International Records

An increasing number of prospective UC students have completed part of their high school or college work in a foreign country and their academic records include both U.S. and foreign credentials. Students with such mixed records often have questions about how to complete the University’s application for admission. The information in this section is provided to assist you in advising these students.

Each University campus has experienced international admission specialists to evaluate foreign academic records and determine transferability of foreign coursework. They are knowledgeable about the different grading systems and methods of reporting coursework in other countries.

The international admission specialists are able to provide general information to students; however, they cannot provide formal evaluations for students before they apply. Once a student has been admitted to a campus and has accepted the offer of admission, the campus will complete the formal evaluation.

Counselors with questions about how to interpret foreign academic records or how to advise a student to complete the application should contact a campus international admission specialist or admissions office.

Academic Records

Students who accept an offer of admission to the University must provide official academic records from all institutions they attended beginning with the ninth grade.

Because it can take a substantial amount of time to obtain records from schools outside the United States, applicants should have legible photocopies of their official foreign academic records. After a student submits an application, he or she should be prepared to send these copies to the Office of Admissions upon their request. Official transcripts will be required at the campus the student elects to attend.

The official record must list the titles of courses and examinations the student completed, the grades (marks) earned, the dates attended and any degree or diploma earned. In the U.S., the academic record is usually referred to as a transcript; in other countries it may be called by another name, such as leaving certificate, maturity certificate, bachillerato or baccalauréat.

The University recognizes that it may be difficult to obtain foreign records in the event of political upheaval or natural disaster; however, these situations are rare. Failure to provide official records may jeopardize a student’s enrollment at the University.

Evaluation of Secondary School Coursework for Advanced Credit

In most cases, the University does not grant advanced standing credit for secondary level certificates or diplomas. Credit is given for Hong Kong and GCE advanced level exams passed with a grade of C or better.

Translations

Secondary school records generally do not need to be translated unless they are in a language with an alphabet other than the Roman alphabet. In that case, official translations are required.

Students must submit certified translations of all foreign college/university records that are not issued in English. The University will accept English-language translations provided by foreign universities or those performed by certified translators with knowledge of educational records and terminology.

Course Descriptions

The Admissions Office may need descriptions of college/university coursework to determine course content and verify that the student has completed required preparatory coursework for the major or college. Many foreign universities can provide translations in English. If a university cannot, UC will accept a student translation.

The University does not use course evaluations provided by professional credential evaluation agencies. All course evaluations are performed by the University’s international admission specialists.

The Application

Scholastic Information

On the undergraduate application, students must list all institutions attended, including any foreign schools, beginning with the ninth grade, even if the student satisfied or plans to satisfy the UC admission requirements with only U.S. coursework.

Academic History

Students who attended school outside the United States should report their foreign coursework and grades on the Academic History section of the online undergraduate application to the best of their ability, following the instructions provided. (This section is called the Self-Reported Academic Record on the paper application.) They should list all courses attempted and record the grades earned exactly as reported by the foreign school — whether as numbers, letters, percentages or words.

Freshman applicants who took any external examinations in secondary school (such as GCE Advanced Level, HKCEE, GCSE, ICSE, ISC, AISSC or Matriculation Examinations) should list the mark earned in the examination rather than the mark assigned by the teacher at the end of the course. Transfer applicants should list hours, credits or units for coursework as noted on their transcripts if their coursework is not reported as quarter or semester units.

Transfer applicants should include foreign coursework in calculating their preliminary grade point average only if they can convert the marks they received to the A-B-C-D-F grading system. If the grades cannot be converted, they should not be included in the GPA calculation.

English Language Proficiency Requirement

Students whose native language is not English and whose secondary/high school or college/university education was in a country where English is not the language of instruction must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination (academic modules) and arrange to have the scores reported to the Admissions Office at each campus to which they apply. The Admissions Office must receive the test results from the testing agency no later than January for students applying for the fall term.

The minimum score required to demonstrate proficiency ranges from 173–220 on the computer version (500–550 on the paper version) of the TOEFL, depending on the campus. The minimum IELTS score is 7.

The acceptable score range for the Internet-based TOEFL, which will be introduced in late 2005, has not been announced; when it is, it will be posted here.

English courses taken in the U.S. may be substituted for the TOEFL, but requirements vary from campus to campus.