International Applicants

An "international applicant" is any applicant who is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident of the United States. Where you live or study now does not matter.  If you are an international applicant, please read the information below about your application and about some steps you will need to take if you are admitted and choose to come to Emory.

Completing Your Application

1. English Proficiency

If your native language is not English, you must show evidence of command of the English language. To determine what you need to do, visit the website of the program you are applying to. Generally, programs require the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an evaluation of a writing sample.  If you need to submit TOEFL scores, our institution code is 5187 (no department code is needed).  Many programs also accept the IELTS exam.

All TOEFL and related requirements are program specific. If you have a question about them, contact the program you are to applying to directly.

2. Translated and Notarized Transcripts

Transcripts that are not in English must be translated and notarized. Please scan both the original and the translated versions, and submit them together as one file using the online application.

3. Credential Evaluations of International Transcripts

Applicants with degrees from international universities may want to consider submitting a course-by-course educational credential evaluation of each international transcript.

Course-by-course evaluations help the faculty who review applications compare the education at an international institution to a similar education at a U.S. university. Among other things, evaluations show course titles along with grades and credit hours translated into U.S. equivalents. Since university credit and grading systems vary a great deal across the world, these documents help our faculty review and assess international credentials appropriately.

We do not require that you submit credential evaluations.  Your application will be considered complete as long as it contains transcripts, with translations as needed.

Some of our programs, based on the faculty members’ experience reviewing credentials from international universities, strongly recommend that applicants submit credential evaluations: Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and all eight programs in the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

If you decide to submit a credential evaluation, please keep the following in mind:

  • The process of requesting and receiving credential evaluations adds time to your application preparation. Be sure to start early, so all your materials will arrive with your application by the application deadline.
  • We accept credential evaluations from any evaluator affiliated with NACES, the The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.  The most common ones are World Education Services, Educational Credential Evaluators, and Educational Perspectives.
  • Credential evaluation reports can be attached to your application through the transcript upload associated with the educational institution you enter information about. Remember to make sure they include the transcript that was evaluated, along with the translation if appropriate.  You can also upload that transcript as a separate file.
  • As with transcripts, any credential evaluation report you upload with your application is considered unofficial.  That is all you need to submit with your application.  Applicants who are offered admission and accept that offer will need to provide official versions of the credential evaluations, and these will also count as official transcripts.

Attending Emory

If you are admitted and choose to come to Emory,

  • You will need a visa.  Until you have accepted an offer of admission, you do not need to take any action concerning a visa.  In fact, the process cannot begin, since an accepted offer of admission is an essential part of the visa documentation.  Our visa instructions are on our page for new international students.  
  • If your first language is not English, you will need to participate in English Language Support Program testing.  The testing happens in August, right before classes begin, and new students are notified early in the summer.  Visit our English Language Support Program pages.