<p>I'm a transfer student form a non-US university and some things on the Common Application are a bit confusing. On the Recommender's page there are 3 forms: Registrar Report, Mid Year Report and Final Report.
1) All of these have to be submitted by mail to the school? Is the Registrar Report the same form that the Registrar will fill out when I invite then? So do they still need to fill out the hard copy to be mailed?
2) Most admission pages state that the Mid Year Report should be completed by instructors whose courses you are enrolled in at the time of application. For Spring 2014 (I'm applying for Fall 2014) Classes will not start until mid February, so I will not have any grades and the professors won't be able to evaluate my performance. Can I fill out with the courses of Fall 2013 then?
3) Is the Final Year Report submitted only after the students are admitted?
4)Usually Official transcripts must be submitted directly to us from the issuing institution. However, I go to a non-US institution and they cannot mail the transcripts directly. I want to know if it is okay to mail my college and high school transcripts (signed and sealed by my school) myself (along with the Reports).</p>
<p>Thank you so much, as I said, I'm not from US and don't really know who to ask to answer these questions! </p>
<p>I want to help with your questions, but don’t have access to the new CA, so please, if anyone needs to make corrections to what I say, please do so! I will answer cautiously.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The new CA permits you to send the Registrar Report and Final Report online, but you may not be able to do so since you’re out of the US. If your college (Registrar report) and/or HS (Final report) can upload into the CA, then you don’t need to mail a hard copy.</p></li>
<li><p>The Mid year report is really for sp sem grades as you should have sent a final transcript that includes fall sem grades with your application. Call/email the school, tell them your situation, and ask them the latest date that you can send the Mid year. If you won’t be able to provide any substantial new information on the Mid year due to the late start date, they may permit you not to send it and you will just have to be evaluated on your earlier work.</p></li>
<li><p>The Final Report is for HS. Some schools require it along with the HS transcript, others do not.</p></li>
<li><p>It should be OK since you’re outside the US, but call/email schools to confirm.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>As far from what I understood, the 3 forms on the Common Application have to be sent only if they mention it? For example, Columbia’s transfer page only mentions the Registrar Report, so I do not need the others?
Thank you again! </p>
<p>The CA is designed to cover all circumstances for the many colleges that use it. So yes, there may be some forms that you don’t need to send; you should always follow whatever requirements the college website states is necessary.</p>
<p>I have another question, Columbia asks that one of the recommendation letters have to me from advising dean or academic adviser. There is no such thing as advisor in universities in my country, but I’m about to ask the head of my major department. The problem is that he doesn’t really know me and I’ve never had classes with him. Common App has a Sample Teacher Evaluation form, that should be what the recommenders are going to fill out, and it asks things like “What class did you teach” and ratings for the student in terms of leadership and things like that… Should I still ask him to do it anyway and maybe attach a letter explaining my situation, or just ask another professor?</p>