If I become accepted and enroll, how and where do I send my official transcripts/degree certificates during my first semester?

Official transcripts from U.S. institutions can be submitted in one of two ways. The first way is to have the institution send a hard copy, official, sealed transcript to our office by mail or courier, or you can hand-carry the transcript into our office as long as it is unopened, in its original sealed envelope. The other way is to have the institution send an official electronic transcript (i.e. password protected and sent directly to gradschool@umd.edu by the issuing institution, not sent or forwarded by the student). If your institution uses a third party provider, such as e-Scrip Safe, Parchment, etc., then we can accept these as long as the Graduate School is the recipient, and not the student themselves.

 

Official transcripts from international institutions can be submitted as follows. The first way is to have the institution send a hard copy, official, sealed transcript to our office by mail or courier, or you can hand-carry the transcript into our office as long as it is unopened, in its original sealed envelope. If you have your original degree certificate/diploma, you can bring these into 2123 Lee Building. We can examine the original degree certificate/diploma, make copies for our records, and hand them back to you. Alternatively, you can have your institution include stamped/attested copies of the degree certificates in the same sealed envelope as the transcripts. All documents should be in the original language of instruction, and accompanied by certified, literal English translations.

 

If your international institution's Registrar sends official electronic transcripts (i.e. password protected against editing/tampering and sent directly to gradschool@umd.edu by the issuing institution, not sent or forwarded by the student), then we can examine the electronic document to determine whether it meets our documentation requirements. If your institution does not provide secure electronic transcripts that are password-protected against tampering, and as originating from the institution's own records, then you would need to have your institution mail or courier hard copy, sealed, official records as described above.