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I finished my Bachelor's degree this summer and enrolled in a one-year master's program starting this September. I will be applying for math PhD programs in the USA this December. The problem is that the exams for the current master's will be in January; consequently, I will be getting my Transcripts earliest in late January. Note that this means I will not have any transcripts from my current institution by the time I apply. Is this a big issue? Is there any way around this? I saw on the webpage of one of the universities that they require transcripts from every program attended.

Kindly let me know as the application season is very close. (I am an international applicant and my bachelor's and master's institutions are in different countries).

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No, this isn't a big issue.

You might mention it briefly in a cover letter if such a thing exists for this application (I would not waste space on it in a personal statement or other essay, though), just so a reader doesn't think it's missing.

In my experience with US institutions, it's common for transcripts to include current enrollment, and future as well (often US students will be enrolled for the Spring semester before typical application deadlines late in Fall) - this is the sort of document they are expecting. If you can produce any document that shows these enrolled classes, even if it's not called a "transcript" in your country, I would recommend providing that instead of the transcript.

Note that US institutions will almost certainly expect unofficial transcripts only for applications; they may ask for an official transcript if you're admitted and accept. You can deal with any complications at that step.

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  • Thank you for your answer! However, my issue is that I will not even have an unofficial transcript from my current institution by the time I apply. That is what makes me worried.
    – Mathaddict
    Sep 18 at 16:49
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    @Mathaddict What I was trying to convey in this answer is to not worry about whether the thing you have is called an unofficial transcript or whatever. Do you not have some list of what courses you are enrolled in? It doesn't need to be something with a seal from your institution, if there is some place you can log in to a student account or something and see a list of what courses you are taking, that's effectively a transcript for the desired purposes here.
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Sep 18 at 17:06
  • I know what courses I am enrolling in, but I do not have any official document stating the same. This is in France, so official enrollment would be later I believe. Should I ask the administration of the university to provide me with a certificate?
    – Mathaddict
    Sep 18 at 17:11
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    Why do you think you need something official or a certificate? I am saying that they likely expect unofficial transcripts, so an unofficial record of a different type that has the same information is probably just fine. Is there no electronic system at your institution that lists courses you are enrolled in?
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Sep 18 at 17:20
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    @Mathaddict I would ask someone in administration at your institution whether that is actually the case (that there is no way to see your course enrollment). But, if indeed that is true, I'd simply provide a list of enrolled courses with a note that you've created this list because your institution does not have any way to provide a transcript or record of enrolled courses.
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Sep 18 at 18:33
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Just ask your current institution to send your academic records (transcript) to any place you are applying to. It isn't a problem. It isn't expected that you finish one program before you can even apply to another.

The transcript will likely only show your enrollment and the courses you are taking without grades. If needed, you can send updates in the future, but for now, just have the institution send what they have.

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  • The applications require me to upload the transcripts. But from what you said, I believe that a certificate from my institution saying what courses I am enrolled to would suffice. Or am I wrong in interpreting your answer?
    – Mathaddict
    Sep 18 at 16:53
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    You are correct. At the moment that is all that is available. You might need to explain it, but it is a normal situation.
    – Buffy
    Sep 18 at 16:56

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