Overview
This topic pertains to applicants who attended foreign and French-Canadian schools. These instructions do not apply to applicants who attended a foreign school as part of a study abroad program. See Study Abroad and Overseas US Transcripts for more information on reporting your study abroad experience.
If your program requires you to submit official transcripts, follow the steps below. If your program requires you to submit unofficial transcripts or no transcripts, see Colleges Attended for more information.
Canadian Schools
English-Canadian Transcripts
Canadian schools that provide English transcripts are not considered foreign. Transcripts from these schools must be sent to PTACAS. We accept but do not require foreign evaluations from Canadian schools that provide transcripts in English. Please see the US and English-Canadian Transcripts section for information on reporting that coursework.
French-Canadian Transcripts
Canadian schools that issue transcripts in French are considered foreign and must be reported like any other foreign school. Depending on your program’s requirements, you may need to:
- Submit official transcripts directly from your school in a sealed envelope. Transcripts must include a certified English translation; transcripts that do not meet these requirements will be discarded.
- Submit official foreign evaluations.
- Upload unofficial copies of your foreign transcripts or evaluations.
Check your program’s requirements to learn more.
If submitting official transcripts, your registrar should mail your paper transcripts to the following address:
PTACAS Transcript Processing Center
PO Box 9114
Watertown, MA 02471
Caribbean Medical Schools
All Caribbean medical schools are considered foreign institutions and are not US accredited, even if they have offices in the US or allow US licensing. Depending on your program’s requirements, you may need to:
- Submit official transcripts directly from your school in a sealed envelope. Transcripts must be in English or include a certified English translation; transcripts that do not meet these requirements will be discarded.
- Submit official foreign evaluations.
- Upload unofficial copies of your foreign transcripts or evaluations.
Check your program’s requirements to learn more.
If submitting official transcripts, your registrar should mail your paper transcripts to the following address:
PTACAS Transcript Processing Center
PO Box 9114
Watertown, MA 02471
Other Foreign Schools
Review your program's requirements to learn if they require you to send official transcripts or foreign evaluations for these institutions. Depending on your program’s requirements, you may need to:
- Submit official transcripts directly from your school in a sealed envelope. Transcripts must be in English or include a certified English translation; transcripts that do not meet these requirements will be discarded.
- Submit official foreign evaluations.
- Upload unofficial copies of your foreign transcripts or evaluations.
Check your program’s requirements to learn more.
If submitting official transcripts, your registrar should mail your paper transcripts to the following address:
PTACAS Transcript Processing Center
PO Box 9114
Watertown, MA 02471
Documenting Foreign Coursework
If you attended a foreign school or earned your degree outside of the United States, some PTACAS programs require you to submit your coursework to a US-based evaluation service for a course-by-course US equivalency report. This report should then be sent directly to PTACAS from the evaluation service. Check your program's requirements to learn more.
Be sure to contact a foreign transcript evaluation service as early as possible. See below for more information on vendors and accepted formats. Services can take several weeks to process your transcript(s) once received.
Foreign Evaluation Vendors
PTACAS only accepts electronic foreign evaluations from World Education Services (WES), Inc.
Ordering Electronic WES Evaluations
You must order WES electronic evaluations directly through the PTACAS application. If you do not order through the application, your evaluation will not be accepted.
- Enter your schools in the Colleges Attended section.
- Click Order after listing your foreign institution in the Colleges Attended section. If you don’t see the Order button, it means you didn’t enter your institution as a foreign institution – return to the Colleges Attended section to fix this.
- Click Visit WES Now.
- PTACAS is pre-selected for you (if not, select from the drop-down). Follow the prompts to order your transcript evaluation.
- Once you’ve requested the evaluation, return to the application and click I Ordered My Evaluation to let us know. When WES completes your evaluation, they'll send it to us electronically.
