3 mistakes to avoid when doing an ECA with WES

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Doing an ECA with WES (US & Canada)

Written with reference to University of Pune (UoP) applicants, however, may be applied to most Indian universities.

NOTE 1: All my mark sheets were issued only by the UoP, therefore, I have written with that perspective. The procedure is a little different for students whose 1st-year mark sheet was issued by the college and the other years' mark sheets issued by the UoP.

NOTE 2: (For UoP students only) When applying for either attestation of statement of marks/mark sheets (Certificate Attestation) or transcripts, submit all forms at the Student Facilitation Centre (SFC) near the UoP gate. You can also pay the fees for both applications at SFC by cash before form submission.

NOTE 3: After COVID, some universities have started with an online application of transcripts and the universities also send the documents directly to WES. Please visit the links below:

• For Mumbai University procedure -- Mumbai University eTranscript
• For Anna University procedure -- Anna University Student Online Services

NOTE 4: WES rules have changed from August 2021, please see WES - Help Center - India FAQ - Document Requirements for India [last accessed on January 22, 2024] for complete details about the changed rule. Now students can send their sealed, stamped and signed envelopes from anywhere.

______________________

MISTAKE 1: SEALED ENVELOPE CONFUSION

Please read WES FAQ on "How to send your documents to WES in a sealed envelope" for more information. [last accessed August 05, 2021].

Also see the WES YouTube video on "What is a sealed envelope?"[last accessed August 05, 2021].

How does the Pune university sealed envelope look like (in 2019)?

When applying for "Certificate attestation", below is the sealed envelope that SFC will give you and you need to post this envelope to WES from the post office located on the UoP campus. SFC has 2 different size envelopes (small and big), you can choose either size.

Front side:

Backside:

When applying for "Transcripts", this is the sealed envelope that the "Transcript Section" will give you and you need to post this envelope to WES from the post office located on the UoP campus:

Front side:

Backside:

NOTE 5: Please notice above, the "from" address on the sealed university envelope has to be the university address and NOT the student/agent's personal home/office address. Make sure the envelope also has the university seal and university officer's signature as shown in the above images. Please visit WES (USA) Sealed Envelopes link [last accessed February 22, 2021] for more details on sealed envelopes.

What if your university/institution does not have an official envelope?

Disclaimer: I have not tried this, but this is the only logical way I could think of doing it if a university does not have an official envelope.

If your university does not have an official envelope, then you can put your documents in any plain envelope with the "from" address being your university address. Then the backside of the envelope should be sealed, stamped, and signed (the university stamp and the university official officers' signature will appear on the sealed flap on the back of the envelope) by the controller of examination or the registrar's office, which may look like the image below.

Front side:

Backside: 

______________________

MISTAKE 2: NOT WRITING THE WES REFERENCE NUMBER ON THE SEALED UNIVERSITY ENVELOPE

Students were taking longer processing time in cases where the WES reference numbers were not mentioned on the envelope. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO WRITE THE WES REFERENCE NUMBER ON THE ENVELOPE FOR QUICKER PROCESSING. However, there is no need to put an 'academic records request form' that is provided by WES in the envelope, as it is optional. Please see the below image of page 2 of the academic request form. (For my documents, I did not put the 'academic records request form' in the envelope; I only mentioned the WES reference number on the envelope. (Please refer to the images above).

However, if your university/institution insists you to submit the 'academic records request form,' please submit it.

______________________

MISTAKE 3: NOT INCLUDING ATKT (Allowed to keep terms)/BACKLOG/FAILED SUBJECT MARKSHEETS IN THE SEALED UNIVERSITY ENVELOPE

Make sure, you get all mark sheets (statement of marks) attested and that includes your ATKT subjects also as this is the actual rule. I have come across some people who were lucky when they did not submit their ATKT mark sheets and had a successful evaluation. There were also some who faced difficulties when they did not submit their ATKT mark sheets. Personally, I made sure I submitted all mark sheets that showed the subjects I repeated also. I chose not to take the risk of further complications if any were to arise. So this is completely at the applicant/student's discretion and risk.

 

NOTE 6: Having your ATKT subjects on the evaluated report does not affect your WES GPA score neither does it have any kind of negative implications. The evaluated GPA stays the same with ATKT or without ATKT. WES just requires the true and complete educational records of the applicant. Please see this WES document on "Explanation of WES Evaluation."

However, this does not mean that you should hide/not include your ATKT subjects; hiding/not including your ATKT subjects would be a false representation of your educational records and you must avoid doing this.

 

NOTE 7: For unknown reasons some students expressed that Pune University Transcript section is NOT printing any ATKT marks on the transcript, which may be considered as an incorrect, incomplete, and false representation of the student's academics. This is another reason why I recommend people to take attested mark sheets (statement of marks) rather than going for transcripts from Pune University. Please click here to read more about my personal experience with Pune university transcripts.

 

Even Mumbai University and Anna University (both being big government universities) insist students to submit all marksheets including ATKT subjects and that is how it should be submitted to WES.

______________________

Please read the WES blog article on "FAQs About the WES Document Verification Process" [last accessed January 22, 2024].

Also read the WES blog article on "6 reasons your credential evaluation might be put on hold" [last accessed January 22, 2024].

Attributes: Mistake photo by Varvara Grabova on Unsplash