Law School GPA: How LSAC Calculates Your Academic Summary Report

Every law school applicant in the United States submits their application through LSAC, the Law School Admission Council. LSAC's Credential Assembly Service (CAS) does not simply forward undergraduate transcripts to law schools. It recalculates every applicant's grade point average (GPA) using its own standardized methodology, and the resulting CAS GPA becomes the official academic credential that every law school evaluates, reports to the ABA, and uses in published median GPA rankings.

As of 2026, LSAC continues to calculate CAS GPA on a 4.33 scale, where A+ = 4.33. For most students, the CAS GPA ends up lower than their transcript GPA. The CAS GPA is not the same number the undergraduate institution reports on the diploma. For some applicants, the difference is negligible. For others, the difference is several tenths of a GPA point in the wrong direction. Understanding exactly how LSAC calculates the CAS GPA before submitting transcripts is the most consequential pre-application step a law school applicant can take.

The average law school median GPA across all ABA-approved schools is 3.65. From 2015 to 2025, the average law school median GPA increased by 0.27 points, with 27 law schools now reporting median GPAs of 3.9 or higher. The grade inflation trend in law school admissions, driven partly by increased application volumes and partly by competition among peer institutions for rankings position, means that the GPA required to be competitive at selective programmes is measurably higher than it was a decade ago.

The 4.33 Scale: How LSAC Converts Grades Differently From Every Other Centralized Application Service

LSAC uses a 4.33 scale, not the standard 4.0 scale used by AMCAS, CASPA, PharmCAS, and most undergraduate institutions. The single most consequential difference this creates is that an A+ earns 4.33 quality points per credit hour in the LSAC calculation, above the 4.0 ceiling of the standard scale. For students with many A+ grades, the CAS GPA can exceed 4.0.

The official LSAC grade conversion values are: A+ = 4.33, A = 4.0, A- = 3.67, B+ = 3.33, B = 3.0, B- = 2.67, C+ = 2.33, C = 2.0, C- = 1.67, D+ = 1.33, D = 1.0, D- = 0.67, F = 0.0. Quarter credits are converted to semester hours by dividing by 1.5 before entering the calculation.

The 4.33 scale creates two distinct effects depending on the applicant's transcript. For applicants whose institution awards A+ grades and whose transcript contains many of them, the CAS GPA may exceed the institutional GPA because the LSAC A+ value (4.33) exceeds the institutional A+ value (4.0 at institutions that cap A+ at 4.0). For applicants whose institution does not distinguish between A and A+ and who have no A+ grades on the transcript, the 4.33 scale produces the same quality point values as the standard 4.0 scale for every grade except A+.

If the applicant has fewer than 60 graded semester credits, LSAC will not generate a numeric CAS GPA. Instead, the CAS report will include a qualitative description of the academic record. This situation arises for applicants who transferred after two years with heavily pass/fail coursework, or who have significant excluded international credits. Applicants in this situation should contact LSAC directly to understand what the report will show before submitting applications.

The credit-weighted formula LSAC uses is identical in structure to the standard GPA formula: multiply each course's LSAC grade point value by its semester credit hours to produce quality points, sum all quality points, divide by total attempted semester credit hours. The differences from a standard institutional GPA calculation lie in which courses are included, which are excluded, and the 4.33 scale for A+.

For a detailed explanation of the credit-weighted GPA formula itself, the guide on how to calculate GPA covers the mechanics from grade point conversion through quality point averaging, which is the same mathematical structure that LSAC applies on its 4.33 scale.

What LSAC Includes and Excludes: The Course Inclusion Rules That Change the CAS GPA

LSAC includes in the CAS GPA calculation every undergraduate course that can be converted to the 4.0 scale, from every US and Canadian institution attended, including courses taken as a non-degree student, courses completed before the applicant's primary undergraduate institution, and repeated courses. Both the original grade and the retake grade for any repeated course are included.

In calculating a GPA, LSAC uses the grades and credits for every course that can be converted to the 4.0 scale, although the institution issuing the transcript may exclude some of the courses from its own calculations. 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.

This inclusion of physical education and similar credit-bearing courses is one of the most common sources of unexpected GPA differences between the institutional record and the LSAC CAS GPA. A student who earned C grades in two semesters of physical education, grades that the home institution excluded from its GPA calculation, finds those C grades contributing to the LSAC cumulative GPA. The quality point deficit from those C grades is small in absolute terms but measurable in a cumulative calculation.

The courses that LSAC excludes from the GPA calculation are specific:

Non-credit courses, defined as courses where the student did not register for credit or attempt credit, or would not have been assigned credit even with a passing grade. Pass/fail courses that show only a P or Pass notation without a letter grade equivalent. A No Credit grade that does not signify failure and for which no attempt at credit was made, such as NC for No Credit/Withdraw or NC for No Credit Attempted. AP and IB credits that appear with only a CR or credit notation without a letter grade are excluded, meaning AP credits that earned college credit without a letter grade at the institution do not enter the LSAC GPA.

Many colleges apply academic renewal or grade forgiveness for repeats, but LSAC does not. Both original and repeated grades appear in the LSAC calculation. Academic renewal and grade forgiveness are not recognised by LSAC. This is the same dynamic that applies in CASPA for PA school and VMCAS for veterinary school: institutional grade forgiveness that removes a prior poor grade from the institutional GPA does not transfer to the centralized application service's calculation.

LSAC will convert undergraduate GPA to a standard 4.0 scale for the first undergraduate degree earned. If a course was repeated and both grades appear on the transcript, both grades will be used to calculate the LSAC cumulative GPA. Students who studied abroad through an international school for an equivalent of one year or more of credit must submit transcripts from those institutions.

The international transcript requirement creates a specific edge case for applicants who spent a semester or year studying abroad at a foreign institution. If the abroad institution issued a transcript, LSAC requires it. If the abroad institution's credits appear only on the home institution's transcript through a credit transfer notation, the abroad institution's transcript may not be separately required. The specific requirement depends on whether the foreign institution issued its own official transcript for the period of study.

The LSAC Academic Summary Report: What It Contains and How to Verify It

The LSAC Academic Summary Report (ASR) is the document law schools receive as part of the CAS report. It includes the CAS GPA, a year-by-year GPA breakdown for each undergraduate institution attended, a transcript-by-transcript summary of course grades, and all LSAT scores. Applicants can access their ASR through LawHub before submitting applications to verify that the LSAC calculation matches their expectations.

LSAC calculates a GPA for each year and a cumulative GPA for each undergraduate institution that issued a transcript. A cumulative GPA that includes all undergraduate work is also calculated and reported. The year-by-year breakdown is consequential for applicants who had a difficult early period in their undergraduate career followed by strong upper-division performance. Law schools reading the ASR can see the trajectory at the year level, not just the cumulative figure.

The ASR also includes all LSAT scores from every sitting, not just the most recent or highest. Law schools using LSAC can see the full LSAT testing history, and while most law schools now report that they use the highest LSAT score in admissions evaluation, the full score history is visible to the admissions committee and may be discussed at the committee or interview stage.

Verifying the ASR before submitting applications serves two purposes. The first is confirming that every transcript has been received and processed correctly, because missing transcripts create CAS report gaps that trigger admissions holds. The second is confirming that the GPA calculation matches the applicant's independent calculation, identifying any courses that LSAC included or excluded unexpectedly. Discrepancies between the calculated and reported CAS GPA should be investigated with LSAC before applications are submitted, because the reported CAS GPA is the binding number once the report is distributed to law schools.

Law School GPA Medians: T14 and Beyond

Law school median GPA reporting has shifted upward significantly since 2020. Top 14 law schools report 75th percentile GPAs between 3.88 and 4.00, and median GPAs between 3.73 and 3.99. Regional and lower-ranked law schools show medians ranging from 3.0 to 3.7.

The LSAC GPA standardizes grades from various undergraduate institutions to provide admission offices with a uniform metric. Understanding the LSAC GPA is important for all law school applicants.

The published median GPA at ABA-approved law schools is the CAS GPA, calculated on the 4.33 scale. At Yale Law School, the most selective law school in the US, the median GPA for the entering class typically exceeds 3.93. Harvard Law, Columbia Law, and Stanford Law report medians in the 3.90 to 3.99 range. At the T14 broadly, median CAS GPAs range from approximately 3.73 to 3.99.

Outside the T14, strong regional law schools report medians in the 3.3 to 3.7 range. State law schools with public service missions typically report medians in the 3.3 to 3.6 range. The lowest median GPAs at ABA-accredited schools in recent cycles have been in the 2.9 to 3.1 range at the least selective programmes.

The median is the point at which 50% of admitted students fall above and 50% fall below. An applicant at exactly the median CAS GPA is competing against an admitted pool split evenly above and below that number. An applicant below the median GPA at a specific school is in the bottom half of the GPA distribution at that school and needs compensating strength in the LSAT score, soft factors, or targeted school selection to remain competitive.

The GPA Addendum: When and How to Explain a Low CAS GPA to Law Schools

A GPA addendum is a brief optional document, typically one page, that explains significant extenuating circumstances that caused a GPA to fall below what the applicant is capable of. Not every below-average GPA warrants an addendum. An addendum is appropriate when a specific, documentable, time-limited circumstance explains a GPA that does not reflect the applicant's actual academic capability.

The circumstances that warrant a GPA addendum are specific and documentable: a medical illness or injury that interrupted academic performance during a defined period, a death or serious illness in the immediate family during the affected semester or year, a significant financial hardship that required the applicant to increase work hours to levels that directly competed with academic performance, or mental health challenges that were subsequently addressed and that explain rather than excuse the academic record.

The circumstances that do not typically warrant a GPA addendum include: general difficulty adjusting to college coursework, choosing a rigorous major where lower grades are normal, or insufficient academic effort. An addendum that explains a difficult period without acknowledging any component of the applicant's own choices and behaviours is typically less credible than one that acknowledges both the external circumstances and the student's response to them.

A CAS GPA that is lower than expected might need to be explained in an addendum. The addendum should be brief and specific. It is not an essay on personal growth. It is a targeted explanation that allows the admissions reader to contextualise the transcript data. The effective addendum occupies one page or less, states the specific circumstance, provides whatever documentation is available, notes when the circumstance was resolved, and points to specific evidence of improved performance after the resolution. The subsequent academic record is the most credible evidence in any GPA addendum.

How the LSAC GPA Interacts With the LSAT

The CAS GPA and the LSAT score are the two primary quantitative credentials in law school admissions. They are evaluated together, and a significant weakness in one requires compensating strength in the other to remain competitive at target schools.

The LSAC Index, calculated by many law schools as a weighted average of the CAS GPA and the LSAT score using their own institution-specific formulae, is used to identify applicants who meet a first-pass threshold for detailed review. The specific weight assigned to GPA versus LSAT varies by school, with some schools weighting the LSAT more heavily because of its standardized national comparison value and others weighting GPA more heavily because of its predictive value for first-year law school performance.

A student with a 3.9 CAS GPA and 162 LSAT is applying from a position where GPA is a strength and LSAT is below median at top schools. A student with a 3.5 CAS GPA and 174 LSAT is applying from a position where the LSAT far exceeds what the GPA would alone suggest. Both profiles have competitive paths at different schools, and both require an honest assessment of where each credential is competitive before building the school list.

For context on how the CAS GPA interacts with graduate programme competitiveness across law school, business school, medical school, and other professional graduate admissions, the guide on undergraduate GPA and graduate school admissions provides the comparative landscape that helps applicants position their specific credential profile across multiple potential graduate paths.

Calculating Your CAS GPA Before Submitting Transcripts

The most practical pre-application action available to any law school applicant is calculating the CAS GPA manually before submitting transcripts to LSAC. This calculation reveals whether the CAS figure will be higher or lower than the institutional GPA, which courses will be included or excluded, and whether any institution-applied grade forgiveness or replacement will be reversed in the LSAC calculation.

To calculate the CAS GPA manually: obtain a complete list of every undergraduate course attempted at every institution attended, including any pass/fail courses with grades, any repeated courses (both attempts), any physical education or practical arts credits, and any course taken while enrolled as a non-degree student. Convert each letter grade to the LSAC 4.33 scale. Multiply each LSAC grade point value by the course's semester credit hours (convert quarter hours by dividing by 1.5). Sum all quality points. Divide by total attempted semester credit hours.

The courses to exclude before calculating are: non-credit courses, courses graded only as Pass with no letter grade equivalent, and AP or IB credits showing only CR or credit without a letter grade.

An applicant who discovers that the manually calculated CAS GPA is materially lower than the institutional GPA has important information before applying. A 3.6 institutional GPA that produces a 3.3 CAS GPA changes the competitive school list significantly. An applicant who discovers this after submitting applications has no mechanism to adjust the CAS figure. An applicant who discovers it before submitting has the option to address it proactively through addendum language, school selection, or in some cases additional coursework.

The Academic Summary Report can be accessed through LawHub before submitting applications. Applicants should use the Academic Summary Report to verify every course before submitting.

Calculate your CAS GPA on the LSAC 4.33 scale before you apply at gpacalculator.uk.