies to you, so you ignore it and don’t check with the doctor’s office for clarification. The doctor’s office then declines to schedule you for an appointment, because you didn’t get the screening blood test done.
Do you know the position of the person you spoke with, such as Director of Financial Aid or something like that?
What does start a case with the school mean? I would not do anything that puts you in a negative light, or suggests you would be a difficult student to have on campus.
Pursuing anything with CB will be unfruitful. Seriously, a waste of time for you.
You have received good advice here, including from TWO financial aid experts, who have previously or currently work at colleges. My advice to you is to follow up with the person you initially spoke with at the college.
I highly encourage you to not have the attitude you have on this thread when discussing potential options with the school. Fundamentally, they can’t just go in to their endowment and give you money…that sounds entitled, especially when they likely have a bunch of full pay students on their waitlist.
You need money from them to attend, so you aren’t in a position to demand anything, but suggest you come at this with a problem solving perspective…can I enroll in the spring semester, can I defer for a year, etc.
And as Thumper asked, do they have all the documents they need from you now? If not, do that before you contact them again.