Document Upload Guide
If you are a reference who has been asked to submit a letter of recommendation, please see our Reference Guide for Letters of Recommendation for the relevant information.
Beginning with Summer 2013 applications and beyond, the UIC Graduate Application will require the submission of application materials electronically as part of the application process.
Within 3 – 5 business days after submitting your online application, you will receive an email acknowledging the receipt of your application, as well as indicating that you may log back into the system to begin uploading application materials.
Continue below for the relevant instructions and guidelines.
Electronic Document Criteria
Using the Application Summary
Monitoring the Status of Your Application
Institutional Requirements
Academic Credentials
Additional Institutional Requirements
Current and Prior UIC Students
Departmental Requirements
Letters of Recommendation
Official Credentials
Electronic Document Criteria
Please prepare an electronic copy of the required application materials so that they are available when requested.
- Documents should be submitted in PDF format.
- If you are unable to convert your document into a PDF, a ".doc" Word document is acceptable. These are indicated as “Word 97-2003 Document” when saving files in Microsoft Word. Files in the ".docx" format (the default file type in recent versions of Microsoft Word) and the .wps format (the default file type for Microsoft Works), are not accepted by our system.
- The file size of a document must be less than 20MB.
- To limit file size, scan in the lowest resolution that results in a legible document.
- The orientation of the text on the document should match the orientation of the document file, i.e. portrait/landscape.
- If a document is comprised of multiple pages, please ensure that all pages are combined into one electronic file.
- Ensure that the entire document is included in the scan and that no part of the document is cut off.
If you do not have personal access to a scanner, many office service centers and public libraries may provide you access to one.
Using the Application Summary
After receiving the acknowledgement email and logging back into the application system, you will see requirements populated in your checklist. You will need to access the linked items and upload the document requested. An example checklist is included below.
- The top section of Requirements indicates the institutional requirements. These are requested and tracked by the Office of Admissions.
- The Additional Program Requirements section indicates the departmental requirements for your specific intended program of study. (This section may also include requests for Financial Documentation from International applicants, which will not need to be submitted until after an admission decision is made.)
Monitoring the Status of Your Application
- A Received date will populate upon submission of the requested document.
- Admissions and department staff will be able to access your uploaded document the next day. Applicants are not able to view the documents they upload.
- An Item Status will be applied as submitted materials are reviewed by either the Office of Admissions or the department.
- Additional requests for items may be added if submitted documents are insufficient or illegible.
- Items without a Received date are those that are still being requested from you.
- Missing Credentials correspondence will be sent out regularly via email if requirements have not been submitted.
The Application Status and Decision will update as your application moves through the application process.
Institutional Requirements
Institutional requirements such as academic credentials will be populated in your checklist after the Office of Admissions has surveyed the information you provided in your application. Our office will determine the appropriate documents that you will need to upload, since all applicant profiles are not the same. A notification email will be sent within a week once these have been made available; however, you may continue to monitor your status to see when these are added. Guidelines for the submission of Institutional Requirements follow:
Academic Credentials
- All uploaded academic credentials are considered unofficial.
- You may scan copies of your academic credentials or obtain electronic versions.
- They must be provided by the institution and clearly include your name and the institution’s name. The URL at the bottom of a page is not sufficient for providing the institution’s name.
- They must include all courses, credits, grades and term information.
- Include the transcript legend or university key, typically included on the back page of transcripts
- Advising or degree audit documents are not acceptable.
- You may need to obtain and scan a copy of an official transcript if the institution does not provide an acceptable unofficial version.
- Transcripts from a foreign institution issued in a foreign language must be accompanied by a copy of a certified English translation, combined into one electronic file. (See English translation requirements)
- Semesterly marksheets from applicable countries should be combined into one electronic file.
- Degree award certificates must be uploaded under a separate requirement link for degrees, combined with translations as applicable. Exam certificates indicating only the passing of a final exam will not be sufficient.
Non-degree applicants are asked to upload a proof of degree, which may be a transcript on which the degree is indicated as being awarded or a copy of a degree certificate or diploma.
Additional Institutional Requirements
- TOEFL scores must be submitted to UIC officially through ETS. If you indicated intent to submit IELTS scores or a waiver letter based on employment in the online application, links to upload those items will be added to your checklist. (See English Competency requirements)
- Fee waiver documentation, such as a copy of an Illinois Veteran’s Grant award letter, may be requested for those who select a waiver.
Current and Prior UIC Students
- Prior UIC Graduate degree-seeking students seeking readmission (prior enrollment) to the Graduate College who already have official credentials contained in their permanent admission file will not need to re-submit their credentials from their prior institutions, unless specifically requested by the department.
- Applicants with UIC coursework may upload either a copy of their Web Academic History, available through Student Self Service, or a copy of a transcript, if one is readily available.
Departmental Requirements
Please be sure to visit the department’s website for your intended program of study (http://www.uic.edu/gcat/GPDP). Note that departments may have specific forms that they would like you to complete and upload, or a different process for the submission of supplemental materials. If you have questions regarding departmental requirements, contact information is available through the link above.
Here are a few examples of the types of requirements that departments may ask that you submit:
- Writing Sample
- GRE Scores -- Scores reported by ETS will default to the first of the month of the test date. Some programs allow applicants to upload a copy of the GRE score report.
- Statement of Purpose
- Supplemental Application
- Application for Graduate Appointment (pdf) Note: The linked form is issued by the Graduate College. Some programs may require use of their own form. Please refer to the department's instructions.
You may see "optional" document links populated on your checklist. Please note that it is not mandatory for you to provide documentation for these. They are there to provide an opportunity for you to submit additional materials that may not be required. Additionally, some “optional” links may refer to specific types of documentation. For instance, if a department requires the submission of two Research Documents for the application, they may additionally provide an additional link to an “Optional Research Document” item for use if an applicant would like to upload a third.
Letters of Recommendation
- Upon accessing a “Recommendation Letter” requirement link, you will be asked to provide the email address of one of your references. A request for a letter of recommendation will then be sent to the designated reference.
- Please indicate only the email address itself. Inclusion of additional text, such as a name, in the email address field may result in an error.
- The application system will track requests that have been sent and populate the Received date when a reference has submitted their recommendation letter.
Reference requests are sent from the email address noreply@uillinois.edu. You may ask your references to whitelist this address to ensure that they receive the message. If a reference indicates that he or she has not received the reference request, the message may have been marked as SPAM by their email service.
If you need to re-send a reference request to an existing reference, it is important that you use the same Requirement link when doing so. If a referee cannot or does not submit a letter of recommendation, you may access the Requirement link and indicate a new reference, as long as the Received date is not populated.
Please note that the links sent to references do expire after some time. You may be asked by your reference to re-send a reference request if they try to access the provided link after it has expired.
Official Credentials
Applicants should not send official paper academic credentials by mail unless the department expressly requests that you send credentials directly to them. You must still upload a copy electronically to satisfy the institutional requirements.
If an applicant submits official paper academic credentials in addition to uploading them before being admitted, the Office of Admissions will review them at the time of admission to determine if they satisfy our requirements.
Official, sealed academic credentials will be requested from applicants admitted to a degree-seeking program. The request for official paper academic credentials will be noted on the official admission letter from the Office of Admissions. Failure to submit official, sealed academic credentials will result in a registration hold after the 10th day of the admission term, but will only affect registration for the second term at UIC.
The University of Illinois at Chicago reserves the right to require official credentials at any time during the admissions process, and rescind any offer of admission made if discrepancies between unofficial and official credentials are found.
