Frequently Asked Questions
Below is a list of frequently asked questions. If you have been directed to this page, please take the time to find the information that is important to you.
Our office is focused on providing WSU students with the most enriching education abroad experience possible. To do this, we need your help and your participation. We are working to provide you with the tools and information to make the administrative part of your experience as hassle free and understandable as possible.
- Possible problems with my WSU transcript
- Do I really need to take my final examination?
- Problems with classes
- Getting approval for courses
- Questions about grades and credit
Possible problems with my WSU transcript
Who evaluates my transcripts from abroad and how do the courses I took appear on my WSU transcript?
Here in International Programs, we have an International Credential Specialist who evaluates all foreign credentials and posts the courses taken abroad along with the number of credits and grades earned to your WSU transcript. It is your academic departments responsibility to then update your DARS account.
Suguru Fujiwara
International Credential Specialist
International Programs
Washington State University
PO Box 645110
Pullman, WA 99163
Why do I still have an "I" grade for my coursework that I took while abroad?
There could be many reasons for this:
- You may still owe money to your study abroad program provider and they are holding your transcript until they have been paid in full.
Solution: Contact your study abroad program provider to make sure you are paid in full.
- Your transcript may not have arrived at the Education Abroad Office, which might mean that you did not take the necessary steps to insure that your transcripts would be sent to the education abroad office as opposed to being sent to the WSU admissions office or the registrar
Solution: Contact your study abroad provider and confirm that the transcript was sent to the following address:
Washington State University
Education Abroad Office
Bryan Hall 105, PO Box 645110
Pullman, WA 99164-5110
- Your transcript may not have arrived at WSU yet. There are several countries that take a surprisingly long time to issue a transcript (United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Spain, etc.)
Solution: Your MyStudyAbroad account will send you an automatic email when your transcripts get marked as received in the system. Once you receive this email, you can expect it to take about one to two weeks for processing (possibly longer during very busy periods). If you haven’t received an email via your MyStudyAbroad account, and you think that it has been an exceedingly long period of time, try the solutions to numbers 1 and 2 before contacting the International Credential Specialist.
My study abroad provider said that they know where to send my transcript, so I’m OK right?
No! You need to make sure they are going to send the transcript to the following address:
Washington State University
Education Abroad Office
Bryan Hall 105, PO Box 645110
Pullman, WA 99164-5110
Will my grades show up on my transcript? What about my GPA?
Grades you receive while studying abroad WILL show up on your transcript, but those grades will NOT be factored in to your WSU GPA. A semester GPA will appear.
Wait a second! You said that grades will show up on my transcript but they won’t count in my GPA? How does that work?
Computer programming magic. (seriously)
Do I really need to take my final examination?
Lot’s of people on my program say that they don’t need to take the final exam for this class that we are in. So I don’t have to take the final exam either right?
WRONG! YOU MUST TAKE YOUR FINAL EXAMS. If you don’t take final examinations, there is a VERY strong likelihood that you will fail that course. The “F” grade will show up on your transcript, and you will regret it.
What if I think I have a really good reason for not taking the final? Will WSU make an exception for me?
Trust me, it won’t work! To uphold the integrity of WSU’s study abroad office and the programs on which we send students, we need to treat these grades with the same respect and consideration as grades earned on campus.
But I bought my plane tickets and I leave the country the day before my exams! And my professor is not letting me take the exam early!
CHANGE YOUR TRAVEL PLANS! You must take that final or risk failing the course.
Problems with classes
I think that I am going to fail a course I am taking. What should I do?
The first thing to do is to check with your study abroad provider’s in-country representative to see if there are opportunities for tutoring or similar help. Also check with that person/office to see if there is a possibility to withdraw without penalty from that course (this will NOT use up one of your uncontested withdrawals at WSU). Ask the professor about the possibility of extra credit or make-up coursework. Also make sure that by withdrawing from the class you don’t drop below a full-time student course load (this could impact your student visa status).
My classes here are a breeze, and the professors never assign any homework. Does this mean I'll receive high marks?
BE CAREFUL! Educational structures vary from country to country. Several countries have a VERY comprehensive final at the end of the term which can catch WSU students by surprise. Ask your professors and classmates about what to expect. Assume NOTHING!
Getting approval for courses
Who can approve a study abroad class to fulfill a General Education Requirement (GER)?
ONLY Dr. Mary Wack (office is in CUE 519D, telephone: 335-5699).
But my advisor said that s/he could sign off for GER courses.
S/he is wrong.
Who can approve a study abroad class to fill a requirement for my Major/Minor?
This varies by department. Some departments allow your advisor to sign approval. Other departments want the WSU professor who teaches the course for which you seek approval to give his/her consent (ie. if you are trying to meet the requirement for PolSci 355, the professor who teaches that course on the WSU campus would sign their approval).
What happens if I don’t get any pre-approvals for the courses I want to take?
Getting courses pre-approved is your guarantee that the courses you take abroad will meet specific WSU requirements. Without course approval, you run the risk that classes taken abroad will not count toward WSU graduation requirements. You’ll earn credit, but it will count only as elective credit. For this reason we strongly encourage you to get pre-approval for every course that you would like to have count as a graduation requirement.
You can seek approval for a course after you return from studying abroad. This is a process that does NOT involve the Education Abroad Office. You will need to work with the appropriate department on campus. If your credit has already been posted to the WSU transcript, you will need to be sure that once the department approves a course, the Degree Audit Specialist in the department goes into your degree audit record and counts the class toward the appropriate graduation requirement. The exception for this is for GER courses.
If Dr. Wack gives you approval for a GER requirement, bring his written approval back to the Education Abroad office and the International Credential Specialist will resubmit your Education Abroad Credit Evaluation form to the Registrar. This creates extra work for both Education Abroad and the Registrar’s Office so we all appreciate it if you complete the approval process before you study abroad (best case scenario) or at least before your transcripts arrive so that the forms can be submitted completely the first time.
None of the classes that I got pre-approved are being offered! What do I do?
No worries, this happens all of the time, but make sure that you do get approval from your advisors/professors at WSU for the classes that you wind up taking now. The International Credentials Evaluator will need an email FROM YOUR ADVISOR/PROFESSOR giving approval for the course(s) you are taking, so please tell them to CC the Education Abroad Office at edabroad@wsu.edu with Course Approval in the subject line. The Education Abroad Credential Specialist can not accept emails from you that were forwarded from your professors.
Questions about grades and credit
My grades are going to be in a different format/language than WSU grades. Is this going to be a problem?
No, this is not a problem. The credential specialist’s responsibility is to understand the different education systems and how they relate to the US system. If possible, ask for translations from the issuing institution. Universities in Asia will typically provide English translations automatically while only some European Universities do. Be sure to request an English translation to accompany non-English transcripts.
The credits at my host institution are in ECTS format. How do ECTS credits translate to WSU credits?
Basically, 10 ECTS credits = 5 WSU credits. The nice part of the equation is that I am allowed to round up all fractional credits, which means that 7 ECTS credits = 4 WSU credits (instead of 3.5).
I am going to school in Australia and there is a different system of credit counting. How do I know what credits I am going to receive?
Check out your program provider’s website or the abroad institution’s website for information about the educational differences you may encounter and for helpful guides on credit and grade converting.
Answer Not Here?
If your question is not answered on this page, send an email to fsuguru@wsu.edu.
This FAQ is a growing list. Your participation will help future Cougs have a great education abroad experience.