何为成绩单认证?
无论是申请美国大学本科或者研究生的学习，目前越来越多的大学除了要求申请者提交成绩单原件之外，还需要申请者在申请期间或者录取后在指定的机构进行成绩单认证。认证的内容包括与美国大学评分标准的对接，根据美国大学通用准则换算GPA等。这样很大程度上会方便美国校方对于申请学生成绩单的审理。一般情况下大学会让学生在“NACES” (http://www.NACES.org)任意选择一家机构，也有很多学校会指定某个机构。对于中国学生最常用到的认证机构如WES,ECE等。
如何确认所申请的大学是否需要成绩单认证?
一般情况下大学会在录取标准上直接说明。以德雷塞尔大学(Drexel University)部分专业的本科生申请与东北大学(Northeastern University)商学院的研究生申请要求为例：
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Graduate School of Business Administration ● Graduate School of Professional Accounting
TRANSCRIPTS. Complete an entry for each institution attended after secondary school. Your first entry should be the institution from which you earned your bachelor's degree (or equivalent).
International Students: Please upload an official copy of your transcript below. Any admitted international candidates will be required to submit a certified translation and evaluation of their transcript and diploma along with U.S. grade equivalencies for each course. Two commonly used evaluation and translation agencies are World Educational Services (www.wes.org) and Center for Educational Documentation (www.cedevaluations.com). The certification and translation process can take up to two months and costs approximately $200.
Nursing ACE and Radiologic Technology applicants who have coursework from an institution outside of the United States — except Study Abroad — must have their transcripts evaluated by one of these agencies:
• World Education Services (WES)
• International Consultants of Delaware
• Educational Credential Evaluators
如果大家看到和以上类似的信息就说明学校需要申请者做成绩单的认证。一般商学院研究生的申请需要学生做成绩单认证的情况比较多。本科生申请以本科转学申请为多。另外就是申请MPH的同学会被要求做SOPHAS的认证。
由于有些认证需要先在中国教育认证，这样整套认证下来至少需要8周左右。建议学生如果申请的大学有需要认证的一定要早做准备，以免因为认证没有及时送到而耽误了申请。