Applying as an International Student

Official transcripts are required from each secondary school attended and should include courses taken and grades received in years. All transcripts must include an English translation if they are in a foreign language. If you require a translation of your documents, they must be performed by an official agency and accompanied by the original document.

• Official documents must be original transcripts and examination results, not faxes or photocopies. If you only have one original and it is not possible to obtain another, please contact your secondary institution and ask it to notarize or stamp a certified true copy. This will be considered an official copy. We will only accept attestations from your secondary institution, the exam issuer, U.S. Educational Advising centers, and official translation agencies.

A School Report must be completed by your secondary school counselor or another school official, and must be submitted along with an official, signed transcript from your high school. If available, we encourage you to submit first marking period grades with the transcript. Please send us official signed transcripts from all high schools you have attended.

The secondary school counselor evaluation should accompany the high school transcript and School Report. If your school does not have a college counselor, this may be completed by another school official, who is acting as your counselor (i.e. IB coordinator, head of school, etc.)

A minimum of one official teacher evaluation from someone who has taught you in an academic subject (i.e. English, History, Science, Math or Foreign Language) must be submitted.

We ask that all applicants submit first marking period (first quarter, midterm, first trimester) or mid-year (second quarter, first semester, second trimester) grades when they become available. We understand that school schedules for releasing report cards vary quite a bit. Grade reports alone will not prevent your application from being reviewed, but they must be submitted as soon as they become available. (Submission of predicted scores for examinations is also acceptable.)

All international applicants should respond to the test options question in accordance with the following guidelines:

• For students from countries where English is not the national or primary language: 
  • You must take the TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo English, Cambridge English (Advance or Proficiency) or PTE Academic if:
    • You are a freshman (first-year) applicant who is not currently completing your fourth consecutive year of secondary study at an institution that uses English as its primary language of instruction
  • Standardized Testing/Test Optional: Students who feel that their SAT or ACT will be beneficial to the review process are encouraged to submit their scores as part of the application process. If you listed Emerson College as a score recipient when you took the SAT or ACT, we will have your results on file. If not, please request that an official score report is sent to Emerson College directly from the College Board (SAT) or ACT. Our SAT code is 3367. Our ACT code is 1820.
    
    Students who feel that their standardized test scores do not effectively represent their skills and talents or effectively demonstrate their ability to succeed within the college environment may opt to forgo submitting SAT or ACT scores for review. Learn more about applying Test Optional at Emerson.
    • NOTE: If you submit an SAT or ACT score, the English Proficiency Examination will be automatically waived.
  • Students from countries where English is the national or primary language must: 
    • Standardized Testing/Test Optional: Students who feel that their SAT or ACT will be beneficial to the review process are encouraged to submit their scores as part of the application process. If you listed Emerson College as a score recipient when you took the SAT or ACT, we will have your results on file. If not, please request that an official score report is sent to Emerson College directly from the College Board (SAT) or ACT. Our SAT code is 3367. Our ACT code is 1820.
      
      Students who feel that their standardized test scores do not effectively represent their skills and talents or effectively demonstrate their ability to succeed within the college environment may opt to forgo submitting SAT or ACT scores for review. Learn more about applying Test Optional at Emerson.
    • Complete the Waiver for English Proficiency, which is accessible using your Admission Portal information.

English Language Proficiency Requirement: 

At Emerson, we consider the TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo English, Cambridge English (Advance or Proficiency) or PTE Academic for show English Proficiency. 

If you submit one of the English Proficiency Examinations, please note the minimum score requirements for admission to Emerson College:

• Cambridge English (Advance or Proficiency)
  • Minimum Score Required: 185
• Duolingo English
  • Minimum Score Required: 125
• IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
  • Minimum Score Required: 7.0
• PTE Academic (Pearson’s Test of English Academic)
  • Minimum Score Required: 65
• TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
  • Minimum Score Required: 95
    • Minimum Score of 20 in each section

NOTE: We will accept scores from the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition. At this time, we are unable to accept the IELTS Indicator and TOEFL ITP Plus for China.

Additional exams may be added at a later date. Please refer to our English Language Proficiency policy before applying and/or taking any exams to ensure your testing will satisfy our application requirements.

International applicants should either submit English Proficiency scores or a waiver in accordance with the following guidelines: