Document Preparation

When applying to the University of Alberta, you must declare your entire academic education from all past and present universities, colleges and post-secondary institutions you attended, even if they are not relevant to the degree you are applying for. Programs must be listed individually and must include:

• Completed degrees, diplomas and post-secondary certificates
• Programs that are currently in progress
• Non-degree studies or courses
• Courses or programs taken through university exchanges or by distance
• Transfer credit courses
• Online courses
• Incomplete or discontinued studies
• Failed courses

In addition, you must upload complete academic documents for each program listed. Even if courses taken at one institution are recorded on another institution's transcript, transcripts must be submitted from the institution at which the courses were taken. All document requirements, including translation requirements where applicable, are listed below.

Your complete and up-to-date post-secondary educational history is required by the academic department for the evaluation of your application.

Criteria for Uploaded Documents

• Any screenshots, photographs or prints of an unofficial document will be refused.
• We do not accept documents notarized by a notary public, or endorsed by a lawyer, professor or judge.
• Transcripts uploaded on the online application portal are considered to be unofficial documents.
• Do not send official hard copy documents with your application. 
  • Hard copy documents will only be requested if you receive a conditional offer of admission letter.

Your offer of admission is dependent on the receipt and verification of these official documents.

Transcripts

Uploaded transcripts can be:

• An official transcript issued to you by the post-secondary institution
• A transcript/student record obtained from a self-serve web system of the post-secondary institution, with the system's URL and print date included
  •  Note: An official transcript may still be requested

Transcripts must include:

• Your full name
• Post-secondary institution name
• Academic program
• The grading scheme/scale legend
• Names and numbers of courses
• Year and term of attendance
• Credits and grades received

Additional transcript requirements:

• The transcript must be scanned in its entirety (front and back pages), including the transcript legend, and be legible. Ensure that no information is cut off during scanning.
• Up-to-date transcripts are defined as:
  • Transcripts dated or issued in the fall/winter term of the year of application if you are currently enrolled in a post-secondary program. 
  • Transcripts dated within a year of the term for which you are applying if you are not currently enrolled in a post-secondary program. 
• All Canadian and American transcripts must have a recent date on which it was printed.
• As applicable:
  • Transcripts provided to support a degree that has been conferred must cover the entire period of the degree.
  • If the official language of your institution is not English or French, a literal English translation of transcripts must be provided by the issuing institution or by a certified translator. Both the original language document and the translated document must be included in your application. 

Degree Certificates

• A degree certificate must accompany transcripts that do not clearly indicate:
  • That a degree has been conferred/awarded/granted
  • The date on which the degree was conferred
• You may have an interim transcript that does not yet indicate that a degree has been conferred and the date that the degree was conferred. However, final transcripts from all North American and many international institutions will include this information, meaning no degree certificate is required.

Degree certificates must include:

• The date of conferral
• The registrar's signature
• A post-secondary institution stamp or seal

Other Documents

• Graduate certificates, graduate degrees and transcripts from China must be provided in their original language as well as with an English translation. We will accept Chinese documents from the Center for Student Services and Development (CSSD), formally known as the China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center (CHESICC).
• Diploma supplements will be accepted in some cases

Document Formatting

PDF Conversion

All application documents must be submitted as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. It's your job to convert your application documents from their original formats (i.e., JPEG, GIF) into a PDF file.

For PDF conversion help, search online using these keywords:

• "Converting files to PDFs"
• "Converting GIF and JPEG files to PDF"
• "Free JPEG to PDF converter"
• "PDF conversion"

File Naming

For efficient processing, use the following file naming conventions when uploading your documents to the GSMS portal:

Example: Lastname_Firstname_DocumentType_RelatedInstitution.pdf

Use underscores (_) to separate terms and end all filenames with ".pdf".

For documents related to institutions, abbreviate their names where possible (e.g., UAlberta, UChicago, UofT, PekingU, etc.).

Examples

• Fraser_John_CV.pdf
• Fraser_John_Transcript_McGill.pdf
• Fraser_John_WritingSample.pdf
• Fraser_John_DegreeCertificate_UBirmingham.pdf
• Fraser_John_TOEFLTestResults.pdf