Seeing double? Time for a visit with the IDOC.
It's that time of year: where we try to operate in 2 years simultaneously.
First of all, students arrive back on campus next week in time to start the 2nd semester of the 2004-2005 year. It's been a terrific IAP, despite the unusual overabundance of snow (over 3 feet at last count). I had fun teaching my two classes, and will probably be setting up an ongoing Tarot group to meet and look at the various cards on a bi-weekly basis (Or is it bi-monthly? I can never get that straight. Is bi-weekly every other week or twice a week? Anyway, we'll be meeting every other week.). But of course, part of the start of the semester involves helping students deal with any remaining issues for their current year, and settling any outstanding questions.
Secondly, we are eager to begin the process of reviewing your financial aid materials (for those of you reading this who will start your program in the 2005-2006 academic year). We have had several days of staff training, the systems are humming, and we are ready to go!
As part of this process, you too may feel like you are operating in several different years simultaneously. For the 2005-2006 academic year, we have asked you to fill out your applications using information from your and your parents' (probably at this point estimated) 2004 tax returns. The reason we do this is because the 2004 income is the income upon which we will base our financial aid decision for 2005-2006, as it is the last completed tax year before the academic year begins.
But, our deadline for submission of forms is March 1. And many of you may not have done your tax return for 2004 by that time. So what do you do?
To answer this question, I need to say a word about IDOC. For those of you who are U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents, we use a service provided by the College Board to collect your tax information for us. (By the way, yes, this is in fact the same College Board who does the SAT, the AP tests, the CSS Financial Aid Profile, and the financial aid software we use. We trust them. Can you tell?)
IDOC is a service which allows you to send all of your tax information in once, to all of the schools who need it (and are subscribed to this service) simultaneously. Think of IDOC as kind of a Profile on steroids. This service allows the College Board to image and send your information to MIT (and the other colleges who are IDOC schools and to whom you have applied) once, without you having to make multiple copies of all of your forms and ship them everywhere. Starting on this Friday, students who have successfully completed their PROFILE application will begin to be emailed with information about how to access your IDOC cover sheet. You will print the IDOC cover sheet, attach a copy of your 2004 U.S. Tax Return and all required paperwork (including W-2 Forms, the Business / Farm Supplement, etc), and send it to the College Board so that they receive it prior to March 1, 2005. We then will be sent an electronic record via a secure channel indication that you have completed your IDOC record and will be able to see an image of the documents you have submitted on line. IDOC will image anything you submit: shopping lists, crayon drawings, smiley faces, photographs (not that we want any of these), but it is crucial that you include all of the forms we have asked you to submit with your IDOC packet. You can only submit one IDOC packet per year. If you have additional paperwork that has to follow your initial submission, we ask you to mail it to our office at MIT directly after your first IDOC submission.
The College Board has an FAQ about IDOC here. Some other questions you may have:
So, what do I do if I will not have my taxes filed and ready by March 1st? First of all, don't panic. If you definitely know you will not have your final, finished tax return done by March 1st, then send the 2003 Federal Tax return as well as any copies of 2004 W2's directly to our office with your name, SSN, and class of 2009 clearly marked on each page by March 1, and then follow as soon as the tax return is complete with the 2004 copy to the IDOC service. Remember, March 1 is MIT's financial aid application deadline. The IDOC service will continue to process records for a long time after March 1st.
What if I lose your IDOC email or forget my IDOC number? Again, don't panic. Go to the IDOC web page at http://idoc.collegeboard.com/ and look up your IDOC number. You can also print another copy of your cover sheet from this page.
What if I am a U.S. Citizen living abroad or I file a Puerto Rican tax return? You still follow the same IDOC procedure identified above.
What if I am an international student? Instead, send your 2004 tax information directly to us at MIT (Building 11-320). If you only have your 2003 information, send that now and send the 2004 information when it is ready. DO NOT USE THE IDOC SERVICE.
What if I haven't filed the CSS Financial Aid PROFILE application yet? First of all, what are you waiting for? An engraved invitation? Here it is. But seriously, you need to file your PROFILE application as soon as possible. Once you do, it should be no more than two or three days of your submission before you get your IDOC email (This whole email thing is new to IDOC this year, so let us know if it takes longer).
What if my parents are divorced or separated and I need to submit two sets of materials to you? Ideally, you should submit both sets of tax returns together in one envelope to the College Board with one IDOC cover sheet. We do know, however, that this may not be possible or practical due to your family's circumstances. If this is not possible, submit the tax information for your custodial parent (see my previous blog entry for that de-“fun“-ition) to IDOC, and have your non-custodial parent send her/his information to us at MIT directly. If you do this, however, attach a cover letter stating why you are doing this, or the information will be sent back to you. Also, make sure every page of what you send to us has your name, SSN and “Class of 09” clearly marked on every page.
What if I send something to you by accident and not to IDOC, like the Business and Farm Supplement? Don't worry! Our crack staff will catch this and send it back to you so that you can include it in your IDOC packet.
What if I am a returning student and I have stumbled onto your blog and am curious about what to do for this year's application? or What do I do next year when I am a sophomore, junior or senior? Once you are beyond the Freshman admissions cycle, your completion deadline is moved later in the cycle (April 15th) so you can submit only one tax return (the base year) by the deadline. For returning students this year, you will also start getting IDOC emails and you should send your cover sheet and tax forms in to the IDOC service by April 15th.
What if I have any more questions? For example: I don't know how to express myself in binary code and I don't understand what 10 base 16 means? And I don't understand Schroedinger's equation? And I don't really know if “poetry matters”. Well, then, you are plum out of luck (or you need to take a couple of MIT courses). Feel free to post a comment here and see if some random expert in string theory, EECS, or modern literature feels like explaining the nature of their universe.
Happy last days of January, and keep those financial aid applications coming!