This is the last post of the Studying Abroad series.
Most foreign universities will ask for your transcripts. Transcripts are official records of your academic performance, signed by your college registrar, sealed by your college and bearing your college’s official stamp. It is very important to remember that report cards are not substitutes for transcripts and will not be accepted by the foreign university.
The first thing you should do is look up the requirements on the foreign university’s website. How many transcripts do they need? Do they want your college to send it or can you collect them from the college and then send it yourself? What is the deadline for receiving the transcripts?
Visit your college and ask the office what the procedure is for getting transcripts. Don’t expect it all to happen in one day. You will probably be told the time and day that you can pick them up. Ask what they need from you (report cards, ID etc). At this point, you will probably have to pay for the transcripts in cash or be asked to bring a cheque the next time you come.
It may take up to a week or more for the college to print your transcripts. Set aside an entire day to collect transcripts. Be prepared to wait for the transcripts for an hour or two in case of delays at your college’s office. Check that the transcripts have the official college stamp and signature of the registrar.
Some American universities now ask for evaluation reports from World Education Services (WES). WES compares your education to the U.S. system and prepares a report with a GPA, which makes it easier for the U.S. institution to understand the percentages and grades that your transcript shows. In order to create this report, WES needs copies of your transcripts (along with other requirements that can be found on the WES website).
An important detail to remember is that if your college is not autonomous (if it is affiliated to a university) then WES expects you to send transcripts from the university not the college. This is often more time-consuming than getting transcripts from your college because universities have more students than colleges do and often have limited hours in the day allocated to transcript work. Sometimes, transcript work is not even undertaken on the university’s campus. The university may ask you for all your mark sheets from college, your graduation certificate and a filled-out form. It can take up to a few weeks for a university to prepare your transcripts.
Although sending transcripts to WES is expensive and a lot more work since you have to involve your university, it is worth it. I believe that one of the reasons I was admitted into an Ivy League university was because the WES converted my transcript from Mumbai University into an evaluation report which showed a G.P.A of 3.96 /4.0.
Once you collect your transcripts, things are in your hands. You can post the transcripts to the foreign university and/or WES. Just make sure that they get there before the deadline! Good luck!