Mom on the Run: Financial aid a mess of deadlines, acronyms

I’m sitting looking at the e-mail: “IDOC Reminder — Your Next Step for Financial Aid.”

Ah! I remember! IDOC is part two of the CSS Profile, which is the financial aid program used by the university my daughter will attend in the fall.

I spent over an hour completing the CSS Profile in December, and as I recall, after our taxes are done, we have to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) online, and submit that to the school plus send copies of our 2009 taxes to IDOC, with a very specific, densely printed cover sheet. They were extremely concerned about that cover sheet.

And yes, IDOC, it’s on its way, I promise, even though I was focused on the earlier deadline of a particular scholarship application.

Every scholarship application has required different supporting documentation — essays, transcripts, lists of activities, letters of recommendation — and this one wants our SAR (Student Aid Report), which is generated the FAFSA, which requires completed taxes. The SAR had to be postmarked by March 1.

And after a big huge rush, caused by dawdling W2s and an unexpected work trip, we got our taxes back on Feb. 26. I spent that evening doing the FAFSA … and learned to my horror that the SAR is not instant, but takes “up to 10 but usually three to four days to process,” according to the not particularly friendly woman on the other end of the FAFSA hotline. But ... panic … three days is … March 1!
The postmark deadline! What if it’s late?

In my frenzy, I decided to overcompensate, and ran to FedEx the FAFSA summary to arrive on March 1. Made sure to include my daughter’s ENF number on the cover page. E-mailed the scholarship office, explaining about the SAR and the FAFSA. Had a running conversation with the not particularly friendly Programs Assistant about the SAR delay. Got the SAR on March 1! But late, after the post office closed. Printed it out — and discovered it was exactly the same as the FAFSA summary. I e-mailed the SAR PDF to the Programs Assistant in Chicago and was told I still had to mail the SAR, as soon as possible, even though they had the PDF plus the identical FAFSA summary. I decided to FedEx the SAR, with the ENF, on March 2, to arrive on March 3, the same date as something sent via USPS on March 1, right? Then I e-mailed the Programs Assistant alerting her to the FedEx. I e-mailed again the next day, learned the FedEx had arrived, and started breathing again.

In the meantime, I also mailed the FAFSA and tax information to IDOC. I was going to FedEx that too, but IDOC only has a P.O. Box, so I used the post office to mail that.

And now here I am, 10 e-mails, two FedEx packages, and one USPS envelope later, looking at this e-mail from IDOC, asking about our stuff. The stuff which literally is in the mail, or in the mail room, or in the in box. The e-mail is full of warnings about deadlines, and proper cover sheets, and IDOC ID numbers. And I know all that, I did all that, and confidently I click on this link: “Check the status of your IDOC materials, download supplemental forms, and get further information from our Online Help Desk,” which took me to a new link. I click on that new link, and get “Enter your ISIS ID here.”

ISIS ID? What the heck is an ISIS ID? We have an ISIS ID? Plus an IDOC ID, plus an ENF number. For all those FAFSAs and SARs and, while I’m thinking in acronyms, IRS documents. Using SSNs. Sent via FedEx and USPS.

Aaack!

Not for the first time, I recognize that a college degree is required to do the paperwork to get a college degree. And, closing my eyes, I click the X at the top of the page. I am dealing with this tomorrow.

Lianne Wilkens lives with her family in Manassas. Reach her at liannewilkens@hotmail.com or follow her on Twitter.