₦airaland Forum

Please I have some questions. First, I graduated with a First class degree from a private university in Ghana, am I qualified for category A Booking appointment? Second, do I need to do authentication and legalization of my documents to get admission and visa?

Thank you.

tupacjr:
Hi everyone,

I'm not here to cause any trouble, but I wanted to share some information that might be helpful for those dealing with the stress of sending certified copies of transcripts. If this isn't relevant to you, feel free to skip ahead—someone else might find it useful.

In Germany, graduating students receive their 'Transcript of Records' once, and that’s it. They face the opposite challenge: when applying to US schools that demand official transcripts sealed and stamped from their German schools, they have to figure out how to send those 'official' copies from Germany.

In Nigeria, universities typically insist on sending official transcripts directly to the schools you're applying to upon request. This creates a lot of stress for Nigerian applicants who need to meet the requirement for certified copies. Many try to get their school to send the transcript to someone or an institution first so they can handle it and fulfill the requirements. However, I recently discovered that this isn't necessary—sending the original directly is perfectly acceptable.

If you have any doubts, call your university's student administration office to confirm this. I've tried both methods: I explained the application requirements to my Nigerian university during my first application, and they released the official transcript to me (my mum received it on my behalf since I wasn't in Nigeria). Later, through my research (asking the people I mentioned earlier), I learned that schools usually destroy the documents they receive, which is why they ask for certified copies. They expect you to have one original, which you wouldn't want to lose. Certified copies carry the same value as the original by law, but you can have many certified copies compared to one original. However, if you send the original documents, it’s not an issue—just know they won’t be returned.

For my next application, I had my Nigerian school send the transcript directly to the German address, and it was recorded as received and accepted. I eventually got the admission. I wanted to share this breakdown for anyone struggling to intercept their transcript because they believe they NEED to get a certified copy. If you’re hesitant, you can continue with your current method, but living in Germany has taught me that asking questions can reveal smoother alternatives.

Lastly, I want to say that if something is complicated for you, always speak up and demand a solution instead of trying to put up with it.

Till next time.

I have a First Class degree from a private University in Ghana, am I eligible for Germany Category A Booking appointment?