How LSAC Calculates Your GPA

By Victoria Vail

            Prospective Law School students should not only focus on studying for LSATs, but remember that their GPAs can have just as much of an impact on their admissions into Law School.  Four years are spent studying for the LSATS, and four or more years earning your GPA.  There are important things to remember when considering your final GPA.  The LSAC (Law School Admission Council) recalculates your hard earned GPA determined by your undergraduate institution and factors in much more. 

Every single grade earned before obtaining your first bachelor’s degree will be calculated into a new GPA.  Even high school classes taken at a community college and summer credits earned there will be included.  Also, if you retake a course and your undergraduate institution accepts the higher grade, the LSAC will use both.  While some students study abroad as break from actually worrying about their GPA, the LSAC includes grades earned abroad.  Law School applications will require you to send in transcripts from every post-secondary institution that you have attended. 

What the LSAC will not factor into your GPA is any grade earned after completing your first bachelor’s degree.  Grades earned during Master’s and Ph.D programs will not be calculated into your GPA.  Transcripts may be sent in from graduate schools, but the grades earned there will not be calculated into your GPA.  Major and class difficulty will not be considered during calculation.  Taking a major related course compared to an easy elective will not result in a difference calculation.  Some schools do weigh GPAs from schools with known grade inflation.  Remedial classes will not be included in the GPA calculation.  Lastly, grades earned after submitting law school application will not be considered.  Most schools request a copy of your final transcript after applying, however, few schools refer to it.  Students conflicted with senioritis tend to hold off on sending in their final transcripts until the law school they are admitted to requests them.

The CAS (Credential Assembly Service) calculates your GPA by multiplying each of your grades by the number of credits each is worth.  Then the grades are added together and divided by the total number of credits you have taken.  If your undergraduate institution does not factor A+’s (4.33) into your GPA, but they appear on your transcript, then a boost in your GPA could occur.  Withdrawals on your transcript will count as F’s.  Regarding the Pass/No Pass option that some schools allow, grades marked as “P” will not be factored into your LSAC GPA. It is important to know this information as soon as possible as an undergraduate student with the hopes of attending law school one day.  If you are doing poorly in a class, try to receive a pass in the class instead of a withdrawal.  Focus on your GPA throughout your entire undergrad, including summer classes and study abroad programs.  The LSAC GPA calculation shows that there is not much covering up you can do when applying to law schools.  Beginning as early as freshman year, you are developing your LSAC GPA and determining your future as a law school student.  Law schools will recognize those who will succeed based on their LSAT scores, recalculated GPA, and other admission factors.  Having the best GPA you possibly can is a huge factor in determining your admittance to law school.

Bibilography

Blueprint Test Preparation, . "How LSAC Recalculates Your GPA For Law School Admissions." Above the Law (blog), October 30, 2013. http://abovethelaw.com/career-files/how-lsac-recalculates-your-gpa-for-law-school-admissions/ (accessed November 3, 2013).