Getting Turkish Transcripts and Degrees Evaluated for US Admission

What Turkish credentials map to

US schools compare foreign credentials against the American system using a few fixed reference points:

Some Turkish universities require a one-year hazırlık (preparatory) year in English or Turkish before the degree program starts. This prep year is not part of your degree length, and evaluators normally exclude it when they calculate how many years of study your diploma represents.

Step 1: Get your official documents

Request your official transcript and diploma directly from your lise or üniversite registrar. Ask for documents in a sealed envelope, or through the institution's official electronic transcript system if it has one. Evaluators and admissions offices generally do not accept a copy you hand-carry yourself unless it is the officially sealed version.

Step 2: Get a certified English translation

If your documents are in Turkish, you need a certified translation alongside the original. A certified translation includes a signed statement from the translator confirming accuracy and completeness.

Some evaluators do this translation as part of their service. Others ask you to provide it separately, so check the specific evaluator's instructions before you send documents.

Step 3: Choose a NACES member evaluator

NACES, the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, lists independent agencies that US universities and immigration authorities trust to evaluate foreign credentials. Not every US school requires a NACES evaluation specifically.

Some accept other evaluators or do the comparison in-house, so confirm which evaluators your target school accepts before you pay for one. Find the current member list on the NACES website .

Ask for a course-by-course evaluation rather than a document-by-document one if you plan to transfer credits, or if a graduate program wants to see your subject grades converted individually. A WES course-by-course evaluation for graduate admissions runs $186 to $239 depending on the package, plus a $9 to $86 delivery fee to send the report to each school (WES ). Other NACES member evaluators set their own separate fee schedules.

Step 4: Understand your converted GPA

Turkish schools grade on a 100-point scale, with a passing grade generally starting around 50 to 60 depending on the institution's own policy. A NACES evaluator converts this into the standard US 4.0 scale using its own conversion table.

Two evaluators produce slightly different GPA numbers from the same transcript, since each uses its own methodology. Check which evaluator your target schools prefer before you commit to one.

Step 5: Send the evaluation to your schools

Most evaluators send your report directly to the university on request, or give you an official copy to upload yourself. Order extra copies if you are applying to several schools, since a single evaluation report often covers only one recipient per fee.

Timing and common delays

Evaluation turnaround depends on how fast your Turkish institution responds to a records request and how busy the evaluator is during peak application months, roughly November through February. Start the process as soon as you decide to apply rather than waiting for an admission offer.

A late evaluation report is a common reason international applicants miss a program's document deadline, even after submitting the rest of their application on time.

If your school does not require a NACES evaluation

Some admissions offices compare foreign transcripts in-house using country-specific reference guides such as AACRAO EDGE rather than asking every applicant to pay for an outside evaluation. Ask the admissions office directly whether they need a formal NACES report or whether they read transcripts internally, since paying for an evaluation you do not need wastes both money and time.

Keeping your documents for later

Keep both your original sealed transcripts and your evaluation report after admission. Your school's registrar, a future employer running a background check, or a graduate program a few years later sometimes asks for the same records again, and immigration paperwork down the line occasionally wants a copy of your academic evaluation too. Store digital scans alongside the physical originals so you are not requesting a new sealed copy from Turkey years after you graduate.

If your school is closed or your records office is slow

If your lise or üniversite no longer operates, or its registrar is slow to respond, ask your NACES evaluator what alternative proof they accept, such as a notarized copy held by a regional education directorate or an official transcript already on file with your undergraduate institution. Evaluators handle this situation often and tell you the accepted workaround before you spend weeks chasing a closed office.

If your transcript looks different from a standard lise transcript

Vocational lise graduates, Anadolu lise graduates, and imam hatip lise graduates all receive credentials that evaluators recognize as equivalent to a standard lise diploması for US admission purposes, since Turkey's Ministry of National Education oversees all of these tracks. If your school used a nonstandard grading scale or a pass/fail system for part of your record, mention this to your evaluator directly so it appears correctly in the report.