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

Worth knowing about UC Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz requirements in detail

Graduate applicants: the translator envelope

UCSC Graduate Studies sets out a step-by-step route for applicants whose university does not issue English translations (Graduate Studies: international applicant information). Request two transcripts from your university.

Upload one to your application. Give the other to a certified English translator for a complete, word-by-word, literal translation.

The translator puts the original-language transcript and the translation into one envelope, seals it and signs across the seal, and the envelope is sent to UC Santa Cruz Graduate Admissions, which uploads it to your application record.

The same page lists what is refused: opened envelopes, documents not sealed and endorsed by the issuing institution or certified translator, documents without the university's official seal, and unofficial or non-literal translations.

Records must be translated in their entirety, including anything on the reverse side. On the how-to-apply page, include one copy of the transcript legend, usually the back page.

An eVerbary translation is a signed PDF; if you use it for UCSC, ask Graduate Admissions how they want it sealed and sent before you order.

After admission: everything goes to WES

UCSC does not admit graduate students provisionally, and it does not give preliminary credential evaluations (Graduate Studies: international applicant information).

Admitted students who graduated from a school outside the US submit a course-by-course ICAP evaluation from World Education Services to verify their degree, with no exceptions; the official transcripts and any translations go to WES, not to UCSC, so check WES's own documentation and translation rules (WES).

Country notes on the same page: degrees from China and India are verified through the WES ICAP evaluation (transfer work or study abroad in China does not need it); students from affiliated colleges in India upload transcripts or mark sheets from the university, not the college; and degrees under the Bologna Accord must say so on the official transcript (Graduate Studies: international applicant information).

Undergraduates: the UC rule and a July 1 deadline

For first-year and transfer applicants, translation is set by the shared UC rule: certified translations of college records by the university or a certified translator who knows educational terminology, and secondary records only when they are written in a non-Roman alphabet.

UCSC's Conditions of Admission FAQ covers delivery: official transcripts must be received electronically or postmarked by July 1, your MyUCSC Student Portal To Do list shows which ones are required, and every college course counts, even one already on your high school transcript.

The pages do not say how a separate translation is sent; ask Undergraduate Admissions.

Documents applicants usually translate

• University transcripts and mark sheets, front and back, with the grading legend
• Degree certificates and Bologna diploma supplements
• University (not affiliated college) mark sheets for applicants from India
• College records for UC transfer applicants
• Secondary school records written in a non-Roman alphabet, for undergraduates

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 UC Santa Cruz

• Graduate applicants upload the original-language unofficial transcript and the English translation in the Academic History section; if a certified translator made the translation, the sealed envelope goes to UC Santa Cruz Graduate Admissions, which uploads it (Graduate Studies: international applicant information, how to apply).

• Admitted undergraduates have each institution send official transcripts to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions - Hahn, UC Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, or electronically, by July 1 (Undergraduate Admissions: Conditions of Admission FAQ).

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