Transcript evaluation service ! Please advise me, urgent !

[dirosemimi]

Hi folks,

I am originally from Vietnam. In Vietnam, the scoring system is completely different from the system in US. So I need to have my transcript evaluated prior to translated to English. I am living in Buffalo, NY. Could you please advise me some reliable evaluation services ( it is great if it is near my place) ?
BTW, I got a bachelor degree in my country and I am applying to SUNY Buffalo and some other schools for a MBA program. I will take GMAT next month.

Thanks a lot,
Daisy

[CalmLogic]

I assume the service they would prefer would be WES, which is the service most universities seem to prefer, including the law school at SUNY:

If transcripts are not in English, an authenticated English translation must be provided. Please contact World Education Services at http://www.wes.org to arrange for translation of your transcripts.

Home: University at Buffalo Law School

[dirosemimi]

Hi CalmLogic,
Thanks for your information. But WES requires transcript must be sent directly from my university in Vietnam. It takes times to do this as I am not in Vietnam. Is there any other good services ?

[CalmLogic]

UPDATE: It seems many transcription services do not require the transcripts to be mailed directly from the university. However, I would call SUNY and the other schools you are interested in to see if they would accept transcript services other than WES.

[CalmLogic]

After doing a Google search, I see that ECE is a transcript service that is accepted by at least a few MBA programs (in addition to WES).
For example, Temple University's MBA program accepts both ECE and WES: Fox MBA Program -- International Applicants
From what I see at ECE.org, I can't tell if they require the transcripts to come from the university or not.

The service below is accepted by the MBA program at the University of Central Florida, and it does not seem to require transcripts directly from the university:
http://www.jsilny.com/html/foreign.htm

However, I would definitely call SUNY and see if they would accept these services since WES seems to be the gold standard. For example, Indiana State's MBA program seems to accept only WES:
Indiana State University :

[dirosemimi]

Hi CalmLogic,
Thanks for your information and search. It is helpful for me.
Good nite !

[dirosemimi]

Hi CalmLogic and everyone,
The cost for transcript evaluation is expensive and unreasonable.
Is there any of you guys submit original transcript ( from other country) and be admitted by school? I think American universities are able to evaluate it themselves as there are many international students in the US. How do you think of this?

[CalmLogic]

The cost of graduate school is even more expensive and unreasonable

I think American universities are able to evaluate it themselves as there are many international students in the US. How do you think of this?

It is an interesting idea, but a graduate school is not going to go out of their way for international applicants by having international students work or volunteer as transcript translators. Public state universities, for example, are beholden to the tax payers of that state, and any additional task that needs to be managed -- even if they had volunteer translators -- would require additional overhead.

Is there any of you guys submit original transcript ( from other country) and be admitted by school?

Yes, is if the transcript is in English. Your problem is that your transcript is not in English. Even when transcripts are in English, it is often beneficial or required to use a transcript service like WES to provide GPA equivalency calculations for unknown foreign schools with different GPA scales.

Also, many foreign schools use English as the primary language. That may be one reason why many foreign students have English transcripts.

[dirosemimi]

CalmLogic,
What you said make sense to me. However, if I translate the transcript , will it be accepted?
You know what, so far there is not any accredited Vietnamese translation organization in the US. In addition, I do not think international students from China, Korea, Thailand,etc use WES or ECE. So how are their transcripts recognized by US universities?

[CalmLogic]

CalmLogic,
What you said make sense to me. However, if I translate the transcript , will it be accepted?

You could call the graduate schools/departments and ask if they would accept your translation along with the official transcript in Vietnamese. I think it's worth calling them anyway to see exactly what their preferences are, especially since time is a factor.

The whole point of some schools requiring a service like WES is because it is seen as a relatively objective third party that is experienced with US equivalents of foreign schools, courses, and grading systems. So even when the official transcript is in English, a service like WES may still be required.

For example:

International students please note, international transcripts must be evaluated by World Education Services (WES); you can learn more about the WES evaluation process at http://www.wes.org/.

Admissions - Metropolitan College of New York

Some of the universities will make the decision about the degree equivalency themselves (they will want to see the German transcript and the translation). Some universities require the prospective student to evaluate his credentials with an outside agency, for example WES http://www.wes.org/ or something similar (xiggi posted the link to the list of some of the agencies). The universities usually have their preferred evaluation agencies (and will not consider the evaluation from others), so it's better to get familiar with the requirements of particular programs the young lady is interested in.

College Discussion - View Single Post - German university credits to American grad school?

For more examples of a service like WES being required:

Office of Admissions & Records at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
site:.edu wes.org - Google Search

In addition, I do not think international students from China, Korea, Thailand,etc use WES or ECE. So how are their transcripts recognized by US universities?

Certainly, not all foreign students use a service like WES. Students from the largest, most well-known schools in the world may not need such a service when applying to some graduate schools, possibly because those schools may provide their own English transcript translations and their undergraduate programs are so well known. However, I think a lot of applicants are using WES and other such companies because they are told by the graduate school/department that they want to go to that they need such a service for some reason. Look at all the employees working for a service that is less popular than WES:

http://www.jsilny.com/

It costs a lot of $$$ to pay for all those employees, so they must have a ton of business. The reason they have all that business is because their service is seen as a necessity.