Frequently Asked Questions

This page provides answers to frequently asked questions on requirements of admission for admitted students who have committed to enrolling at Stanford.

Submitting Official Transcripts and Degree Conferral Documents

• Where should my prior university send my official transcript and/or degree conferral document?

  • Please refer to the Matriculation Checklist on your application status page for a list of our mailing and email addresses.

• My undergraduate degree program ends in May/June this year. Should I place an order for my official transcript to be sent to Stanford Graduate Admissions before I graduate?

  • No—please do not order your official transcript/degree document(s) until your degree has been conferred. In addition, please note that it often takes some universities up to 1-2 months to post degree conferral after their official graduation date. We recommend that you contact your university to confirm that degree conferral information has been posted on your official transcript before placing an order. If you anticipate that your degree conferral document will not be available by July 1, please submit a service request to discuss potential options for your situation.

• I will complete my undergraduate coursework by this summer, but my undergraduate degree will not be conferred until after classes start at Stanford in September. Am I still eligible to enroll in the fall?

  • Yes, you are eligible to enroll as long as you have completed the required coursework for your undergraduate degree before the first day of classes. We will place an enrollment hold on your account effective winter quarter (or your second quarter of graduate study), which will be released after we receive your final official transcript with proof of degree conferral.

• I am currently enrolled in a graduate program that ends in May/June this year. Should I still place an order for my official transcript to be sent to Stanford Graduate Admissions now?

  • Yes, please arrange for your graduate institution to send your official in-progress transcript to us as soon as possible, as this will enable us to initiate your matriculation into Stanford. You are not required to send a final official transcript for your graduate program unless Stanford requires the graduate degree for U.S. bachelor’s degree equivalency or you received a TOEFL waiver conditional upon successful completion of your graduate program taught in English.

• My prior university sent my official transcript and/or degree document to the Graduate Admissions office. When should I expect to see this reflected on my Matriculation Checklist on my application status page?

  • The expected processing time upon receipt of the document is up to 1 week for electronic documents and up to 2 weeks for physical documents. If your Matriculation Checklist still has not been updated after this point, please submit a ticket to Graduate Admissions.

• After my official documents have been sent to Graduate Admissions, may I request to have them returned to me at a later date?

  • Your official transcripts and/or degree conferral documents become the property of Stanford University once we receive them. We are unable to accommodate student requests to access physical official transcripts received by our office.

• My prior university will only issue one official transcript and/or degree conferral document, which will be sent directly to me. What should I do?

  • Please submit a ticket to Graduate Admissions to discuss potential options for your situation.

English Proficiency

• I received a To Do item stating that I need to take the English Placement Test. How do I sign up for this exam?

  • This test is a required condition of admission for applicants who scored below 109 on the TOEFL. Please see the English Placement Test website for details about the exam, which typically takes place in late August. If you have been required to take the exam, you will receive a notice from the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program with information on how to sign up for a specific time. The notice will be sent to all students required to take the placement test.

• I received a To Do item stating that I need to send my official TOEFL scores. How do I submit these to Stanford?

  • Please have your official scores sent to Stanford using institution code 4704 (department code not required).

• I already submitted my official TOEFL scores to Stanford, but a TOEFL Scores To Do item was placed on my account. How can I fix this?

  • Please submit a ticket to Graduate Admissions with the following information:

    • Test date
    • Name and Date of Birth listed on your score report
    • Date your official scores were sent to Stanford, if different from the test date
    • File Upload: Upload a PDF of your score report

To Do Items

• All of my checklist items on my application status page are marked as complete. Why do I now have To Do items from Graduate Admissions in Axess?

  • As noted on your application status page, we require the submission of official transcripts from your prior institution(s) to initiate your matriculation into Stanford. While incomplete documents (e.g., undergraduate transcripts without degree conferral, foreign language transcripts without translation, non-U.S. transcripts without an accompanying degree certificate) are sufficient for the initial review process, we will notify you of any missing components by placing To Do items in Axess. Going forward, you will be alerted of any required documents or actions via Axess, not your application status page.

• My official transcripts/degree conferral documents have arrived at your office, but my To Do item has not been removed from my account. What should I do?

  • Please allow up to 5 business days for the processing of your official documents and the removal of your To Do item(s). If your To Do item has not been removed a week after the document’s arrival at our office, please submit a ticket to Graduate Admissions.

• I received an email stating that a To Do item was placed on my Axess account, but I do not see a To Do item listed there. How can I view my To Do item?

  • This may be a cache issue. Please try the following:

    • Clear your browser cache completely (including cookies), close the browser, and restart Axess.
    • If that does not work, reattempt using a different browser. (Chrome is particularly susceptible to this cache problem—try Firefox or Edge.)
    • If you still cannot view your To Do item, please submit a ticket to Graduate Admissions, attach a screenshot of your error message, and let us know what platform you are using (Mac/PC) and which browsers you have tried.

International Institutions

• My university issues a diploma supplement instead of a diploma/degree certificate. Will this document fulfill my Degree Conferral To Do item?

  • Yes. As long as your diploma supplement clearly states the degree that you earned and the date that it was conferred, we will accept it in place of a diploma/degree certificate.

• A “Chinese Degree Conferral” To Do item was placed on my account. What documents do I need to order to fulfill this To Do item?

  • Please arrange for your undergraduate institution to send us both of the following documents in English and Chinese: a degree certificate (学士学位证书) and a graduation certificate (毕业证书).

• The Official Transcripts and Degree Conferral Documents page lists a World Education Services evaluation as the preferred method for receiving documents from international institutions. Do I need to submit a WES evaluation, or will you accept official documents sent directly by my institution?

  • No, you are not required to submit a WES evaluation. As long as your prior institution can send us secure, official documents (with English translations, if applicable) either by physical mail or email, we will accept them.

• My university does not issue English copies of my transcripts and degree documents. Do you have any suggestions for translation services?

  • Unfortunately, we do not have a list of recommended translation services. However, if obtaining translations is an issue for you, we suggest that you request a credential evaluation from World Education Services in place of submitting your transcripts through your university.

• My university issues official transcripts and degree certificates through OpenCerts. Do you accept this method of delivery?
  • Unfortunately, no. OpenCerts do not allow us to download your transcripts and keep them on your application record. Please arrange for your university to send us paper transcripts or submit a WES evaluation instead.

Stanford Students

• Do I need to arrange for my official Stanford transcript to be sent to Graduate Admissions?

  • No, you do not need to arrange for your official Stanford transcript to be sent to us, as we have access to verify your Stanford enrollment and degree conferral internally. Any Stanford transcripts on your Matriculation Checklist will be marked as Waived within one week after accepting the offer of admission.

• I am a current or former graduate student at Stanford (including the Graduate School of Business, School of Law, and School of Medicine). Do I need to arrange for official documents from my previous institutions to be sent to Graduate Admissions?

  • If you are a current graduate student at Stanford, you do not need to arrange for any official documents to be sent to us, as we would have received these documents when you first enrolled at Stanford. If you are a former graduate student at Stanford, you also do not need to arrange for official documents to be sent to us, unless you enrolled in a degree program at another institution for at least one academic year since your most recent enrollment at Stanford.