Questions about official transcript requirement

 

On this page, we will talk about:

•    What we require for transcripts,
•    What we need from international applicants,
•    What we mean by an "official" transcript,
•    What we need from applicants who were previously UND students,
•    What happens to your application if we do not have a complete academic record,
•    What to do if you can't obtain an official transcript,
•    What is a National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) evaluation,
•    What to do if you have transfer credits,
•    When you will know if we have received a complete academic record, and
•    What we need if you have not yet graduated with your previous degree.

 

What do I need to meet the transcript requirement?
We require a complete set of official transcripts, which represents every college credit that you have attempted. (An official transcript must be sent to us from the institution which originally issued the credit.) We call this a complete academic record. We require this of each and every applicant to a certificate or degree program, so that we can gain as complete a picture as possible of each applicant's academic career.

 

What if I am an international applicant?
We understand that some countries do not issue transcripts in the same way that American institutions do. We follow the advice of World Education Services to determine which documents are required from each country. If your institution is located outside of the United States or Canada, please consult the World Education Services Required Documents page, at http://www.wes.org/required/index.asp. On the remainder of this page, when we say "transcripts" we will mean whatever documents are required of your country.

If your transcripts are not in English, we will need to have your transcripts translated into English. In order for the translation to be considered official, it must be:

 

• performed by a dispassionate third-party (your transcripts may not be translated by a relative, friend, co-worker or a teacher), and
• placed into an envelope sealed by the translator.

Please note that we will still need to have the transcript as well as its translation.

 

What do you mean by "official" transcript?
For our purposes, "official" means sent directly from the issuing office to our receiving office. We judge transcripts to be official if:

•    they arrive to us in an envelope sealed by the issuing institution, or
•    they arrive to us in a secured electronic transcript exchange program, of which we are already a member.

Basically, we judge a transcript to be official by the way it was received. Unfortunately, we must be vigilant about fraudulent credentials. You may include sealed envelopes with official transcripts inside of another envelope.

Also, keep in mind that the United States government considers educational records to be Federally protected and private. We cannot obtain your records unless you arrange for them to be sent them to us.

 

What if I was previously a UND student?
We cannot obtain your UND transcripts unless you arrange for them to be sent to us.

 

What happens to my application if you don't have a complete academic record?
We consider all submitted applications to be incomplete until we have received all items (including official transcripts) required by the department to which you are applying. (Please consult the application instructions to see which items are required by your department.)

Applications are reviewed by our faculty for admission when they become complete.

Your application will move to Final Processing at The Graduate School when we have all required items. During this time, we are determining your minimum eligibility for the program to which you applied, and we are also verifying that we have a complete academic record. If we notice that we need another official transcript, your application will again become incomplete and you will be notified.

Also, please note that your application is only valid for the program and term indicated on your application. If your application has not yet received a decision on the fourth week of the semester to which you applied, your application will be administratively denied. If your application is incomplete, you may submit an Application Change Request Form to change the admit term on the application. We will honor a request to change an admit term only once.

 

What if I can't obtain an official transcript?
There have been some circumstances when obtaining an official transcript is not possible. Please read these items to see if the situation applies to you:

•    If your institution will not release your transcript because of a financial, disciplinary, or academic hold, you will need to work with your institution to resolve the issue.
•    If your institution cannot locate your transcript, we will need to have a letter verifying that fact. This letter should come to us from the Registrar of your institution, or a Dean of your institution, or another person of sufficient authority. The letter should indicate the reason why the transcript is unobtainable. These letters will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If this applies to you, please email our Director of Admissions & Recruitment, Evan Nelson, at evan.nelson@gradschool.und.edu, before you send any documents to us.
•    If your institution was located in a country affected by war or extreme natural disaster, we understand that your transcripts is likely impossible to locate. If your institution is located in Iran, we understand that your transcript's envelope may be opened before it arrives to us. If either situation here applies to you, please email our Director of Admissions & Recruitment, Evan Nelson, at evan.nelson@gradschool.und.edu, before you send any documents to us. These issues will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
•    If your institution will not release official documentation and you have original documents which were issued to you, you may request to use notarized copies. If this applies to you, please send an email to our Director of Admissions & Recruitment, Evan Nelson, at evan.nelson@gradschool.und.edu. Please explain why you are requesting to use notarized copies. These requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

o    If your copies are notarized, then each individual document must be notarized, and the notarized copies must be sent to us in an envelope sealed by the notarizing official.

 

What is a NACES Evaluation?
While we do not automatically require it, we reserve the right to request a third-party credential evaluation. If we request such an evaluation, you would need to obtain a credential evaluation by a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). You would be able to choose any of the members of NACES, which are listed at http://www.naces.org/members.htm. If we request a third-party evaluation, we will contact you and we will mark a NACES Evaluation as a missing item in your application. Your application will remain incomplete until we have received the requested NACES Evaluation.

Some applicants choose to send a NACES Evaluation even if we do not request one. We welcome all NACES Evaluations.

 

What if I have transfer credit?
The appearance of transfer credit on a transcript does not meet our requirement of a complete academic career. Therefore, if you have transferred credit, we must have a transcript from the institution which originally issued the credit.

Some students do not know that they have transferred credit, especially if they took college classes while in high school. If possible, you may want to speak to your institution to see if any credit has been transferred into your record.

Some students do not know that a study abroad experience also meant that credits were transferred. In some cases, a study abroad experience means that your college credits were originally issued by the foreign institution and not your home campus.  If possible, you may want to speak to your institution to see if any credit has been transferred into your record.

 

When will I know if you have received a complete academic record?
If, during "Final Processing," we find that you meet all the minimum admission requirements and that we have your complete academic record, we will send your application to the department for their review. You will be notified when this occurs. When your application is "Sent to Department," you will know that we have a complete academic record.

 

What should I do if I'm applying before I've graduated?
To be considered for admission, you will need to provide a complete academic record which is current at the time of your application.

If you are offered admission, you will need to send us an official transcript with your degree posted before you can register for class. If the degree is not posted in time for registration, you may use our Special Permission to Register Form. (Please note: UND Master's students who are admitted to a UND PhD program will not need to use a Special Permission Form if the UND Master's degree is not posted by the time the doctoral program begins.)