Transcripts from international school?

[tlawrence]

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Hey everyone,
I am currently doing an MPH in dublin, Ireland and will not be getting my grades until at least late July... I know for the MD application, you do not have to send in transcrips from international schools (you just used the transcript waiver form). Does anyone know how this works for DO applications? Specifically TUN-COM CA? Will I need to send in transcripts from my first semester or can I get a transcript waiver? I'm worried because my transcript appears to have a low gpa and grades but its because the grading system is different in Ireland but I will be receiving my actual MPH degreen in late July/early august.

 

[GimpGenius]

It's a pain in the butt, frankly. AACOMAS requires that you submit transcripts from all institutions attended, including foreign ones. I'm not sure how the Irish system works, but if it's similar to the UK, you'll need to have official transcripts sent to a "translation" service (you can find links to these in the AACOMAS instruction manual), interpreted into their U.S. equivalencies, and then submit those equivalencies, along with another official transcript, to AACOMAS for verification.

All said in done, the verification process was what held my primary up the longest (about 8 weeks including AACOMAS verification). I'd suggest contacting AACOMAS directly to be sure their rules haven't changed. It's also a good idea to have your primary finished, minus the foreign transcripts, ASAP. You don't want to go through all that stuff only to realize you didn't send a transcript from undergrad.

Hopefully some of that made sense; PM me if there's anything you'd like me to clarify. Good luck! 🙂

 

[ManBroDude]

Agreed: you're going to have an official company convert your EU grades into the American system, and it's probably going to take a while.

 

[COMedic2Doc]

+1 to the above. Your classes in Dublin will still very much count for the AMCAS and AACOMAS. Good luck (btw so jealous that you're in Dublin, Ireland as my ancestry is from there and still have yet to see Ireland in my international travels).

 

[tlawrence]

Thanks all... it really is confusing. I have my first semester grades available and will not get my second semester until late may.. should I wait to get them evaluated after my second semester or just apply with only the first semester? Also, I won't get my dissertation marked until August so my final marks for the entire course won't be available until August..

 

[tlawrence]

PS... Ireland really is fantastic.. I just decided to go here on a whim and its by far my favorite place to live so far!

 

[GimpGenius]

Thanks all... it really is confusing. I have my first semester grades available and will not get my second semester until late may.. should I wait to get them evaluated after my second semester or just apply with only the first semester? Also, I won't get my dissertation marked until August so my final marks for the entire course won't be available until August..

I think there are two ways you could go on this:

1) Do an intial transcript evaluation after your second semester. You might be slightly behind the neurotic SDN pre-med curve, but assuming you expedite things and are on the ball, you should be all right. The downside would be that you'd probably have to do two different evals (one for your May grades and one for your final ones later in the year). If you're willing to drop the money for it, that might be the smartest way to go.

2) Wait until August/September for the evaluations. This isn't a death sentence for med school (I wasn't complete until October and I managed), but it might limit your options and/or push your interview dates back significantly (most of mine were February/March with the october completion).

Personally, I'd drop the extra money on the second evaluation; applying is expensive, and in hindsight I'd equate it to paying a little extra for time (the most important commodity you're going to have). Before you do anything, though, contact AACOMAS and the schools.

Best of luck! 🙂