Transcript Summarization
When your academic transcripts are sent to LSAC (via the Credential Assembly Service), we’ll convert them to a standard scale to give law schools a uniform basis for comparing applicants. Here are the most important things you should know about this process, followed by a more detailed explanation of how grades are converted.
Key Things to Know
LSAC will convert your undergraduate GPA to a standard numeric scale for the first undergraduate degree you earned. We’ll use the grades and credits for every course you took prior to earning your first undergraduate degree when we convert your GPA to this numeric scale. These include transfer credits earned by attending another institution, along with any credit you earned through dual enrollment.
Some items from your transcripts will not be factored into your LSAC-calculated cumulative GPA. Among these are non-punitive withdrawals and incompletes for remedial classes, if clearly indicated as such; undergraduate classes taken after conferral of your first degree; graduate-level credits; and others.
In some cases, if you’ve repeated a class and both grades appear on the transcript, both grades will be used to calculate your LSAC cumulative GPA.
If you studied abroad, through an international school, for an equivalent of more than one academic year of credit, you must submit transcripts from that institution. We’ll complete an international credential evaluation to determine degree and credit equivalency to degrees or credit earned in the U.S. Even if you studied abroad for less time, you may want to request those transcripts to enable law schools to see your grades — especially if you performed well in those classes.
More Details
For more information about how grades are converted, see the Grade Conversion Table at the bottom of this page. You can also get information about how your school’s grades are converted by visiting the Interpretive Guide to Undergraduate Grading Systems (opens in new browser window).
LSAC-member schools have selected a common set of numerical values to represent the various grading systems used by U.S./Canadian institutions. LSAC makes no attempt to assess the value of grades earned at different colleges. Each law school sets its own rules for interpretation of applicants’ grade-point averages; members of law school admission committees understand that a particular grade earned at one college may not have the same meaning as the identical grade at another. In all cases, a copy of each transcript is sent to law schools along with your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report.
Please note: If you were enrolled during spring 2020, your CAS Report to law schools will include a letter reminding admission offices that spring 2020 was the semester impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and that, during this time, schools were forced to move to online instruction, you experienced disruption in your living and learning arrangements, and a variety of changes were introduced to grading systems.
Withdraw, Withdraw/Pass — only if the issuing school considers the grade nonpunitive.
Incomplete — only if the issuing school considers the grade nonpunitive.
Those given for remedial courses, only if the transcript clearly indicates they are remedial.
All courses taken after the degree conferral date of the first bachelor’s degree, including graduate work and professional study. This also includes any undergraduate courses taken after the first bachelor’s degree was awarded. For more information, please review Graduate or Professional Study below.
Those assigned for noncredit courses. Noncredit courses are defined as courses where the student has not registered for credit, attempted credit, or would not have been assigned credit even if any type of passing grade (e.g., A, B, C, Pass) had been received. Physical Education, Practical Art, Practical Music, and ROTC courses that are assigned credit will be included in the academic summary, even if the issuing institution does not include these courses in its calculation of a GPA.
Passing grades from systems of one or two passing grades (e.g., Pass/Fail, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, Credit/No Credit, or Honors/Pass/Fail, High Pass/Pass/Fail) and those for which conversion rules cannot be formulated, including courses for which a transcript gives only narratives or descriptions. Credits for the work in these courses are totaled and reported separately as unconverted credits. The only exception to this policy is for a reported grade below C-minus from a two-passing-grade grading system (e.g., Credit/D/Fail) when the issuing institution includes this grade in their calculation of a GPA.
Grade symbols that have multiple meanings at the issuing school, and the issuing school’s registrar is unable to confirm whether course credit was attempted (such as NC=either No Credit Attempted or No Credit Awarded, etc.). The total number of credits usually assigned to the particular type of course will appear on the applicant’s academic summary but will not be included in the GPA calculation.
Official withdrawal grades that signify failure (such as WF=Withdraw/Fail, WU=Withdrew Unsatisfactory, WNP=Withdrew Not Passing) if the issuing school considers the grade nonpunitive. (This does not apply to WF, WU, and WNP grades only considered nonpunitive by the institution due to a successful repeat of the course or some type of grade-forgiveness policy.) The total number of credits assigned to these grades will appear on the applicant’s academic summary but will not be included in the GPA calculation.
The original grade for a repeated course when the transcript does not show both the grade and the units for the original attempt. The total number of credits assigned to these grades will appear on the applicant’s academic summary but will not be included in the GPA calculation.
Those removed from the official transcript due to an institution’s academic forgiveness — only if the grade is not displayed on the transcript. A line drawn through course information or a grade does not eliminate the course from GPA calculation.
A No Credit grade that does not signify failure and for which no attempt at credit was made (e.g., NC=No Credit/Withdraw, or NC=No Credit Attempted).
Other Important Conversion Information
Grade Point Average (GPA)
LSAC calculates a GPA for each year and a cumulative GPA for each undergraduate institution that issued a transcript for you. A cumulative GPA that includes all undergraduate work is also calculated and reported. A cumulative GPA for a school within an institution cannot be calculated.
In calculating a GPA, we use the grades and credits for every course that can be converted to the standard numeric scale, although the institution issuing the transcript may exclude some of the courses from its own calculations. Courses excluded from the academic summary are not included in the GPA calculation.
There may be some variation between the GPAs calculated by LSAC and those calculated by colleges or students; however, the variation is rarely substantial. Because the law schools that use CAS understand its procedures, a slight variation in GPA is not likely to affect a law school’s admission decision.
Failing Grades
Repeated Courses
Academic Renewal/Academic Forgiveness
Academic Notes
Advanced Placement (AP) or College Level Examination Programs (CLEP)
No Cumulative GPA Calculation
Course Credits
Unconverted Credits
Graduate or Professional Study
Note: In some instances, a school’s three-passing-grade system or numerical grading scale might be converted differently than shown here. For more information about how your school’s grades are converted, visit LSAC’s Interpretive Guide to Undergraduate Grading Systems (opens in new browser window).
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | A to F | 1 to 5 | 100-0 | Four Passing Grades | Three Passing Grades |
| 4.33 | A+ | 1+ | 98-100 | Highest Passing Grade (4.0) | Highest Passing Grade (4.0) |
| 4.00 | A | 1 | 93-97 | ||
| 3.67 | A- | 1- | 90-92 | ||
| 3.50 | AB | ||||
| 3.33 | B+ | 2+ | 87-89 | Second Highest Passing Grade (3.0) | Middle Passing Grade (3.0) |
| 3.00 | B | 2 | 83-86 | ||
| 2.67 | B- | 2- | 80-82 | ||
| 2.50 | BC | ||||
| 2.33 | C+ | 3+ | 77-79 | Third Highest Passing Grade (2.0) | Lowest Passing Grade (2.0) |
| 2.00 | C | 3 | 73-76 | ||
| 1.67 | C- | 3- | 70-72 | ||
| 1.50 | CD | ||||
| 1.33 | D+ | 4+ | 67-69 | Lowest Passing Grade (1.0) | |
| 1.00 | D | 4 | 63-66 | ||
| 0.67 | D- | 4- | 60-62 | ||
| 0.50 | DE or DF | ||||
| 0.00 | E and F | 5 | Below 60 | Failure (0.00) | Failure (0.00) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 4.33 |
|---|---|
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | A+ |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 1+ |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 98-100 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Four Passing Grades | Highest Passing Grade (4.0) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Three Passing Grades | Highest Passing Grade (4.0) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 4.00 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | A |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 1 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 93-97 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 3.67 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | A- |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 1- |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 90-92 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 3.50 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | AB |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 3.33 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | B+ |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 2+ |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 87-89 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Four Passing Grades | Second Highest Passing Grade (3.0) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Three Passing Grades | Middle Passing Grade (3.0) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 3.00 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | B |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 2 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 83-86 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 2.67 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | B- |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 2- |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 80-82 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 2.50 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | BC |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 2.33 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | C+ |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 3+ |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 77-79 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Four Passing Grades | Third Highest Passing Grade (2.0) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Three Passing Grades | Lowest Passing Grade (2.0) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 2.00 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | C |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 3 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 73-76 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 1.67 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | C- |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 3- |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 70-72 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 1.50 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | CD |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 1.33 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | D+ |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 4+ |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 67-69 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Four Passing Grades | Lowest Passing Grade (1.0) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Three Passing Grades | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 1.00 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | D |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 4 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 63-66 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 0.67 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | D- |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 4- |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | 60-62 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 0.50 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | DE or DF |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → LSAC Conversion to 4.0 Scale | 0.00 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → A to F | E and F |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 1 to 5 | 5 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → 100-0 | Below 60 |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Four Passing Grades | Failure (0.00) |
| Grades as Reported on Transcripts → Three Passing Grades | Failure (0.00) |