Hi

I'm going to start working on my Master's degree next year, and I need some help

There should be members here who hold a Russian degree and who went to grad school in the U.S. (Blues Fairy, you may be one of them!). What did you guys do with the transcripts? The Universities I will be applying to want the transcripts - with translations! - to be sent directly from my school, and although I know I can arrange that, it's gonna be a major hassle.

Does anyone know if it's okay to just bring the degree and the original mark sheet with translations to the admissions office, and have them make copies and do whatever they want with them? I contacted schools and asked about it, apparently they had no clue. Maybe I should have gone to international admissions, they seem to be more versed in foreign credentials requirements...

Anyways, if anyone has ever done that and can share experience, thanks heaps!

I simply translated my diploma into English and sent in both the photocopy and translation. In your case, it's probably a good idea to add an explanatory note that schools in Russia do not provide translated transcripts directly to schools in the U.S.
The folks in the office of international programs are indeed more understanding as a rule.

It can be done, and it isn't a big deal. Check with the graduate admissions office of the school you are applying to. They will tell you what they need. It will be different at different schools. In our case, they wanted the diploma and transcript sent to a foreign degree certifying company.

Thank you, guys. I'll bug these schools some more, I'm sure I can work it all out.

I bet its up to school what they will accept!
Good luck to you!

What do you study?

Thanks!

I was going to get an M.A. in Public Administration, since I work in the public sector, but I still have to make up my mind - I'm interested in law too, and was considering getting a paralegal certificate. I'm not sure about the job market for paralegals in the Bay Area though, and we were thinking of moving out of here in a few years, so I may as well go for the M.A., since it's not very job-specific

Yeah, go to international admissions office. There they would at least know what the whole thing was about and how to deal with it. They will tell you where they want it translated and evaluated (I mean a school usually has a bunch of agencies that this school likes to do this kind of thing with) But it's not a big deal if it's not sent directly from your uni in Russia (wasn't in my case)

Job market is pretty good for paralegals in the Bay Area. Considering that so many firms would rather get a paralegal (cheaper) who pretty much does attorney work and who they do not ever have to make partner. That said, they probably prefer to hire a law school graduate who can't pass the bar or can't find a job as an attorney. I know a few of them.

We'll see in May/June 2008, huh?


(You're going to be an excellent lawyer, Satellite. Good luck on the bar! Can't wait to see your posts next year - "I am a lawyer, and this is legal advice..... now you all owe me $385. I accept PayPal.")

Well, going to law school and working as a paralegal afterwards kinda sucks.

I may stick with Public Administration after all.

By the time I get my license my wife should have her citizenship (or so I assume considering they are going to charge us an arm and a leg for it), and I can officially retire from VJ to avoid the conflict of interest. Don't see myself doing pro bono when I consider the kind of student debt I am straddled under. Congress needs a kick in the butt for that. Why do home buyers get a better rate (4-6%) these last couple of years and students get stafford loans at (6.8% and grad plus loans at 8.5%)? While the war in Iraq is fully funded. Okay that was my political rant of the day. Seems like we care little about the future.

I'm going to miss you, Satellite. But, here's the good news... you can still come on VJ as long as you don't talk about immigration issues. You'll avoid the conflicts of interest just fine if you stick to things like home/student loans and the war in Iraq. There are plenty of posts that need doin' on those issues.

You may mess up your chances for public office though. Don't talk bad about W and 'nem if you ever want to be district att.... wait a minute. A guy b!tching about student loan rates would never work directly for the government. Go ahead, blast 'em all!

When I applied a few years back, schools in SoCal required official transcript in the envelope sealed by the undergrad institution. It had to come with the translation as well, so I had to order one extra transcript, translate it to English here and send it along. Another thing is that they said university itself would evaluate the transcript and the degree. In the result they ruined up my GPA by treating “passed” (zachet) marks as D. So I would recommend writing an explanation for them what “passed” means and why there are so many of them. Also, they sometimes have a misconception about the names of the subjects as they have a different nomenclature here. Brief descriptions of the key courses would help them to match it with the corresponding subjects in their educational program.