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Admission to Academic Program Steps - Applying From Within the U.S.

The following information is for F-1 students who currently attend school in the United States (U.S.), plan to transfer to Sinclair Community College, and enroll full time. When transferring from one school to another school within the U.S., you must carefully follow the procedures to maintain legal F-1 status. Please read carefully and follow these steps to complete the transfer process:

Step 1: Application for Admission

Complete the 'F-1 International Students' application at https://apply.sinclair.edu.

The documents in the following steps need to be uploaded to your application profile before you are considered for admission.

Step 2: Official Transcripts

Successful completion of a secondary high school program is required for admission. Please upload copies of the following:

  • original transcript (record of courses/subjects and grades), and
  • verification of graduation, such as a certificate or diploma.

If you have completed a degree program at a college or university in the U.S., a copy of your college transcript is acceptable.

Step 3: English Proficiency

If you have completed one full year of college-level English at a college or university in the U.S. with a grade of C or higher, you may submit an official transcript in place of the TOEFL or IELTS.

Otherwise please submit a copy of your official results from one of the following:

TOEFL: A minimum of IBT-61, CBT-173, or PBT-500 (Sinclair's school code is 1720)
IELTS: A minimum of 5.0
Duolingo English Test: A minimum of 80

ELS Center: If you have completed level 109 at any ELS center in the United States, you may submit your ELS transcripts and certificate of completion in place of the TOEFL or IELTS score.

If you are interested in transferring to English Now!, our Intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) program, no proof of English proficiency is required.

Step 4: Financial Documentation

In order to issue an I-20 (Certificate of Eligibility), Sinclair Community College is required by the U.S. Government to verify that students have the financial resources to cover the costs of their program of study. Therefore, you are required to submit a copy of either a letter or statement from a bank that demonstrates a minimum of $17,500 is available to cover the costs for one academic year. Please note that this is only an estimate of costs (including tuition fees, books, and living expenses) for an academic year and individual expenses may vary.

The bank letter or bank statement must meet the following requirements:

  • Be current and no older than six months at the time of the submission of your application.
  • Be on bank letterhead.
  • Include the account holder's name.
  • Indicate the type of account (checking, savings. etc.).
  • Indicate the currency of the funds.
  • Be signed by an official of the bank (and stamped with the bank's seal, if available) - for bank letters only.
  • Be written in English or have a certified English translation attached - for bank letters only.

Sponsors: Financial documentation from a sponsor is acceptable. The sponsor must agree to financially supporting the student as part of the online application.

Dependents (spouse and children only): If you plan to travel to the U.S. with dependents, you will have to demonstrate that an additional $5,000 is available to support each dependent. You also must upload copies of their passports to your application profile.

Step 5: Additional Documents

Please upload copies of the following documents:

  • Passport photo/information page
  • F-1 visa sticker
  • Current I-20 form
  • Most recent I-94 record

Step 6: Transfer of your SEVIS Record

Once we receive all your application documents, we will consider your for admission. If accepted, we will send you an acceptance letter and a Transfer-In Form via email. You need to:

  1. Fill out Section A of the Transfer-In Form.
  2. Notify your current international student advisor that you request a transfer to Sinclair. Your advisor will need to complete Section B of the Transfer-In Form, return the form to Sinclair via email, mail, or fax and release your SEVIS record to Sinclair.
    It is important to have your current international student advisor fill out the Transfer-In Form and submit it. We won't be able to prepare your I-20 until we receive the Transfer-In form that indicates your transfer release date.
  3. Report to the Office of International Education immediately upon your arrival at Sinclair. You will receive your Sinclair I-20 shortly. If you are traveling outside the U.S. before starting at Sinclair, you can request the I-20 be issued to you earlier for travel purposes.

Important: Although you only need to submit copies of your original documents to Sinclair, please retain your original documents. If you need to apply for a new visa, you will need them for your visa appointment at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. In some cases, Customs and Border Protection official may also request them at the port of entry when you arrive in the U.S.

For additional information or questions, email the Office of International Education at international.ed@sinclair.edu.