My IDOC deadlines passed over two weeks ago- I submitted two days before the deadline. My documents have STILL not been processed. Now I’m afraid that I will be shut out of financial aid. I’ve tried contacting CB and the schools requiring IDOC but no resolution has been made; colleges don’t want me to send the documents directly and CB refuses to process my documents (they keep telling me to wait 8 business days but it has been much more than that already). Is anyone else going through this issue? The processing times are long for everyone but people submitting after me say that they’ve had their documents verified.
So long as you submitted prior to the deadline, you’re fine. Once the documents are processed, your colleges will be notified of the date you filed. The colleges are aware of the delay in processing - it won’t be a problem.
Yes. Same here except longer! I submitted docs on 2/04. Today is 3/02. Deadlines are passing.
Today I was home from work. I decided to wait on hold as long as necessary. 45 minutes of blaring noise (clearly designed to get us to hang up.) After all that I was told that my case “would be escalated to a supervisor.”
Wow. Case? Supervisor? Just rename the DAMN FILES already. That is ALL they do. What a joke.
Thank you dodgersmom, that is of some consolation. I just feel that, at this rate, my documents won’t be verified until after financial aid is gone. As for rednecktiger, that is terrible. I can’t comprehend why it takes so long to receive and verify basic uploaded files. The frustration caused by this is not to be believed.
I can’t believe you guys are acutually getting live people when you call IDOC. I have called and called and called and repeatedly get disconnected. I have not even been given an opportunity to wait on hold! I am in utter shock that this is an acceptable system for colleges. Since everyone has to go thru this IDOC system, the colleges themselves must be experiencing frustrating delays too.
Well, not everyone. Many colleges (maybe the smarter ones?) don’t use IDOC. The College Board has once again shown its ineptitude. Is there any accountability? It certainly doesn’t seem that they are accountable to students and parents, who have to pay for College Board services that have serious deficiencies.
College Board has issues. I’m wondering if one this year is the newly implemented online submission of the IDOC requested documents. My guess is that is not spinning like a top.
Yes, @MiddKid86, I didn’t mean to imply all schools use IDOC…I meant that all “IDOC” schools require one to use that service with no alternatives. I did contact a couple to see if they would prefer we just send our docs directly, and they responded that we must use IDOC. I assume it’s contractual and, since they have signed up, they have to stick with the service. On the other hand, our “non-IDOC” schools have had our documents for a while now.
I had one school that uses idoc ask for a couple of docs to be physically signed and scanned, rather than electronically signed (which idoc said was fine when I called them, long before all this delay, when you could still get a person to answer quickly). Anyway I asked the college directly if I should upload the signed version to idoc or send it directly and htey advised me to send it directly. So schools can do what they like.
@OHMomof2 - thanks for that info; that is good to know. It sounds like if a school is anxious enough to have the info, they are free to request it outside of IDOC.
file on 2/17 and not yet processed even though their website said that they cleared those uploaded on 2/18. Call and someone answered my phone after 1 hour. She knew nothing but just keep repeating the same answer and could not even tell me how they processed the files. Shame on College Board. They made so much money out of this “service” and probably sell our financial info to others; rip us off from SAT.
Agreed, it is a shame. It is now March 3rd, soon to be 4th. My documents submitted on February 13th are STILL not verified. I’m beginning to feel like I have to cross schools requiring the IDOC off of my list. There goes my top 3 choices? … They just aren’t possible without financial aid. They keep saying colleges will go by the date I submitted, but it honestly seems like they are simply never going to get them at this point.
One of my schools had an IDOC date of Feb. 15th and is sending decisions out in two weeks. How exactly am I supposed to be comfortable with any of this? I’m calling the IDOC number daily to no avail. I might have to start calling a different number at college board to get some real help.
My daughter’s documents were uploaded 2/18 for 3/2 deadlines. As of today, the message says they are uploading documents through 2/21, but hers still aren’t uploaded. I attempted to call numerous times and was continuously disconnected. As of this moment, I have been on hold for 20 minutes, and I have to get back to teaching soon. I doubt I will bet a live body. This is aggravating!
To those who are concerned about the problems with IDOC, know that the FA offices at the schools to which you refer are aware of the problems that exist and are not going to penalize you/your child for the problems with IDOC. Last year, we couldn’t use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool for my son until mid/late May because of issues with processing his tax return as a first time filer who owed. The school was aware of this and gave him a preliminary FA letter which was finalized after the IRS DRT worked. It just delayed his official FA award, but did NOT stop the school from providing a preliminary FA letter. Also, based on the initial information that was provided to the school on the CSS profile, the preliminary and final FA award letter were exactly the same. If you are truly concerned, call the school and let them know. Know that they can see the fact that you uploaded the information by the deadline.
I finally got through after 1 hour and 10 minutes. They are escalating the document from 2/11, but the rest will have to wait. When I asked about when we could expect the documents, the man told me he had absolutely know way of knowing that information. He said the schools will see the day the information was uploaded. Of course at this rate, who knows when that might be…
uploaded on 2/17; finally processed and delivered on 3/4/2015. That is about 11 business days or 15 calendar days. There may be a gap between tracking and actually completion. They split up the Schedules from the 1040. Columbia and Swarthmore responded to my inquiry and said that they understood and no penalty will be imposed.
Peace of mind.
The FAFSA digital transfer of Tax Return is easier than I thought. It focused on three figures only: AGI, Wages, and Tax paid.
agreed with momofmusician17. Calling IDOC is waste of time and their pull down email is not working. Better contact financial aid office to see if you can submit the documents to them. But it seems eventually these IDOC stuff will be processed. Worst case scenario is to get the preliminary FA. I also believe that once FAFSA is verified by the IRS Retrieval Tool, the financial offices knows our financial situation (at least the income part for 2014) very well.
I’ve called D’s idoc schools and asked if they’d like the late docs submitted directly. 3 out of 4 said yes please. All said there won’t be a penalty but IMO that’s not the same as helping them get her package together quickly.
when the $ is distributed, it is goen.
On February 13th, I submitted all of my IDOC requirements. As of today, March 4th, they have not been processed. My three top choice colleges required the documents on February 15th. I have called and emailed the IDOC help number upwards of 15 times in total and to be honest, I am losing my head.
Tonight, March 4th, there is a new message: “The earliest deadline has passed, submit your documents now.”
Now just WHAT is the problem? Are my documents not named correctly? I’m positive the files aren’t too large! I simply don’t understand and the colleges I applied to do not want me to send documents directly. I understand that everyone is experiencing a delay, but mine seems to be ridiculous- my deadlines are approaching their 1 month anniversary next week! I know financial aid offices promise to adhere to the date I submitted by, but once the money is gone, it is gone- I could end up getting shut out of the opportunity to attend my top choice colleges that I have worked so hard to get accepted to. (Some of the schools requiring IDOC I have been admitted to, but others I haven’t yet- this delay could affect admission!). Colleges keep saying to wait until they are processed, but at this rate they won’t be processed at all- or at least until after financial aid is gone.
Is the message on my IDOC portal strange, seeing as I have already submitted my documents?
I’m genuinely feeling like everything I have worked for is going straight down the tubes, and to be honest, it is utterly depressing. As a junior, I never thought financial aid would be the emotional part of applying to college, but wow. Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer.