Question about under-grad transcripts

[mbaprocrastinator]

I have a question about sending under graduate transcripts as part of the application.

Most schools require applicants to send in their under graduate transcripts as part of the application process. Being an international student (I completed my undergrad in 1998), now residing in the US, I have a couple of choices in getting these transcripts.

First option, I have the original transcripts (from the university where I did my under grad). Can I just take photocopies of these and get them attested by a notary public here in the US? Will this suffice?

Second option is to request my university to generate the transcripts and provide them in a sealed envelope and have it mailed to me or to the school I will be applying to. This is a laborious process and not an easy task to accomplish sitting on the other side of the planet from where my university is located.

So if some of the pros can comment on this and share their thoughts I will greatly appreciate it. If I have to go with the second option I need to have kick started the process like last month!!

Thanks for your valuable input/suggestions/opinions.

Cheers!

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear mbaprocrastinator,

Whether or not a school will accept a notarized copy of the original transcript you have varies, so you would need to check with each school you plan to apply to for clarification. I would suggest you go ahead and work on obtaining multiple official transcripts in sealed envelopes from your university. That way you will have them in the event a school wants an official copy.

Regards,
Lisa

[mbaprocrastinator]

Thank you Lisa for your input.