University of California, Santa Barbara: Translation Requirements for Documents in Another Language

Worth knowing about UCSB

UCSB requirements in detail

Undergraduates: a certified translator, after you are admitted

UCSB does not want transcripts while you apply: decisions rest on what you self-report on the UC application, and official records are requested only after you accept an offer (international FAQ).

The translation question comes up at that point, on the admitted freshman transcripts page.

It asks for final official secondary records sent by your school or the appropriate authority, a true copy of your graduation certificate certified by your school, and, if the school does not issue an English version, a copy in the original language with a certified English translation by a certified translator who knows education records and terminology.

Students on the British system have their own route: Certifying Statements of Results from each exam board, with GCSE, IGCSE and O-Level results due July 15 and A-Level results by July 1 or, if released in August, before the end of August.

Cambridge results can be confirmed through CIE Direct and Pearson can email results to admissions@ucsb.edu (Admitted first-years: sending official documents).

Transfer students follow the UC-wide rule for college records and can be asked for course descriptions, which UC accepts as a student translation if the university cannot provide one (UC: international records, transfer).

Graduate Division: one file, then WES

At the application stage the Graduate Division wants a transcript created by your university, with the degree certificate in the same file, and both the original-language documents and certified English translations; the translation must be complete, exact and literal and produced by the school or an official agency (Graduate Division: international applicants).

Do not send official documents unless you have been admitted and chosen to attend.

After admission, anyone with a degree from outside the US completes a WES Document-by-Document ICAP evaluation, sent electronically to UCSB Graduate Admissions; a WES Course-by-Course ICAP is also accepted, but no other evaluation, and WES can take up to two months (Graduate Division: admitted international students).

The documents go into your WES account, not to UCSB.

For that file, the admitted-student page accepts official literal translations from the degree-granting institution or translations by an accredited member of a translators' association such as ATA, prepared from official copies. eVerbary can assign a translator individually certified by ATA on request through a free quote; WES also has its own translation rules (WES).

Where UCSB's pages differ

The admitted freshman transcripts page asks for a certified translation whenever the school issues no English version of the transcript.

The international FAQ, like the UC-wide first-year rule, says secondary records generally need a translation only when written in a non-Roman alphabet. We have not resolved this difference.

If your school records are in Spanish, French or another Roman-alphabet language, ask Undergraduate Admissions which rule applies before you order.

Documents applicants usually translate

• Final secondary school transcripts and the graduation certificate or diploma
• National exam results and certificates
• College or university transcripts and degree certificates
• Course descriptions, if a transfer reviewer asks for them
• Graduate transcripts, degree certificates and diploma supplements for the WES file

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 UCSB

• Undergraduates: after you accept the offer, your school sends official records through an approved electronic vendor or by mail to the Office of Admissions, 1210 Cheadle Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-2014; check the "My Documents" tab of the Applicant Portal, which can take 3 to 4 weeks to update in peak periods (Admitted first-years: sending official documents).

  The page does not say how a separate translation travels; ask admissions@ucsb.edu.

• Graduate applicants upload the original and the translation in the same file as the transcript in the online application (Graduate Division: international applicants); admitted students upload their documents and translations to their WES account (Graduate Division: admitted international students).

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