Are transcripts mostly electronic or hard copies?

[Buffster]

Hi All

 

Was just wondering if any one has any advice on what is the general trend with respect to transcripts today? Do US grad schools mostly ask for scanned copies of transcripts to be submitted online? Or is it more common for them to want hard copies mailed?

 

I know it differs from school to school, just wanted to know if someone can tell me the average trend? Cuz I am applying to 15 schools and was wondering if I should apply for 15 transcripts? I have to apply for 4 degrees and it would get kinda expensive! And I don't have my final set of schools quite yet, but am eager to apply for the transcripts right away!

 

Thanks a lot and would appreciate any feedback!

[TakeruK]

For me, about half of my schools were happy with unofficial transcripts or a scanned version of an opened official transcript at time of application (they would only require a certified hardcopy when I registered for the school). The other half of the schools wanted my previous schools to mail certified hardcopies, which cost $$ unfortunately Sometimes if you are applying to multiple programs at one school, you only have to submit transcripts, test scores, etc. once.

 

Find out how long it takes to send transcripts and I wouldn't do it more than a few weeks in advance of the application deadline. I changed my mind about schools more than once during the application season. Also, some schools will want the transcripts sent directly from your school to the new school and they will NOT accept a transcript from you (even if you didn't open it). 

 

I would say it's not abnormal for students to spend over $1000 to apply to schools (including application fees, transcript fees, GRE registration and score reports), especially if you're applying to a lot of schools. I viewed it as an investment in the future! At least I didn't have to fly myself out to interview at schools like my med school friends!

[Buffster]

Right, thank you TakeruK, you have been most informative!

 

I knew it was going to get expensive, like even more than 1000$, but still hearing 1000 makes me weak!!!

 

It would all be worthwhile if I only got through! Otherwise...

[Buffster]

TakeruK, may I ask if you used interfolio?

And if you did, would you know if it is possible to use it partially? That is only for LORs and send the rest of the application using the university application system?

 

Thanks a lot for all your help!

[TakeruK]

$1000 is a lot right now, especially when we probably aren't actually making real income yet. But it's a worthwhile investment -- if you get in, then $1000 spread over the 5 years in grad school is pretty small. If you don't, then for me anyways, that $1000 would have been well spent to let me know that I wasn't cut out for the PhD route after all. 

 

I didn't use Interfolio at all -- I don't think the sciences do this! As others have discussed on this forum, the big disadvantage with Interfolio is that your LORs will not be custom-made for each application. However, at the same time, our LOR writers probably personalise these things as much as we do our SOPs (i.e. change a few words/names here and there). So probably it's not such a big deal!

 

I applied to 8 schools. I had 3 LORs for each school, and the deadlines were spread out between Dec 1 and mid-January. I asked for LORs around this time in 2011, then gave 4-week, 2-week, and 2-day reminders to my writers. When I gave my 4-week notice, I also attached a 1-page summary file with my GPA, GRE scores at the top, a 2-3 sentence description of what I want in my PhD, and a list of all the schools I applied to, their address, the method of LOR submission (if it was not electronic), the deadlines, and the names of the profs I wanted to work with. Some profs wanted to see a copy of my SOP or other materials so I sent those to them too! I sent the reminders using the University's Application System (by clicking a button in the application system) because this provides them with a direct link to upload the letter, instead of having to search through their inbox. I know that many of my profs use their inbox as a to-do list, so if my mail isn't at the top, they won't remember to do it!

 

It turns out that for most schools, submitting an LOR late isn't a big deal -- when this happened, I just let the school know that the letter has been delayed and I reminded my prof again. I wouldn't bank on this happening, but I would try to not have a panic attack if one of your profs is late either! In every case this happened, the secretary wrote back to say that it's no problem -- the committee doesn't meet until weeks after the deadline anyways etc. Again, don't count on this, just try to stay calm when deadlines are missed, because they probably will be!

[Buffster]

wow TakeruK!! thanks so much - for all the info as well as tips to not freak out! you've really helped a lot! thanks for all your time! appreciate it.