Stony Brook University (SUNY): Translation Requirements for Documents in Another Language

Worth knowing about Stony Brook

Stony Brook requirements in detail

Graduate School: a translator named by ATA or NACES

Most universities ask for a "certified" translation and do not say who the translator must be.

Stony Brook's Graduate School names the directories: the translation must come from an accredited translation agency listed at atanet.org, the American Translators Association, or naces.org.

Only if no such agency is available in your country does it accept the Ministry of Education or equivalent, and it also accepts a translation from the institution that conferred the degree.

Translations made by the applicant are not accepted (graduate admissions).

The translation has to be complete: all course-by-course coursework, the grades or GPA, the degree awarded and the institution's name.

For Latin American records the page adds a physical detail, that the translation must bear the original stamp of the issuing institution or the stamp or credential of the certified translator; for Chinese records each page of the original must carry the institution's red-ink seal, and CHSI verification reports are accepted but not required (Graduate School: apply to graduate programs (international credentials)).

College of Business and Health Sciences add their own rules

The College of Business graduate admissions page asks for an official English translation of all coursework with the original documents, accepts translations from agencies listed at atanet.org or naces.org or from the institution that conferred the degree, and adds an option the Graduate School page does not list: SBU faculty members.

Unofficial copies are enough for the admission decision; admitted students send final official transcripts.

Where an education system cannot be compared to the US, the College names World Education Services as the evaluation service.

Graduate Health Sciences programs are stricter: transcripts from abroad must come with an evaluation by a NACES member, such as WES, and a certified translation.

If you use WES ICAP, the copies of the transcripts WES sends are accepted as official.

When an evaluation is submitted to the Graduate School, it must be accompanied by the original-language and translated transcripts and diplomas used for it (Graduate School: apply to graduate programs (international credentials)), so the translation is needed either way.

Undergraduate: grades in English, sent by your school

For first-year applicants the rule is short: grades for the three most recently completed years of secondary school must be submitted in English before the application can be reviewed, and graduates send the last four years.

Every transcript must come directly from your school; your counselor uploads it through the application system or emails it to undergraduate processing (first-year international).

Early Action documents are due November 1 and Regular Decision documents January 15.

The page does not say who produces the English version, so a certified translation sent with the school's transcript is not ruled out; if in doubt, ask undergraduate admissions how your counselor should send it.

Transfer applicants send official college transcripts by mail or electronically; the international transfer page adds nothing on translations (transfer international).

Documents applicants usually translate

• University transcripts or mark sheets, every year and every course
• Degree certificate or diploma (for China, the Certificate of Bachelor's Degree and the Certificate of Graduation)
• Grading scale document from your institution
• Secondary school transcripts for the last three or four years (undergraduate)
• Provisional or temporary certificate, if the final diploma has not been issued

What an eVerbary translation includes

• A complete English translation of every page, stamps, seals and handwritten notes included, laid out like the original so each line can be matched.
• Grades exactly as recorded, with the grading scale the document prints. We never convert marks to a US GPA.
• A signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead, with our contact details, delivered as a PDF you can upload.
• $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, certification included; 24 hours for one to three pages as standard. Regular clients who need it can get delivery in as little as 30 minutes, on request.

Uploading the translation to Stony Brook

• Graduate applicants upload the original-language records and the translation with the application; official transcripts then go to the Graduate School Office of Admissions and Student Services by mail, which it prefers, or through Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse (Graduate School: apply to graduate programs (international credentials)).

• Undergraduate first-year applicants do not send documents themselves: the school counselor uploads the transcript, with its English version, or emails it to undergraduate processing (Undergraduate admissions: international first-year applicants).

How to order

1. Scan or photograph every page of the document, front and back, including any stamps on the reverse.
2. Upload it, choose the language and "certified", and see the price before paying.
3. Receive the PDF, usually within 24 hours for one to three pages, and upload it with the copy of the original wherever the institution asks for it.

Frequently asked questions