Document Checklist
The uncomfortable truth. Applications are rarely lost because a student was not good enough. They are lost because one document arrived late, in the wrong language, or in a form the institution does not accept. Every document in this lesson is a small project with its own lead time, its own issuer, and its own way of going wrong.
Name every document a typical application needs, and who issues it.
Say how many months before the deadline each one must be started.
Tell a translation from a certified translation, and a copy from a certified copy.
Start the folder now, not later. A folder built over a year is calm work. The same folder built in three weeks is where mistakes live.
Documents your school issues
Your grades for every year, stamped and signed by the school. This is not the diploma; it is the record behind it.
Usually required in the original language and as a certified translation. Order both at the same time.
The diploma itself, issued after graduation — which is often after the application deadline.
Most systems solve this with a provisional statement from the school, followed by the real document later. Ask the institution which wording they accept.
Some countries require a national body to confirm that a Turkish high school diploma is equivalent to their own.
A separate procedure, with its own fee and its own queue. It must be finished before the deadline, not started.
Written by a teacher who actually taught you, on school paper, signed.
Ask in person first, then in writing, and hand over your CV and the programme link. A rushed reference reads like one.
Documents you create yourself
One page, academic in tone: education, projects, activities, languages, digital skills. Not a job CV.
Written in the language of the application. Dates in a consistent format. No photograph unless the institution asks for one.
Why this subject, why this programme, and what you have already done about it.
Expect to rewrite it at least three times. The first draft is a warm-up, never a submission.
Competitions, clubs, volunteering, projects, work — each with a date and a role.
Keep certificates scanned as you receive them. Reconstructing four years of evidence in one month is how good candidates end up with thin applications.
Proof of English at the level the programme requires.
Exam dates fill up, results take weeks, and certificates expire — typically after two years. This is the longest chain in the whole folder.
Form matters as much as content
Translation vs certified translation. A translation you make yourself is not a document. A certified translation is made by a sworn translator; some countries then require notarisation on top. These are two requirements, not one.
Copy vs certified copy. A photocopy proves nothing. A certified copy carries an official stamp confirming it matches the original.
Upload vs post. Some institutions want scans in a portal, some want paper by post, and a few want both. The deadline may differ for each.
Arrival vs submission. "Deadline" can mean the day you click send, or the day the documents must be in their hands. Read which.
Use PDF. One document per file. Name files so a stranger can read them: surname_document_year.pdf. Keep every original in one physical folder that leaves the house only with you, and send certified copies unless originals are explicitly demanded.
Your turn
Do not copy the lists in this lesson. Build your own from one real admissions page — that is the only list that binds you.
Take the programme with the earliest deadline on your shortlist and open its official admission requirements page.
List every document it names, in three columns: document, who issues it, date I must start.
Mark which documents need a certified translation, and which need recognition or notarisation.
Compare with this lesson: what does that programme ask for that is missing here, and what here does it not need?
The differences are not errors in the lesson. They are exactly the country-specific detail that no general guide can give you — and finding them yourself is the skill.
Next — Lesson 4. You now know what to collect. The timeline tells you when each item must begin.
APPLICATION TIMELINE →