Your Academic Record
When law schools are considering your application, your academic record — how you’ve performed in other undergraduate, graduate, or professional programs — will be a key factor in their decisions. Here’s a look at what schools consider.
Undergraduate GPA
Most law schools will look closely at your college grades, as undergraduate GPA (UGPA) is often a strong indicator of how well you’ll perform in law school. But course selection (opens in new browser window) can make a difference, too, and harder or more advanced undergraduate courses often are evaluated in a more favorable light than easier or less advanced ones.
Many schools will also consider your undergraduate performance trend, along with your UGPA. In other words, if you had a slow start to your undergraduate career but performed exceptionally well later on, that could bode well for your success in law school. Similarly, a strong start to undergrad, followed by a mediocre finish, might indicate less potential to succeed.
When completing your applications, be sure to comment on any irregular grade trends in your academic record, so law schools can get a full picture of what was going on in your life at the time.
Some law schools use a formula to combine your LSAT score and UGPA into a single “admission index” number. You can calculate your admission index for each law school via the formulas under “Related Information” on the Transcripts page of JD Services. (Note that not all law schools use index formulas, and those that do use them don’t necessarily do so in the same way.)
Using LSAC’s Official Guide (opens in new browser window), you can search for law schools that might be a fit for your UGPA and LSAT score.
Graduate or Professional Study
Prior success or failure in other graduate or professional schoolwork, including work completed at other law schools, may also be a factor in the admission committee's decision. Because of that, be sure to request transcripts from any graduate, law, medical, or professional institutions where you’ve completed coursework.
Prior Law School Matriculation
If a law school informs LSAC of your prior law school matriculation or intent to matriculate there, the name of the school and the year in which this information was reported will appear on the bottom right corner of your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report.
If you find an error, contact the law school(s) listed. LSAC will alter matriculation information only if it has been corrected by the reporting law school.
Schools to which reports have been sent will automatically receive revised reports if a prior matriculation error is removed from your file.