Transcripts

[philstudent1991]

I feel like almost no one needed official transcripts, they were fine with unofficial until an offer is made. Was that your experience as well? Cuz Zizek's post made me think maybe I'm wrong....

[Cottagecheeseman]

Most of the schools I applied to as well didn't need official transcripts, though they wanted scans of official ones a lot of time. But some did, like USC, Miami and U-Mass Amherst. Just follow directions on the grad admissions stuff. The only one that confuses me is Johns Hopkins, because the grad-admissions page and the philosophy-admission page contradict each other.

[Ryura]

About half of my schools appeared to require official transcripts. One of them required two sets (ugh). But many of those that required official ones allowed me to upload unofficials, and it wasn't clear whether they really needed official transcripts.

[MattDest]

About half of my schools appeared to require official transcripts. One of them required two sets (ugh). But many of those that required official ones allowed me to upload unofficials, and it wasn't clear whether they really needed official transcripts.

Two sets of official transcripts? Why?

[tspier2]

Two sets of official transcripts? Why?

 

Probably one for graduate admissions and one for the department.

[bar_scene_gambler]

Only 4 out of the 13 programs I'm applying to required official transcripts.

[marXian]

When I was applying two years ago, my impression was that the schools that want scans of official transcripts uploaded are doing so to try and to cut down on pieces of the application getting lost/misplaced. Then if an applicant is admitted, he/she can send in official copies to verify. That's how it was for 7 of the 10 schools I applied to, and I had to send in official transcripts to the one I ended up attending (Northwestern) by the end of my first quarter.

[Table]

I applied to 15 schools and only sent official transcripts to 4: USC, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford (who wanted 2). Zizek's post made me paranoid as well. 

 

eta: it's interesting to me that many places are willing to accept unofficial transcripts until you're accepted, but no where accepts unofficial GRE scores. Anyone have an idea why that is?

Edited January 6, 2014 by Table

[philstudent1991]

I applied to 15 schools and only sent official transcripts to 4: USC, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford (who wanted 2). Zizek's post made me paranoid as well. 

 

eta: it's interesting to me that many places are willing to accept unofficial transcripts until you're accepted, but no where accepts unofficial GRE scores. Anyone have an idea why that is?

Yes very good point, I've thought the same thing. I think that when we become the decision makers instead of the applicants, we ought to change this. I have no doubt that there are reasons why this is the case, but I also have no doubt that no reason, however valid, could justify the outrageous expenditures by applicants that spend hundreds to send their GRE scores when a simple self report system would work just as well. Of course, I blame capitalism (it happens because ETS can get away with it because we have no power). But if I am ever a professor at a PhD program, I will do everything in my power to get this fixed.

[DHumeDominates]

I'm ignorning what a graduate school says if the philosophy department at that school says something different. E.g., Michigan says that it allows official or unofficial transcrits, but the Rackham Online Application says that applicants need to upload official transcripts ... or it calls an "academic record." I have no idea what that refers to. Regardless, I'm ignoring what the ROA says and just relying on the philosophy department's information. I feel like both Harvard and Wisconsin, Madison don't really need officials right away. It was noteworthy that both of those schools required me to input into the application form every philosophy class I took in college, the grade received, etc. It's as if that's substituting for an unofficial transcript. Anyway ...

[Table]

I'm ignorning what a graduate school says if the philosophy department at that school says something different. E.g., Michigan says that it allows official or unofficial transcrits, but the Rackham Online Application says that applicants need to upload official transcripts ... or it calls an "academic record." I have no idea what that refers to. Regardless, I'm ignoring what the ROA says and just relying on the philosophy department's information.

 

Be careful here. It's not obvious to me that the department and what the app says really conflict... A scan of an official transcript is an unofficial transcript. So the app is accepting unofficial transcripts, but it wants a particular kind of unofficial transcripts—a scan of an official one and not a web printout. 

When the department says they accept official or unofficial transcripts, I think they could mean they'll take either an official version sent from the school or a scanned copy. I know they say "One copy of official or unofficial transcript from undergraduate institution" but I think they could mean "official copy of your transcript" and not "copy taken of your official transcript."

basically: I don't think it's clear that the department wants to accept web printouts, if that's what you're using

[Hopephily]

Table is right to point this out.  The extension of 'unofficial' seems to vary from program to program. 

[DHumeDominates]

Table, thanks for that important reminder. However, I think the ROA and the Michigan philospophy department do contradict each other after all.

 

Although the ROA purports to require official transcripts, the Michigan philosophy department says the following. (Here's the link http://www.lsa.umich.edu/philosophy/graduate/prospectivestudents/admissionsfaq.)

 

"All the following materials should be uploaded into your online application by [the deadline] date:

 

One copy of official or unofficial transcript from undergraduate institution. Upload the scanned copy at the Transcript page."

 

You're absolutely right that an "official" transcript that is uploaded is actually unofficial. However, the above text clearly indicates that the department accepts an upload into the online application of an "official" (and thus actually unofficial) or a (genuinely) unofficial transcript. I uploaded a (genuinely) unofficial transcript, and so I think I'm fine.
 

Edited January 10, 2014 by DHumeDominates

[dfindley]

students who would otherwise have been accepted AREN'T because they neglected some trivial aspect of their application.

ESPECIALLY official transcripts and gre scores.

it shows you're lazy and unprofessional.

[dfindley]

omg

I AM lazy and unprofessional

... >··<;; !!!

[DHumeDominates]

I'm praying for you, dfindley. I hope you get the psychological help you need.

[alethicethic]

I applied to 15 schools and only sent official transcripts to 4: USC, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford (who wanted 2). Zizek's post made me paranoid as well. 

 

eta: it's interesting to me that many places are willing to accept unofficial transcripts until you're accepted, but no where accepts unofficial GRE scores. Anyone have an idea why that is?

 

ETS has revenues close to half a billion dollars, and they also produce for-profit test guides and so on. Graduate schools require the tests, so oftentimes departments can't opt out (because they are required as a condition for fellowships administered by the graduate school.) I'm guessing ETS would pitch a fit if schools started allowing unofficial score reports, or "unofficial ok until accepted" policies. At minimum, we would probably see the cost of the test itself rise.

 

But, one of the reasons that schools push for more quantitative measures is that qualitative measures (such as letters of recommendation) often serve to privilege the already-privileged (because admissions committees are biased towards letters from people that they know, or who are well-known, etc.) That's also the case with test scores (because the tests are designed and normalized in ways that tend to favor certain populations), but at least it's a blind process, or a different form of bias. It also gives a uniform measure that can cut across different schools and measures of grade inflation (this applicant has a 4.0 from this university, that applicant has a 3.3 from that university, etc.) So it's not perfect, but it might be better to keep something like it than not.

 

But, yeah, $25 per score is too expensive. A professor told me that ETS doesn't even send the score to the school. Rather, the graduate school itself logs in and grabs a set of scores from ETS. If he's right, they have like, zero marginal cost.

[bar_scene_gambler]

Quite a few of the departments I've applied to are okay with "unofficial now, official when accepted". Penn State told me (after I forgot to mail my scores to them) that the self-reported stuff was okay for the admissions process. I get the feeling that some places genuinely don't care, but policy dictates that they ask for the official scores outright.