International Coursework
All candidates must meet the minimum requirements for admission, including 139 quarter units or 93 semester units of college coursework from an accredited U.S. or English-speaking Canadian institution. This includes U.S. institutions with campuses overseas (i.e. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar) or study abroad programs in which the coursework appears on the transcript of an U.S. or English-speaking Canadian institution.
If you were educated at a non-U.S. or English-speaking Canadian institution, you are welcome to apply. Please carefully read the information below, which outlines additional steps you must take to complete your application. Please note that UCSF financial aid is limited to United States citizens and permanent residents; therefore, you must be able to fund your own education and living expenses for the entire four year program.
To ensure smooth processing of international transcripts, please follow the steps below:
On the ADEA AADSAS Application
- In the “Colleges Attended” section, report all colleges or universities attended, including any coursework taken at a foreign institution or study abroad program.
- In the “Transcript Entry” section, enter all courses taken. This includes any coursework taken at a foreign institution or study abroad program, if the ADEA AADSAS system allows you to do so. This option is not available for most overseas schools.
- Request official transcripts from all U.S. and English-speaking Canadian colleges attended to be sent to ADEA AADSAS for verification.
- For all non-U.S. or English-speaking Canadian colleges, order an official course-by-course credential evaluation by either the World Education Services (WES) or Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) to be submitted to ADEA AADSAS by the application deadline.
- If selected for an interview, applicants will be required to submit an official transcript from all international institutions. These documents will be required prior to the interview date (interviews held in Oct. - Jan.). Official transcripts must be sent directly to UCSF from the issuing institution(s). Notarized copies are not acceptable.
Reporting Study Abroad Coursework
- If coursework was completed at a U.S. institution overseas (i.e. American University Beirut or Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar), report the institution from the drop down list and proceed to enter in all related information, including coursework in the Transcript Entry section. In Transcript Review, mark the courses as study abroad.
- If coursework was completed using another school’s program to study abroad, (i.e. Semester at Sea (University of Virginia), SIT, or a CEA Global Campus Network (University of New Haven)) report the U.S. school whose program was used and proceed to enter in all related information, including coursework in the Transcript Entry section. In Transcript Review, mark the courses as study abroad.
- If coursework was completed by a study abroad company such as IES, ISA, CIEE, or DIS, directly via the undergraduate institution, or by any other method proceed with the options below:
- If your full credits and grades for these courses appear on your undergraduate transcript, then you should list these courses normally with the rest of your undergraduate work. During the transcript review process, you would mark these courses as “Study Abroad.” No additional documentation is necessary. Do NOT report your study abroad school as a foreign institution. Acceptable grades include A-F, Credit, Pass, etc. “TR” for “transfer” is NOT an acceptable grade, nor are credits and grades which do not match those on the rest of your undergrad transcript (i.e. the grades are not U.S. grades). If your courses have grades of TR, or are recorded in foreign grades, please use the second option below.
- If your credit and grades for these courses do not appear on your undergraduate transcript, you should report that you attended a foreign institution and order an official course-by-course credential evaluation by either the World Education Services (WES) or Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) and submit to ADEA AADSAS by the application deadline.