How to Use the Country Guide

Each one-page country guide sheet is a summary of degrees and grading information for that country. We have included those countries from which we most commonly receive graduate applications. Use the information provided here when evaluating international applicants’ eligibility for graduate study at UCSB.

If you would like more information about the educational system/structure in a particular country (including countries not listed in this guide), please contact the Graduate Admissions staff.

Acceptable Degrees: An acceptable basic or first degree is the minimum qualification accepted as equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree. Applicants must complete an acceptable degree prior to their intended start quarter to meet basic admissions requirements. The guidelines concerning the recognition of “basic or first degrees” in foreign educational systems generally represent those recognized by all campuses of the University of California, World Education Services (WES), and/or San Francisco State University.

Unacceptable Degrees: These degrees are not accepted as equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree, though they may represent varying durations of university study in some cases.

Grading Systems/Scales: Applicants must earn an overall grade/score, as calculated on the scale of their institution, equivalent to a U.S. grade of B (3.0 GPA) or better. A visual guide has been added to the “Grading Systems/Grading Scales” for each country listing to assist you in easily identifying the cut-off point for which students no longer meet requirement. Acceptable grades are highlighted in yellow. Grading scales may vary from one institution to the next in many countries; therefore, several scales are typically provided for one country in this guide. Refer to the applicant’s individual transcript for the scale used by their institution.

Accreditation: Accreditation status of most institutions can be verified using the World Higher Education Database (WHED). This database will provide the most comprehensive and current information about most institutions reported by applicants. See the World Higher Education Database (WHED) section of this manual for details about using the WHED. Please contact our office for assistance in identifying the accreditation status of institutions not listed in the database.

TOEFL/IELTS/DET Exemptions: WHED listings typically include a “Languages” section, which identifies the language(s) of instruction at the institution. This may be used to identify TOEFL/IETLS/DET exemptions. Please see the Language Exams for Non-Native Speakers of English section of this manual for more information or contact our office with any questions.

Required Academic Records: At the time of application, unofficial copies of transcripts, degree certificates, and English translations must be uploaded to the online application. All admitted applicants who have earned a degree(s) from an institution(s) outside of the United States are required to complete and submit a WES Course-by-Course ICAP evaluation that includes all post-secondary study. Incoming students will need to visit the WES website to create an account. They will be prompted to input their academic history, and will then be provided with a list of documents required for the completion of the evaluation. This may include any combination of the following documents:

• Transcripts, attestations, appendices or addenda to diplomas, or mark sheets showing courses and examinations, units or hours, and grades (rank in class, if available).

• Diplomas, degree certificates, or professional titles showing the degree and date conferred.

• Official English translations of academic records and/or transcripts.

Common Degree Abbreviations