Documents needed to apply for universities or colleges in USA

Documents required for application to US universities / Colleges

1. Passport

2. Resume/Curriculum Vitae

3. Transcript

4. Marksheets and pass certificates

5. Letters of Recommendation

6. Entrance exam scorecards

7. Statement of Purpose

8. Experience letters

9. Application confirmation copy

Here are the details on the above-mentioned documents required for abroad studies,

Passport: Most important document. In case you don’t have one, please file for one well in advance. Keep it ready before you schedule your entrance exams. Also copies of the 1st and last pages of the passport should be taken and attested.

Resume/Curriculum Vitae: This will carry information about your objective, education qualification, internships (if any), work experience(if any) milestone scores (yearly aggregates and 10th, 12th final aggregate), projects undertaken during your Undergraduate program (and during your internships/full time job as well), co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Transcript: A transcript is a single document issued by an institution. It contains the scorecard of the concerned student in a concise format. For US aspirants this document is a must. For students applying during their final year, need all the scores available till that date. For eg. For engineering students, the transcript should carry details for semesters 1 to 6 For aspirants going well after the completion of Bachelor’s, the transcript should carry scores of all the years of Bachelor’s program. NOTE: a student needs to issue several copies of a transcript and get each of them attested from the concerned institution itself.

Marksheets and pass certificates: 10th, 12th, all marksheets semester wise and passing certificates. Each application requires 1 (sometimes 2 sets of copies to be sent). All the copies should be attested.

Letters of Recommendation: the norm is to have atleast 3 recommenders. Some universities prefer recommenders sending the letter directly to the graduate admissions department online. Most of the universities (especially for Master’s program applications) request for hard copies to be sent. The content has to be printed on the organizations header paper, sealed inside the official envelope with stamps and signature on the seal. This is to prove that the letters are confidential and were not revealed to the applicant.

Entrance exam scorecards: GRE/GMAT/SAT and TOEFL/IELTS scores have to be sent online to universities through the ETS website. Apart from that, one can keep a few copies of the scores for safekeeping.

Statement of Purpose: applicants may or may not have to submit Statement of Purpose online. If it has to be sent via courier please ensure it is printed on good quality paper with a header containing your name, UserID and program you wish to apply for. The standard font size and spacing preference will be mentioned on the university website.

Experience letters: if you have interned or worked then the experience letters from the concerned organizations.

Application confirmation copy: once you apply and pay the online fee for the university, you will come to a confirmation page and receive a confirmation email. A copy of either of the 2 has to be sent. Copies of certificates for awards, participation, volunteer work, technical papers and published papers.

Some universities ask for a bank statement declaration. For this a letter from the bank declaring your savings is needed. This statement will be issued by your bank and the copies need to be attested by the same bank.