<p>Two of my questions revolve around the iDoc (very popular among Ivy Leagues) and how it relates to College Admissions. From what I read, the iDoc requests mean "nothing," but-and maybe I am over thinking this-I feel, if you iDoc is requested, you have a strong chance of getting accepted and here's my reasoning: 1) The iDoc's sole purpose is to give a financial aid package; therefore, wouldn't that mean they're considering you, at the very least, heavily? 2) Why (speaking from a business standpoint) would a college request Extra papers and Extra work and pay Extra overhead for an Optional request? They wouldn't, at least I don't believe that makes sense fiscally. 3) Obviously, if you don't get accepted, then they don't need your iDoc. So here are my questions:
1) Is there any correlation between iDoc requests and college acceptance? Has anyone had their iDoc requested and not gotten accepted?
2) How exactly do you check if your iDoc has been requested by schools? It tells you which ones have required it, but I don't see where it tells you if they have been requested.
Please share your thoughts.
If anyone is wondering, I got my iDoc's requested and was wondering what Exactly it means, but it is a question in general.</p>
<p>Many Ivy League schools require IDOC from all of their applicants. It has nothing to do with admission status, sorry. In fact, I believe you can see on the CSS Profile which schools you are applying to that will require it from the second that you add them (before your application has even been looked at).</p>
<p>I know it is Required of you to fill it out, but they don’t always request it from the college board. The iDoc is sent to the college board and sent ONLY to the colleges IF they ask for it. My question is not in regards to which colleges require it, but rather if a college has requested it.</p>
<p>I’m saying that it’s standard practice and that many schools request the iDoc from all of their applicants. You’re looking too far into this. If it was requested of you, it was likely requested of most/all of the applicants.</p>
<p>From my understanding, it is particularly common for international students. Not sure if that applies to you.</p>
<p>If you go onto the CSS Profile, you can see which schools are requiring the iDOC. This is the same as “requesting” the iDOC. If you think it is required of you and few others, ask around or check the financial aid website, and I think you will find that this is not the case.</p>
<p>The assumption your making is that it is request of most applications, but from what I’ve found is that its not. Not even all of my colleges requested it even though all of them required them. Even among my friends, I know that the iDoc was not requested from some of their colleges.</p>
<p>These colleges may be “requesting” the iDOC from most/all/random applicants even if it’s not “required.”</p>
<p>All I’m telling you is that it has nothing to do with admissions at all. You should trust that admissions offices are more discrete than that.</p>
<p>No I’m not an international student btw. If required/requesting is the same thing, then why have all of the colleges that required it, not requested it? It seems to be different between each student which schools have requested it, though it stays the same for every student as to who requires it. I just feel as though this seems odd considering the I doc seems to be requested to determine your finaid reward.</p>
<p>Regardless, I value your input. Sorry if I seem argumentative. That’s how I learn lol. I will let everyone know about my theory when acceptance letters are mailed out. I just feel as though there is a connection because everyone who is accepted has their I doc requested, but not everyone who applies gets their iDoc requested. If you have any more information regarding the subject please share.</p>
<p>Also, I know everyone fills out the CSS profile, but if no school Requests your info, then they do not want you to fill out an iDoc profile.</p>
<p>1) No. Yes, many.</p>
<p>2) If the college website states that tax documents need to be submitted via IDOC, then they are requested/required (whichever word you want to use, there is no difference between them).</p>
<p>You can believe what you like, but colleges have requirements for applying for FA and they are the same for all applicants not matter what their final admissions decision is.</p>
<p>I don’t think you are understanding the difference between the require and request because-in this case-they are not the same. Everyone of the colleges who participate, require an iDoc from the students who get accepted. And it is required of “every applicant” however, even if you fill the iDoc out, the colleges who require it, won’t get it unless they request it. And you typically only fill it out if you are informed/invited to do so. That’s why some kids applying to these colleges never fill an iDoc out at all, and even more fill it out for the college board and don’t have them requested by all of the schools that require it even though they applied to said school.</p>
<p>Yes the point we’re making is that some schools request the IDOC from all applicants. In this case it usually stated on their own website’s financial aid requirements that IDOC will be requested. Some schools request the IDOC from random applicants, even though it is listed as a “requirement” for all applicants-- for the same reason that some colleges randomly select applications to make phone calls to schools about and confirm ECs and such-- it’s an internal way of being accountable for verifying applications. </p>
<p>Sometimes schools request your iDOC just days after submitting your application/FA application, like I said earlier, before your application has even been glanced at. It’s just part of the system.</p>
<p>Again, with how serious/protective top schools are about their decisions and decision making process, you should trust that they aren’t going to accidentally give you any indication of your chances. </p>
<p>Collegeboard shows all the schools they sent iDOC to, and the date it was sent. It’s under “check status” or something.</p>
<p>So, to update everyone on how this theory worked out for me:
Every school that Requested my iDOC from the college board, I was accepted into. All the schools that required the DOC, but did not request my iDOC from the Collegeboard, I was declined.
Here is my final hypothesis. If a school is going to take the time to request an iDOC, then they are heavily considering you. This DOES NOT mean you are accepted.
Some schools are need-blind (for instance Duke University), meaning that they don’t look at your finances before they accept you; therefore; I believe if your iDOC is requested, you will be accepted because the only reason it is needed is for a Financial Aid package.
Most schools are not need-blind, meaning that they can decline you based on your finances. It is my belief that the non-need-blind schools request the iDoc to help make a decision on applicants. This brings in another factor for them to judge their students.
To everyone who says that judging students based on finance is bogus, I want you to ask yourself then why aren’t all schools practicing what is titled “need-blind admissions”? Because they are admitting that is a factor. Harvard is actually being sued currently because their application process is “discriminatory”. One of things mention in the suit is that they favor rich kids. This claim may also be bogus considering the type of people who apply to the school. I’m assuming the suit has legitimate evidence to back up their claims on this, but I do not know at this time.
This theory I have concocted holds up among all my friends who applied to iDOC eligible schools. Feel free to ask questions.</p>
@VaporHydroxide, Thanks for the info. That’s what I guessed. I just received an email from College Board saying that one of school request my iDOC.
I want so much to believe that the correlation that @VaporHydroxide suggests is true but, alas, it is not for us. idocs for our family were “requested” by seven schools.
Two of the schools “requesting” were schools where she decided at the last minute to skip the application completely. My guess is that for those two schools–Columbia and Johns Hopkins–they just automatically “request” any idocs that serve as back up for the CCS they received earlier. net, net: absolutely NO correlation to admissions decisions.
Of the 11 schools to which she DID apply, at least one “requested” idocs and she was denied outright. (MIT). Again, no correlations.
Of the 10 outstanding applications, four schools “requested” idocs…I’d like to believe that this is a leading edge indicator of the admissions decision for these schools but the two data points above suggest that there is ZERO correlation in our case. 
How do you tell if a school requests your IDOC?
Log into IDOC. The schools will be listed there. If none, you can confirm on the school’s FA website. The schools are clear on what they request and how.
My IDOC took a long time to be processed. And, I filed them a few days late. How do I tell that they get from IDOC to the school? Do I need to call the schools and let them know they are up on IDOC (finally) now?
@Skrunch‌ if the school has an admissions portal, check your account. Our docs showed up right away. If you are unsure, call the school. I called 4 schools yesterday and each was very helpful. I was missing one tax form and was able to email directly to 3 schools. 2 confirmed receipt this morning. IMO, the schools are trying to be helpful.