Academic Transcript

What US colleges see

The transcript is the foundational academic document in every college application. It tells admissions readers:

• Every course you've taken in high school (grades 9–12)
• The grade you earned in each course
• The course level (standard, Honors, AP, IB HL/SL)
• Your GPA — unweighted, weighted, or both
• Your class rank, if your school reports it
• The grading scale your school uses

This document is more important than the SAT, more important than any single essay, and more important than any single recommendation letter. US admissions readers spend more time on the transcript than on any other part of the application.

Transcript submission logistics

For students applying through the Common App, the transcript is uploaded directly by your school counselor through their counselor portal. You do not handle, upload, or email the transcript yourself. The counselor also submits:

• Your School Profile
• The counselor's recommendation letter
• Your high school's "secondary school report" (a form covering disciplinary history, courses in progress, etc.)

After initial submission, colleges also expect an updated mid-year report — a supplemental transcript showing your senior-fall grades. For Early Decision and Early Action applicants, this happens automatically in January. For Regular Decision applicants, it happens alongside the main submission.

Senior spring grades are also reported via a final report after graduation. US colleges can revoke admissions for students whose senior-spring performance falls significantly — "senior slide" is real, take it seriously.

What Korean transcripts look like

Korean general high school transcripts:

• List subjects by semester and year
• Show 등급 (1–9 scale) for each subject, sometimes with raw scores or percentages
• May or may not include class rank explicitly
• Are issued in Korean, with official school stamps

The Common App accepts these as-is with a counselor-provided English translation. You do NOT need to create a separate "American-style" transcript from scratch. Your 내신 etymology and 등급 system will be interpreted correctly when combined with a good School Profile.

Korean international school transcripts follow US conventions already and are submitted identically to US domestic transcripts.

Credential evaluation services (WES, IERF, ECE)

Some US colleges — particularly public universities — require international applicants to have their transcripts professionally evaluated by a credential evaluation service like World Education Services (WES), International Education Research Foundation (IERF), or Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). These services take your foreign transcript and produce a US-equivalent summary with letter grades and an approximate GPA.

Not every US school requires this. Most private selective universities (including the Ivy League) accept transcripts directly from the high school without WES. Check each target school's international admissions page. When required, WES evaluation costs ~$200 and takes 2–4 weeks.

For Korean students, the schools most likely to require credential evaluation are public universities and some state-flagship schools. Plan for this early if any public schools are on your list.