How does the University of Hawaii evaluate overseas high school transcripts for admission?

The University of Hawaii reviews overseas high school transcripts to determine whether your coursework is equivalent to U.S. secondary school preparation and whether you meet the campus’s freshman admission requirements. In practice, they look at the level and content of the classes you took, your grades or marks, and whether you completed a credential comparable to a U.S. high school diploma. They may also require official records in the original language plus a certified English translation if the documents are not already in English.

For undergraduate admission, UH campuses generally evaluate international or overseas transcripts in-house unless they specifically ask for a third-party credential evaluation. They usually examine your academic record course by course, rather than expecting your school to match a U.S. transcript format exactly. What matters most is whether your record shows sufficient college-preparatory work in areas like English, math, lab science, social studies, and other academic subjects required by the campus.

If your transcript uses a different grading scale, the university will interpret that scale in the context of your country’s education system. They are used to non-U.S. records, so a different format by itself is not a problem. What can slow things down is missing information, unclear course titles, unofficial translations, or records that do not show the grading system or graduation credential.

For Hawaii system schools, applicants are often asked to submit final official secondary records directly from the school or examining authority. If you completed national exams, school-leaving certificates, IGCSEs, IB, A Levels, or another formal curriculum, those results may also be part of the review. Checking the specific campus admissions page matters because UH Manoa, UH Hilo, and other UH campuses can have slightly different document requirements and deadlines.