School requested a "degree conferral"

[poopyhead]

A program I applied to said I need to send them a "degree conferral." I responded asking what that would entail, and they haven't emailed me back yet. Does anyone know what this is? If it's something like a "proof of graduation" wouldn't my transcript cover that?

[TakeruK]

Usually, this means that the degree was officially or formally awarded and this happens around the time of a graduation ceremony. For example, at my current school, degrees are only conferred once per year, in June of each year. So someone who defends their thesis this month might finish all their degree requirements and such by February (after handing in all paperwork and final thesis etc.). This would get them a degree completion status on the transcript and a letter saying all requirements are completed. In June, when the degrees are officially conferred, the transcript will show conferral status and you'll get the actual piece of paper that is the degree.

For almost all purposes, the "completion letter" is what you need as proof of completion for most things. However, in some cases, such as starting my PhD program, my school wanted the proof of conferral of all previous programs. I had finished a Masters degree in August, started my PhD in October but my Masters was not conferred until November (this school confers degrees twice per year, in May/June and in November). The school was happy to extend the deadline for proof of degree conferral until the end of the calendar year after I told them I could not get my Masters conferral until November. For proof of conferral, my school wanted either a photocopy of the degree itself or the note in the transcript that says conferred (not just "completed").

So, if you are in a similar situation, check with your school and see what they want and when they want it