How to Find and Use Your PTCAS Transcript ID Form

The PTCAS Transcript ID Form is a one-page PDF you download from the Colleges Attended section of your PTCAS application and send with your official transcript so the processing center can match the paper to your electronic file. You generate one form per institution you attended. The form is strongly recommended rather than strictly required, but skipping it is the fastest way to land your transcript in a holding file, so treat it as a practical must.¹

Where to Download the Form

Log in to your PTCAS application and open the Colleges Attended section under Academic History. List every post-secondary institution where you earned credit, even if those credits later transferred to another school and appear on a different transcript.² After saving the entry for a college, click the “Order” link next to the school’s name, then choose the option to download the Transcript ID Form PDF.

Repeat for every institution. The form carries your name, the school’s details, and a barcode the processing center scans to link the transcript to your file. One form, one school, one envelope.

Check Your Profile Before You Generate

Before you download, confirm that your name, date of birth, and contact information in your PTCAS profile match what the registrar has on file. If your transcript shows a maiden name or an older spelling, add that name in the Alternate Names area of your profile so the processing center can still make the match. Any discrepancy between the form and the transcript slows processing.

Save the PDF as soon as you generate it. There is no indication that generated forms expire, but creating a fresh one right before you order the transcript ensures the barcode reflects your current profile.

Sending the Form With a Mailed Transcript

If your school does not send electronic transcripts through Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse, the transcript must go by mail.¹ Print the Transcript ID Form, bring it to the registrar’s office, and ask staff to seal it in the same envelope as the official transcript. The registrar mails the package to:

PTCAS Transcript Processing Center
PO Box 9112
Watertown, MA 02471¹

Some registrars charge a per-transcript fee, often in the $10 to $15 range for a mailed copy. Ask about the fee and the mailing schedule while you are there; some offices only send outgoing mail on specific days.

If you genuinely cannot include the form, ask the registrar to print “PTCAS” and your full PTCAS ID number directly on the transcript before sealing the envelope.¹ This is a fallback. The barcode on the form is what makes matching fast, and the handwritten or typed ID is only a substitute.

Using the Form’s ID With an Electronic Transcript

PTCAS accepts electronic transcripts only through Parchment and National Student Clearinghouse. Emailed transcripts and transcripts from other electronic vendors are not accepted; if your school uses a different service, ask them to mail the transcript instead.¹

Parchment

Confirm your school uses Parchment, then follow the ordering prompts and select PTCAS as the recipient. If Parchment asks for your transcript’s unique barcode ID, find it by clicking “Order” for that school on the Colleges Attended page.¹ Allow up to five business days for the transcript to post once the order is placed.

National Student Clearinghouse

On the Clearinghouse site, choose “Order a Transcript,” enter your school, and pick “Educational Organization, Application Service and Scholarships” as the recipient type. Select PTCAS from the organization dropdown, then enter your CAS Transcript ID. The ID appears in the on-screen ordering instructions inside your PTCAS application and also sits below the barcode on the Transcript ID Form itself.¹ If PTCAS does not appear as a recipient option and the system asks for an email address instead, the electronic route will not work. Order a mailed transcript in that case.

Some schools using the Clearinghouse also let you upload attachments with your order. Where that option exists, upload the Transcript ID Form as an additional document.³ Not every school supports it, so check your registrar’s ordering page.

When the Form Does Not Apply

Do not send a foreign transcript to PTCAS with a Transcript ID Form. Foreign transcripts are discarded on arrival, even if printed in English. Most PTCAS programs instead require a course-by-course U.S. equivalency evaluation, and PTCAS only accepts electronic evaluations from World Education Services (WES), ordered through your PTCAS application. An evaluation ordered outside the application will not be accepted.⁴

Study abroad coursework is different. If you studied abroad through a U.S.-based program, those credits usually appear on your home institution’s transcript, so you follow the standard U.S. process (and the standard Transcript ID Form) for that home school.⁴

What Happens After You Send It

Track each transcript in the Check Status area at the top of your dashboard. Receipt alone takes up to five business days from the day PTCAS gets the transcript. Once all requirements are met, transcript entry can take up to ten business days, and verification can add up to another ten after that.⁵ A mailed transcript can therefore take three to four weeks from the registrar’s drop date to a “Verified” status, and peak-season volume slows this further.

If a transcript does not show as received after two weeks, contact your registrar to confirm the mailing date, then reach out to PTCAS customer service if the registrar confirms it was sent. Generating the form correctly, pairing it with the right envelope, and ordering early are the three things that keep this timeline from biting you.

1
Liaison. Sending Official Transcripts to PTCAS
2
Liaison. PTCAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs
3
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Transcripts
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Liaison. Foreign and French-Canadian Transcripts
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Liaison. Professional Transcript Entry Service (PTE)