How to Submit Your Academic Transcripts

Transcripts are an important piece of the admissions and application process as they provide universities with key information about your academic performance. Transcripts include information such as completed courses, your student identification number, dates of attendance, letter grades, GPA and more. Ensuring your transcript is sent to each institution in which you plan to enroll is crucial in order to attend college. Continue reading to learn more about submitting transcripts.

Official Transcript vs Unofficial Transcript

Did you know there are official and unofficial versions of your high school and college transcripts? Some universities require an official transcript when you apply, while other universities may allow you to start the application process with an unofficial transcript. Let’s take a look at some of the differences between an unofficial and official transcript.

Official Transcript

An official transcript is signed by the registrar or school official and includes the school seal to ensure authenticity. The official transcript provides your completed courses, grades, GPA, school information and credits earned. This is an important document that is needed for enrollment whether you’re applying as a first year college student, transferring from an undergrad program or applying to grad school. An official transcript is also needed to determine which college credits will transfer.

Unofficial Transcript

An unofficial transcript does not have a university or high school seal and is not signed by the registrar or school official. You can usually obtain an unofficial transcript by signing into your student portal or by reaching out to your academic counselor or advisor. Unofficial transcripts can help you determine if you meet the prerequisites for classes you’d like to enroll in. While these can be submitted to colleges, an official transcript is still required for enrollment.

How Colleges Evaluate Transcripts

Colleges will often review your official transcript to see if you’re prepared for a college curriculum. If you submit an official transcript when applying, colleges can still review this to get a sense of your academic career. 

Some information that will be looked at includes: 

• Difficulty of your enrolled classes to see if you’ve challenged yourself throughout your high school career.
• Consistency of your grades.
• If your grades have dropped, admissions will look to see if you’ve made improvements.
• Weighted and unweighted GPA.
• Class rank, if applicable.

How to Submit Your Transcripts

You may notice different transcript requirements among each of the colleges you’re applying to. Based on these transfer requirements, your issuing institution might be required to send the transcript by mail, submit it to the Common App or submit the transcript to another online document delivery service.

1. Find out the transcript requirements of each college you’re applying to.

2. Submit your high school and/or college official transcript to each college, making sure to follow their transcript policy.

Undergrad: Your guidance counselor will be able to submit your high school transcript using your selected colleges’ transcript requirements.

Graduate: Once you’ve completed your bachelor’s degree, you will only need to send your college transcript when applying to a graduate program.

Transfer: You must submit official transcripts from every college you’ve attended. Depending on the number of credits you have received, you may be required to submit your official high school transcript.

3. Check with each college to see if they’ve received every transcript.

You can do this by checking the application portal, following up with your high school counselor if they have sent out the transcripts or contacting the admissions office.

Sending Your Transcripts to JWU

At JWU, we can make a decision based on your unofficial transcript but an official transcript is needed prior to enrolling in classes. We accept official transcripts for undergrad, grad and transfer students electronically or by mail in a sealed envelope from your college or high school.

If you’re transferring from another college or applying for graduate admissions, make sure to check back with each institution for guidance on how to request transcripts.

Official transcripts can also be uploaded to our Transcript Submission Form by a school official for undergrad, grad and transfer students.

Some other helpful things to consider when submitting your transcripts:

Undergraduate

• You can upload an unofficial transcript to the Common App or JWU App.
• JWU offers a convenient Transcript Authorization Request Form if you would like us to request your official transcript on your behalf.

If you’re interested in our undergraduate program, click "Explore Undergrad Admissions" to read our FAQ, check deadlines, learn about scholarships and explore majors or click "Apply to JWU" to start your undergraduate application. 

Explore Undergrad Admissions  Apply to JWU

Transfer

• Your high school transcript is not required if you are transferring and have an associate’s degree.
• If you're an undergrad transfer student, you can submit your unofficial transcript to the Common App or JWU App. 

Transferring to JWU? Our Transfer Evaluation System will help you determine which courses you’ve completed equate to JWU courses. We also have Transfer Representatives ready to discuss credits and answer any of your questions. Find out more about transferring to JWU by clicking the button below or click "Apply to JWU" above to start applying. 

Transfer Opportunities

Graduate

• JWU only requires transcripts from colleges where you were enrolled in an undergraduate program. High school transcripts are not required.

JWU’s graduate program offers a unique curriculum with classes taught by industry professionals. We offer online, on-campus and hybrid courses to accommodate your schedule. From criminal justice to data analytics to food safety, there is a wide-range of programs to choose from!

Learn About Our Grad Program Start Your Application

Why Apply to JWU

Two Campuses, Two Exciting Cities

With a beautiful campus in the heart of downtown Providence and a second campus centrally located in the thriving city of Charlotte, both cities offer the ideal environment for college life. The Providence and Charlotte campuses often host events, comedians and world-class speakers. Venture off either campus to spend the afternoon hiking, shopping or exploring the numerous restaurants and cafés.

Visit Providence  Visit Charlotte

Hands-On Approach to Learning

Our experiential education approach encourages you to network within the community so you can gain real-world experience and feel confident going into your career. JWU has partnered with companies such as Fidelity, TJX Companies, Hilton and Hyatt who are actively looking to hire JWU students for internships.

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100+ Academic Programs 

Not only is JWU one of the top culinary colleges, we have over 100 undergraduate and graduate programs to choose from including a range of health and wellness programs, business programs and cybersecurity programs. JWU has also been recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education.

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