General Admissions & OTCAS OTCAS Transcript Entry & Verification Procedures

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WanderlustOT

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1) For the Transcript Entry section, it says to use info on official transcripts only (as they may differ from unofficial transcripts).
  • a) Have you ever used info from an unofficial transcript anyway & have been fine?
  • b) Otherwise, if we really need to pull info from an official one, that means I need to order a copy for myself (to input the info myself) AND a sealed copy to send to OTCAS??

2) To get verified (and see my cumulative GPA as calculated by OTCAS), I need to send all transcripts to OTCAS AND send an application to at least ONE school?
  • a) If so, I can just send one application out FIRST (maybe a school that looks at last 60 or minimum GPA below 3.0), get verified & find out OTCAS GPA, THEN just add on more schools afterward? (I'm not sure if my OTCAS GPA will dip below 3.0, so I won't know if I should try applying to any 3.0 minimum schools after that first initial application)

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1) For the Transcript Entry section, it says to use info on official transcripts only (as they may differ from unofficial transcripts).
  • a) Have you ever used info from an unofficial transcript anyway & have been fine?
  • b) Otherwise, if we really need to pull info from an official one, that means I need to order a copy for myself (to input the info myself) AND a sealed copy to send to OTCAS??

2) To get verified (and see my cumulative GPA as calculated by OTCAS), I need to send all transcripts to OTCAS AND send an application to at least ONE school?
  • a) If so, I can just send one application out FIRST (maybe a school that looks at last 60 or minimum GPA below 3.0), get verified & find out OTCAS GPA, THEN just add on more schools afterward? (I'm not sure if my OTCAS GPA will dip below 3.0, so I won't know if I should try applying to any 3.0 minimum schools after that first initial application)

1.) I personally have just used the info from my unofficial transcripts instead of ordering an official copy for myself. I believe it is a waste of money to get a copy for yourself. Unless you have a really complicated transcript that would be prone to differences between the unofficial and official, I would just stick with your unofficial ones to do the transcript entry. From my experience, I used 5 different school's unofficial transcripts (1 for my undergrad and 4 community colleges where I took pre-reqs) and had NO problems at all.

2.) You are correct, in that you need to send in all your transcripts to OTCAS and send at least one application in order to get verified. I would say to just send in one application first, and then see if your GPA dips. Keep in mind that once you submit 1 application, you CANNOT make any changes to your application. From what I recall the only changes you can make is updating scores, adding more supplement info such as additional hours and so on. Also, later on if you put a class as "in progress" you can change it during the "update your grade" grace period. OTCAS gives many warnings when you are about to submit an app about how you cannot make any changes to certain aspects of your application. So pay close attention to that!
 
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1.) I personally have just used the info from my unofficial transcripts instead of ordering an official copy for myself. I believe it is a waste of money to get a copy for yourself. Unless you have a really complicated transcript that would be prone to differences between the unofficial and official, I would just stick with your unofficial ones to do the transcript entry. From my experience, I used 5 different school's unofficial transcripts (1 for my undergrad and 4 community colleges where I took pre-reqs) and had NO problems at all.

2.) You are correct, in that you need to send in all your transcripts to OTCAS and send at least one application in order to get verified. I would say to just send in one application first, and then see if your GPA dips. Keep in mind that once you submit 1 application, you CANNOT make any changes to your application. From what I recall the only changes you can make is updating scores, adding more supplement info such as additional hours and so on. Also, later on if you put a class as "in progress" you can change it during the "update your grade" grace period. OTCAS gives many warnings when you are about to submit an app about how you cannot make any changes to certain aspects of your application. So pay close attention to that!

Thank you! Does each application need to be verified? Or once you send in the first/initial application to be verified, then all subsequent apps will already be verified as well?
 
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Thank you! Does each application need to be verified? Or once you send in the first/initial application to be verified, then all subsequent apps will already be verified as well?

Each application you send in needs to be verified, however, after the first app that you send in, the verification process is almost instant for each subsequent app you send in. So technically, yes, it will need to be ALL verified, but it is faster after your first one. Not to sure how it is if one were to send in all there apps at once. I can imagine the verification would take longer, but not entirely sure. I am just going off my experience (I submitted my apps at different times).
 
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Each application you send in needs to be verified, however, after the first app that you send in, the verification process is almost instant for each subsequent app you send in. So technically, yes, it will need to be ALL verified, but it is faster after your first one. Not to sure how it is if one where to send in all there apps at once. I can imagine the verification would take longer, but not entirely sure. I am just basing this off of my experience (I submitted my apps at different times).

Thank you. That was what I was wondering, if it would take the same amount of time as the first app or if would be verified much quicker.
 
Does anyone know how long it usually take for professional transcript entry? I went up to my university last Thursday, the 20th, and turned in the request form with the OTCAS address and still waiting. Just wondering since this is my first time applying!
 
Hi, I'm unclear if transcript information carries over from one year to the next if you don't submit an application. I requested my transcripts when I thought I was applying this year, but due to the number of prerequisites, I'm waiting until the 2018-19 cycle. I don't know whether I should bother verifying, or as others have done copy everything into a spreadsheet. I've reached out to OTCAS via email, and may call to confirm. Thought I'd ask here as well. Thanks!
 
Hi, I'm unclear if transcript information carries over from one year to the next if you don't submit an application. I requested my transcripts when I thought I was applying this year, but due to the number of prerequisites, I'm waiting until the 2018-19 cycle. I don't know whether I should bother verifying, or as others have done copy everything into a spreadsheet. I've reached out to OTCAS via email, and may call to confirm. Thought I'd ask here as well. Thanks!

I would not waste money submitting the application just to get it verified. If it doesn't carry over next cycle, I would just reenter the information.


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