Does GPA matter? Short answer: YES!
Assume that law schools weigh GPA and LSAT with equal importance. If you have a lower GPA but a higher than average LSAT score, your LSAT score may help compensate for the lower GPA. Conversely, if you have a very high GPA, this might help compensate for a lower LSAT score. NO GUARANTEES OF COURSE! If you still have time to improve your GPA before applying- GO FOR IT! If you do not have time to increase your GPA, target schools that accept GPA’s in your range.
Note: Focus is for admissions committees is on undergraduate GPA, law schools don’t pay as much attention to graduate level GPA.
LSAC Transcript Summarization
The LSAC transcript summary provides law school admissions committees with a clear and concise overview of an applicant’s academic history, making it easier to evaluate their academic performance and potential. This service can also help level the playing field for applicants who come from schools with different grading systems or who have taken courses outside of the traditional undergraduate curriculum.
LSAC transcript summarization is not a replacement for official transcripts, but rather a supplement that can help law schools quickly and easily assess an applicant’s academic qualifications. Applicants are still required to submit their official transcripts as part of the law school application process.
NOTE: If you transferred undergraduate institutions, ALL TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED (including community college). Through your CAS account (Credential Assembly Service- think Common App but for law school!), LSAC will submit all transcripts to the law schools you apply to. They will also combine all the UNDERGRADUATE classes you took from all the institutions to make up your LSAC GPA.
Any graduate coursework you took will NOT be considered in the LSAC GPA but will be shared with the law schools.
Sending Grades & Transcripts through LSAC CAS/Credential Assembly Service
Most law schools require applicants to send transcript(s) through CAS. All transcripts are sent directly from your school(s) to CAS electronically and become visible to all the law schools you apply to.
For more information please visit the CAS page regarding transcripts.
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If you have a myUSC account: You can link to the USC Transcript Ordering Site at Parchment via OASIS. (First-time OASIS visitors will be asked to provide minimal contact information.)
- Under the “Record Order Services” header, click “Send An Electronic Transcript”.
- Follow the instructions on the USC Transcript Ordering Site at Parchment.
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If you do not have an OASIS account: You will need to visit the USC Transcript Ordering Site at Parchment directly:
- Click “Send an Electronic Transcript“ and follow the instructions. You will be guided through the steps for placing your order.
- If you are a first-time visitor, you will be asked to create a personal profile, user ID and password, which you can use to place future orders. You can order as many transcripts as you like in a single session.
- The fee for each transcript is $12 per PDF transcript. MasterCard and VISA are accepted. Credit cards are charged when transcript orders are fulfilled by USC.
- The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires the owners of academic records to give their consent before their information may be released. After you place your order, you will be asked to print, sign and fax an Authorization to Release Educational Records form to (303) 962-6408.
- Click “Send an Electronic Transcript“ and follow the instructions. You will be guided through the steps for placing your order.
Uploading Transcripts
- You must create an LSAC.org account to add institutions and confirm attendance. You do not have to pay the CAS fee to do so. You only pay the CAS fee once you are ready to submit an application to the law school.
- Once you have you have your account set up, click “Credentials & CAS”.
- Add the schools you have attended. Once you are done with listing the schools, confirm this information. Two (2) emails will be sent in the confirmation process.
- TO REQUEST A TRANSCRIPT, go to Credentials & CAS tab and select Transcript Status/Add institutions .
- You will see your school information and options to (1) request transcript via online or (2) use the Transcript Request Form to print and send to the registrar’s office. The photo below shows you what it will look like.
- If you request the transcript online, you will be directed to Parchment.
Grades & Transcripts and GPA Conversion FAQs
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If a student receives an F/UW/IX in their first year, they are permitted to take the class again under the Freshman Forgiveness policy as a way to re-attempt the course a second time to receive a better grade. In relation to the LSAC converted GPA, the first class attempt will remain in the LSAC transcript but it will be assigned a 0.0 for the grade. The second time the student takes the class and (hopefully) passes it, the LSAC transcript will show the passing grade. LSAC will incorporate the full value of both letter grades when calculating the LSAC cumulative GPA which means the grades get averaged.
For example, if the student receives an F on the first take, and then an A on the second take, an average between the two grades will be made, resulting in a C. Both attempts are documented within the LSAC GPA.
For reference, USC’s policy for GPA calculations in relation to Freshman Forgiveness is to incorporate only the passing grade into the cumulative USC GPA calculations. The first attempt and grade remain on the transcript but are not incorporated into the cumulative GPA- only the second attempt is documented.
Note: Students cannot do P/NP for Freshman Forgiveness.
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If a student receives a UW, this converts to a 0 (a.k.a. an F) and will be incorporated into the LSAC GPA as part of the cumulative GPA calculations. This is the same for calculating a student’s cumulative USC GPA.
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If the class is completely deleted from a student’s USC transcript by way of a “delete petition” process, there is no official documentation for the public that shows the class was taken. As a result, LSAC would not be able to see that class attempt and/or grade. It is in essence considered invisible and will not be included in the LSAC GPA.
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If a student receives an IX, this converts to a 0 (a.k.a. an F) and will be incorporated into the LSAC GPA as part of the cumulative GPA calculations. This is the same for calculating a student’s cumulative USC GPA.
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If a student decides to withdraw from a class and receives a “W” on their transcript, the “W” is omitted from the LSAC GPA.
Note: Dropping classes should be an anomaly, as law schools do not look at “W’ favorably if they see more than 2-3 in your USC transcript.
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All “P” and “C” grades received are omitted in the LSAC transcript during the conversion process. All “NP” and “NC” grades are converted into 0’s (a.k.a. F’s) in the LSAC transcript and factored into the cumulative GPA calculations.
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You are required to submit transcripts from each institution that you have attended including:
- Community colleges
- Undergraduate and graduate institutions
- Law, medical, or professional institutions
- Institutions attended for summer or evening courses
- Institutions attended even though a degree was never received
- Institutions from which you took college-level courses while in high school even though they were for high school credit
- Institutions that clearly sponsored your overseas study (see below for more information)
- International transcripts, if applicable
You are still required to submit a separate transcript even if the credits from one institution were transferred and it appears on another institution’s transcript. For instance, if your USC transcript includes transfer credit from another university, you are required to submit both your transcript from USC and from the university you transferred from. A transcript is also required even if the institution attended is now closed, is unaccredited, or if it only lists “withdrawn” or “incomplete” grades. LSAC also requires students to send transcripts from an institution even if you have just enrolled, you must send a transcript of courses “in progress” or a statement of current enrollment bearing the official registrar’s seal.
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USC GPA LSAC GPA A = 4.0 4.00 A- = 3.7 3.67 B+ = 3.3 3.33 B = 3.0 3.00 B- = 2.7 2.67 C+ = 2.3 2.33 C = 2.0 2.00 D+ = 1.3 1.33 D = 1.0 2.00 D- = 0.7 0.67 F = 0.0 0.00 UW = 0.0 0.00 IX = 0.0 0.00 NP = excluded 0.00 NC = excluded 0.00 CR = excluded excluded P = excluded excluded W = excluded excluded The following grades are omitted from the LSAC transcript and are excluded from the LSAC GPA: W, V, N, NR, MG, IN, WV, IP
Study Abroad
Below are guidelines regarding how study abroad transcripts are handled by LSAC. If you have detailed questions, please do not hesitate to contact the USC Office of Overseas Studies office for clarification.
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If you did a cooperative or student exchange at another school, the coursework and grades you completed at the other institution are listed on your USC transcript, AND are part of your USC cumulative GPA you do not need to request and send a separate transcript.
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>>Study Abroad (non-Spring Admit)
If you completed a study abroad experience during your time at USC and the study abroad experience was sponsored by USC (meaning the experience is listed in your transcript) you do NOT need to send the transcript from your study abroad university to LSAC separately.
If you took classes abroad that are included in the official USC Academic Catalog, those classes will appear on your transcript as letter grades. Any classes you take from the host school (meaning, NOT USC) will appear on your transcript as Credit/No Credit.
>>Spring Admit?
Law schools want transcripts for ALL undergraduate coursework taken.
Some Spring admit students decide to take advantage of USC-affiliated programs before they officially start at USC campuses (or online) in the Fall including programs including
- American University of Paris
- Franklin University Switzerland
- Richmond, The American International University in London
- John Cabot University, Rome
- Anglo-American University, Prague
If you are a Spring admit and took classes in the fall through the programs mentioned above through the USC Spring Admit programs, those courses need to be sent over to law schools as a separate transcript because technically you were NOT an official USC student until the Spring. If you do not provide these transcripts the law schools will look at your application file as incomplete.
In other words, as a Spring admit student studying abroad the Fall semester before you start at USC, USC views you as a transfer student who just happened to have units to transfer from another institution. You aren’t officially a USC student until you start taking classes on the USC campus.
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All the classes you received an A, B, or C for will appear as a Credit and will NOT be assigned a letter grade which means it will NOT affect your adjusted LSAC GPA. If there were classes you did NOT get credit for because you received a D or F grade, the LSAC summarized transcript (ak.a. LSAC GPA) will turn that NC/no credit into an F (0.0)
If you failed classes, we suggest writing an addenda briefly explaining the situation and the challenges you were working through.
Learn more about study abroad transcripts here.
If you are a Spring Admit to USC, please see the question above this one for details.
For students doing study abroad after starting at USC, for study abroad programs you will receive grades from your overseas institution. Courses taken abroad (excluding the Paris Semester and the USC Semester in Madrid programs) will appear on your USC transcript only as Credit/No Credit, which will not affect your USC GPA.
You must earn a letter grade of C or higher to receive Credit. All “C/Credit” grades received are omitted in the LSAC transcript during the conversion process. All “NC” grades are converted into 0.0 (a.k.a. F’s). in the LSAC transcript and factored into the cumulative GPA calculations. The only Study Abroad programs students receive letter grades on the USC transcript are the USC Paris Semester program and the USC Semester in Madrid program. Thus, those grades will appear and will be factored into the LSAC GPA calculations. Learn more about USC Study Abroad Grade Conversions here (scroll toward middle of page).
Academic Support Resources
Academic support can be game-changing for students who are struggling in their studies when they are unable to meet the academic expectations of their coursework.
Academic support at USC takes many forms, including group tutorials through Supplemental Instruction, study skills workshops and academic coaching through USC Kortshak Center for Learning and Creativity, writing support through the USC Writing Center, and support for Math classes through the USC Math Center.
Please take advantage- these resources are anyone on campus who needs them!