US and English-Canadian Transcripts
Requirements
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.
- Transcripts must be sent to Common App for transfer from all U.S. and English-speaking Canadian institutions you listed in the Colleges Attended section of your application. We cannot process your application without receiving all of your transcripts.
- Do not send foreign transcripts. This includes transcripts from Caribbean and French-Canadian schools. We cannot accept these documents and they will be destroyed. See the Foreign and French-Canadian Transcripts section for more details.
- Transcripts must be original. Transcripts that are photocopied, faxed, on file at a career center or Interfolio, etc. are not accepted.
- Transcripts must be addressed to Common App for transfer. Transcripts addressed to you, a program, school, or any address other than Common App for transfer are not accepted.
- Transcripts must be mailed by your registrar. For security purposes, we cannot accept transcripts mailed by you or anyone other than the registrar. If anything on your transcript indicates that it was issued to the student, picked up by you, or mailed to any address other than Common App for transfer, your transcript will be rejected and you will need to send a new one.
- In rare occurrences where a school's computer system can only include the applicant's name in the transcript's Issue to field, instruct the registrar to mail the transcript to Common App for transfer and include a letter stating the registrar's policy for addressing transcripts. Transcripts will not be accepted without this letter. Additionally, the transcript cannot have an "Issued to Student" or "Student Copy" stamp and cannot be picked up by the applicant.
How to Send U.S. or English-Canadian Transcripts
- Enter your colleges or universities in the Colleges Attended section before requesting any transcripts.
- Click Order under each school listed.
- Select if you are ordering an electronic transcript (recommended) or submitting a transcript via mail. You only need to submit one transcript from each school regardless of the number of programs you're applying to.
- Some schools are part of a college district (e.g., Maricopa County Community College District, San Diego Community College, San Mateo Community College District, etc.). If you attended more than one college in a college district, you only need to order one transcript for all colleges (e.g., the San Mateo Community College District transcript includes all coursework from Cañada College, College of San Mateo, and Skyline College).
- If ordering an electronic transcript, select the electronic transcript vendor and follow the prompts. Review Sending Transcripts Electronically below for more guidance.
- If submitting a transcript via mail, click Download Transcript ID Form and print the form. Review Sending Transcripts by Mail below for more guidance.
- Click I Ordered My Transcript once you either requested an electronic transcript or downloaded the Transcript ID form. Or, click I Will Do This Later to return to Colleges Attended.
- Follow up with your school(s) to ensure that your transcripts were mailed, and obtain the date they sent them. Be aware that processing times vary by school and may take longer towards the end of a semester. Some schools may not send your transcript until the semester is over.
- Monitor the Check Status page to ensure your transcript is received. On average, it takes up to five business days for your transcript to post to your application from the date we receive it. If your transcript is not posted after this timeframe, review the Posting Delays section below.
Sending Transcripts by Mail
- Contact the registrar at each institution you attended and request one transcript be sent to Common App for transfer.
- Provide the registrar with the following items:
- Common App for transfer Transcript ID Form. Ask the registrar to attach it to your official transcripts. This form is not required, but strongly recommended as it helps ensure your official transcripts are properly matched to your application. If you cannot use this form, make sure the registrar prints "Common App for transfer" and your full Common App for transfer ID number on the transcript before mailing it.
- Any school-specific forms required by the registrar.
- Any transcript fees required by the registrar.
- All information needed by the registrar to properly identify you in the school's database.
- Any name changes.
- Your Common App for transfer ID number.
Your registrar should mail your paper transcripts to the following address:
Common App for transfer Transcript Processing Center
PO Box 9135
Watertown, MA 02471
We are not responsible for any materials lost in the mail or delays caused by the Registrar's Office. Express or certified mail does not guarantee faster processing or receipt.
Sending Transcripts Electronically
Please note that electronic transcripts are not the same as emailed transcripts. We cannot accept transcripts sent via email.
Common App for transfer only accepts electronic transcripts from Parchment and National Student Clearinghouse. If your school does not offer any of these services, your transcript must be sent by mail.
If your school requires that you use a service other than Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse, you should ask that service to mail the transcripts instead of sending them electronically. Since you cannot include the Transcript ID Form, you should include your full Common App for transfer ID number when entering the Common App for transfer mailing address.
When using any of these services, select Common App for transfer as the recipient. If you can't select Common App for transfer and instead are asked for an email address, your transcript must be sent by mail. Do not send your transcript to the Common App for transfer customer service email.
Parchment
Confirm that your school offers the Parchment service. If your school is not listed, your transcript must be sent by mail. If your school is listed, follow the instructions to proceed. Once your transcript is requested, it takes up to five business days for it to post to your application. If your transcript is not posted after this timeframe, contact Parchment directly to confirm the order was completed, then contact customer service.
National Student Clearinghouse
Confirm that your school offers the National Student Clearinghouse service. If you attended Geneva College or Geneva College Portage Learning, review their transcript guidelines before you order transcripts.
If your school is not listed, your transcript must be sent by mail. If your school is listed, complete the following:
- From the menu bar, click Order–Track–Verify > Order a Transcript.
- Enter the school you wish to order a transcript from, then click Continue.
- Click Order Transcript.
- Follow the prompts and enter the required information.
- When selecting the recipient (i.e., Who are you sending your transcript to?), select Educational Organization, Application Service and Scholarships.
- When entering recipient details, select Common App for transfer from the Select Organization drop-down, then enter the CAS Transcript ID. This ID is located in the Common App for transfer on-screen instructions when ordering electronic transcripts and below the barcode on the Transcript ID Form issued to you by Common App for transfer (the barcode is located in the upper right corner of this form). Note that Common App for transfer may be selected automatically for you in the Select Organization drop-down. Additionally, Common App for transfer may be listed with an association name, such as in the example below.
Example:
If the Enter CAS Transcript ID field does not appear, then your transcript cannot be sent to Common App for transfer electronically.
Once your transcript is requested, it takes up to five business days for it to post to your application. If your transcript is not posted after this timeframe, contact Common App for transfer customer service to confirm the order was completed.
Please note that use of these services does not expedite the processing of transcripts.
Posting Delays
If your transcript has not posted within five business days, first contact your school to confirm that they sent your transcript. Additionally, the following scenarios can cause delayed application posting/processing and should be avoided whenever possible:
- A transcript is not accompanied by a Transcript ID Form or is accompanied by the incorrect form.
- A transcript is not addressed specifically to "Common App for transfer."
- A school you attended is missing from the Colleges Attended section. We cannot attach a transcript to your application unless the school is listed.
- An incorrect school name is listed in the Colleges Attended section. We cannot attach a transcript to your application until it is corrected.
- The name on a transcript cannot be found in the Common App for transfer database, either because your name changed, was misspelled on the transcript, was misspelled on the application, or you have not yet created your Common App for transfer account.