Transcripts

WHAT ARE EDUCATION TRANSCRIPTS?

A transcript is simply an official document which acts like an in-depth report card of your academic career. As the universities abroad have a different educational culture and system than in India, we need to send them a transcript which has got a variety of details and information about you as a student; in academic related topics such as attendance, discipline etc. The universities see a transcript as a reflection of your punctuality, discipline, improvement over time, and your overall performance during school and college. They view the transcript and try to predict how you’ll perform in their college or university for the course you apply for. An education transcript is thus one of the most important things in an admission process abroad, though it is not the only important thing!

WHAT IS IT IN INDIA?

Transcripts in India mean your mark sheets, semester-wise or cumulative (yearly). We get our mark sheets or report cards from school that have all details about the subjects we studied and the marks per subject that we got through the years. This serves as a data record for the universities abroad. To send this to universities, you need to take a xerox copy of all your mark sheets and report cards and get them verified and stamped from the University Registrar Office. At the Registrar Office they see the original marksheets and verify that it is the same as the Xerox. Thereafter, you need to put all those verified and stamped xerox copies of your marksheets in an envelope and get that envelope signed and sealed. This envelope acts as the ‘official transcript’ and needs to be sent to the university you apply for with your application form and other documents.

WHAT DOES A TRANSCRIPT INCLUDE / DETAILS IT SHOULD HAVE?

A transcript needs to have the following details of the student. They are already present on the marksheet, however you can check from the list below if anything is missing. It should include: ? Full Name of Student ( as in government records) ? Full name of the school / college that the student has studied from ? Postal address of the school / college ? Details about which education board does the school / college follow ( In India, ICSE/CBSE or State Board for schools and colleges or for colleges the University affiliation they have) ? Name of the course / qualification or degree studied ? Subject-wise scores /grades for the student ( semester-wise or yearly) ? Your class ranking ( if your school does it) ? Your attendance records ( subjective to school ) ? Record of any serious disciplinary action( if any ) taken for e.g. suspensions ? Standardized test scores and honours/awards (if applicable )

WHO SENDS MY TRANSCRIPTS

In colleges and schools abroad, the guidance counsellors in schools send the transcripts to universities, via the school/ college office. They seal and send the same. In India however, this process is only followed by the IB or IGCSE board schools and colleges. For all others i.e. ICSE, CBSE and state board students or university students, the process is different for different countries; however a standard step-wise process is as follows:

1. Take clear xerox copies of all your marksheets (ensure that they are properly placed and no edges are cut or no part is unclear or dark).

2. Buy an envelope big enough to fit in all the marksheets without folding

3. Pay the fees online at the university website for the transcripts ( it may range anywhere between Rs 100 – 500 per transcript)

4. Submit the envelope at the University Registrar Office ( it will be mentioned on the website)

5. The Registrar at the office will verify and sign each page and put a seal on them ( it is just like getting marksheets attestation done by lawyers or gazette officers)

6. The registrar office will then sign and seal the envelope(at the opening – the red wax seal) with your documents inside

7. This envelope after seal, acts as an ‘official transcript’ for universities abroad.

Note:

? Universities in India DO NOT send the transcripts.

? Even though the university you are applying for may have mentioned on their website,”only transcripts from universities are accepted”; it doesn’t apply to International admissions.

? Many universities abroad do not ask for an official transcript initially; in this case have to unofficially declare your marks and other details during application. Be very careful because if the universities find any mismatch, they will reject your application.

These universities also ask for / need an ‘official transcript’ but that is when the admission is confirmed.