How to Calculate LSDAS GPA for Law School Admissions

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By bostonienne
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Estimate the GPA that law schools will see on your LSDAS report.

When applying to law school, the two most important statistics are LSAT score and undergraduate GPA. But because colleges differ in their GPA calculations, the Law School Admissions Council has developed a method of standardizing GPAs to more accurately compare applicants from different schools. LSAC sends this new GPA to law schools as part of the LSDAS report, which also includes letters of recommendation, LSAT scores and transcript copies. Some applicants see an increase in their GPA after this adjustment, but many instead experience a drop – so be aware of these factors that play into LSAC’s LSDAS GPA calculations.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

All undergraduate transcripts

Step 1

To begin, grab a copy of your transcript and review your coursework. If you are a transfer student, be sure to collect all transcripts. LSAC requires copies of all transcripts, so checking this first yourself will save you from any nasty surprises when you apply to law school.
Step 2

Next, examine your school’s grading scale. LSAC uses a 4.33 scale to report LSDAS GPA, meaning an A+ equals 4.33, an A is 4.0, an A- is 3.67, B+ is 3.33, and so forth. If your undergraduate college or university also uses this scale, skip to step 5.
Step 3

If your school counts both A+ and A as a 4.0, LSAC would recalculate any A+ grades as 4.33. This is good news for you if you have any A+ grades on your undergraduate transcript, since your LSDAS GPA would increase.
Step 4

Some schools round differently and use .3 for “plus” grades and .7 for “minus” grades. These will also be recalculated. For instance, if you earned an A- that your school counted as 3.7, be prepared to see your GPA for that course drop to 3.67 when LSAC recalibrates it.
Step 5

Have you failed any courses and then retaken them with a passing grade? At some schools, this falls under an “academic forgiveness” policy and the original failing grade is ignored in the university’s own GPA calculations. LSAC will include any failing grades in your LSDAS GPA regardless of whether you retake the class for a better grade, so if this applies to you, it will result in a lower GPA.
Step 6

Did you take any community college or other transfer credits that don’t show up on your transcript? Even if you were a senior in high school, that A+ (or C) in any college course will count towards your GPA if it counts toward your undergrad degree. If this raises your GPA, consider yourself fortunate!
Step 7

With these considerations in mind, try a LSDAS GPA calculator such as the one found at lawpad.com (see links below). Be sure to include failed courses that you retook, as well as community college or summer courses taken for credit.

Comments

asiyah said

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on 11/7/2009 What if your school uses a +/- scale but does not use the A+. This might fall under step 3, but the professor is not even able to enter a grade as A+.

torinado said

on 10/31/2009 I've been unable to figure out how LSAC weights C/NC classes. They say they "count" C/NC classes as long as the institution shows the units as "attempted." I took a ballet class at the university every semester for two years, and took it C/NC thinking it wouldn't affect my GPA, but now it looks like it will. The issue I'm having is that my institution lists the semester units/hours as "attempted," but doesn't list a value for the class, even though I received "Credit" (C). Its value is listed as "0.0." I can't imagine that I should be calculating my grade as 0 if I passed the class (even if I didn't receive a grade). HELP!

dodoc589 said

on 10/27/2009 What if my transcript only shows the letter grades? I can't see the final numeric grade I received for each class.

ket310 said

on 10/18/2009 I have question to another scale calculation

I am a student of Handong University located in S.Korea. The GPA scale we use is A+=4.5, A=4.0, B+=3.5, B=3.0 and so on.

My LSAC GPA goes way up with this method you told us. however, I think the schools would not use such a method looking at my school's scale. Do you know a scale to be used for my system? please let me know!