Get a box and just toss all the mailings into that. We did that, and had a good laugh over much of it.
We never had luck getting off the mailing lists. Our kid was still receiving info about undergrad when he had completed his grad program. I’m not making that up.
We often joked that our DD should have applied to Wash U (which at the time won the most mailing award), and include a cover letter AND all the mailings that said “you would be the perfect addition to our school”.
We have three boxes full! Such a waste of paper.
I would but I work on Saturday. I called a few banks yesterday and none were open past noon and none were open on Sunday. Heck, they are barely open during the week.
We are a little off topic here…but we had the same with child one. With child two, she never checked a box indicating she wanted stuff sent. She “only” had one box and most of the unsolicited stuff was from Wash U.
TD Bank is open on Sundays in most places except when barred by state law…
I am going to suggest something that maybe-might solve your dilemma. As I noted, the SAR should have an asterisk next to the EFC if the FAFSA was selected for verification by the processor. As I also noted, it would be very unusual for a school to choose to select students for this type of verification on their own. Check to be sure … if there’s no asterisk on the most recent SAR next to the EFC, contact the college. Ask to speak with a financial aid officer (you don’t want to talk to a student worker or assistant who might not understand what you will be asking). Explain that you have a situation you’re confused about & want to discuss. Ask the aid officer to look at your child’s ISIR (pronounced Eye-sir) to make sure that it’s been selected for verification. Tell them that you don’t think it has been selected, so you want to be certain that the verification statement they require by “x” date is actually necessary. Explain that it’s a hardship, that you will definitely figure out a way to get it done if necessary, but that because you don’t see a verification asterisk on your child’s SAR, you are confused about why you’re being asked for the statement.
You won’t mess up your kid’s chances by asking the question. It’s actually possible that, as I mentioned upstream, their system is asking for something by mistake (there could be a programming issue). It’s possible that they could tell you it’s a mistake & you don’t need to do it. Of course, they may say yup, you have to do it. If so, you’ll know that you made absolutely sure it was necessary.
Thanks! I’ll give them a call.
Thanks and I will definitely do that.
I just got this request as well from one of the schools my daughter has been accepted to. Except it says that she must appear in person with her ID, which is impossible because we live in an entirely different part of the country. Any advice from anyone? I’m annoyed because our EFC is just about the same as the cost of attendance so it literally won’t matter. Any help is appreciated!
We got one too, but it offered two options: one was to appear in person and the other was to have the form notarized and send it to them.
It was a kind of a pain, but we got it done. We don’t qualify for aid, but it’s necessary for some merit scholarships.
Thanks, I’ve reached out to them to see if a notary works. Hopefully, otherwise we just won’t fill it out, that’s an expensive plane ticket for a form! 
Did you have to do the form for all of the schools or just one?
I’m not sure why we were flagged, maybe because my daughter was born overseas? Or maybe just randomly.
I think it was random for us. Only one so far. Fingers crossed that’s the only one!
I heard back and the notary is fine. Hopefully just the one!
Do you have an asterisk on the FAFSA SAR next to the EFC amount? If so, it’s likely more schools will want verification of identity, income, etc.
We do, and I hope not. There are several schools where the portals all say things along the lines of “FAFSA received and processed” with a checkmark, so I’m hopeful that it won’t be too many. I’m happy to cooperate but our EFC is quite high so we’re not really going to qualify for aid anyway.
Schools don’t have to accept another school’s FAFSA verification, but some may if they choose to. My understanding is schools prefer to do it themselves because of audit/compliance issues…@kelsmom?
Why did you fill out FAFSA if you don’t qualify for aid? Do any of your schools require FAFSA for merit aid?
Maybe to access the federally funded Direct Loans?
That’s a good reason, but one can do that anytime once they decide where they are going to college. Regardless, what’s done is done…FAFSA is tagged for verification, and the student will have to do what each and every college requires.
Edited: The identity verification group is just identity … it doesn’t include financial verification, so don’t worry about that being requested as a result of being asked for the identity statement. As to why you were selected, it’s a big “who knows?” I don’t see a rhyme or reason for this, for many instances. Not sure what causes selection. EDITED: There is actually a verification group that includes financial verification in addition to identity verification. This is assigned by the FAFSA processor. Not all chosen for identity verification will also have to provide the financial verification, but some will. Sorry for the confusion.
Re: schools accepting another school’s verification … they cannot do that. They CAN accept another school’s determination that resulted in a dependency override. This is new. They don’t have to accept it, but they can.
Thanks, it appears to be only identity verification so far, hopefully it will stay that way but it’s fine regardless, I’m pretty crazy about paperwork so if they want it, they can have it.