LSAC CAS GPA Calculator: How to Calculate Your Law School GPA

When you apply to law school through LSAC, your GPA gets recalculated. LSAC uses a 4.33 grade scale and includes every undergraduate course you took before your first bachelor’s degree — including retakes, transfer credits, and community college courses — regardless of how your own school treats those grades. The result is your CAS GPA, which is what every law school sees and what gets reported for admissions medians.

LSAC CAS GPA Calculator

Use the calculator below to estimate your CAS GPA.

What Is the LSAC CAS GPA?

CAS stands for Credential Assembly Service — LSAC’s application processing service that law schools use to evaluate applicants. When you submit your transcripts through CAS, LSAC doesn’t just forward them. It recalculates your GPA using its own standardized methodology, and that number becomes your official GPA for law school admissions.

Here’s why it matters: every law school uses your CAS GPA, not your transcript GPA. It’s what gets reported to the ABA for median GPA rankings, and it’s what appears in your admissions file. Law schools have no choice but to use it — it’s built into the CAS process.

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 — because LSAC counts grades their school forgave, includes community college courses, and doesn’t honor grade replacement. For a few students, especially those at schools that award A+ grades, CAS GPA can actually be higher than 4.0.

LSAC Grade Conversion Chart

LSAC converts all letter grades to a numeric scale. Here’s the full conversion table, including intermediate grades that some schools use:

Note on quarter systems: If your school operates on a quarter system, your credits need to convert to semester hours. Multiply quarter credits by 0.67 to get the semester equivalent. For example, a 4-quarter-credit course converts to 2.67 semester credits.

Note on school-specific grading: If your school uses a numeric scale (1–100, 1–5, etc.) or an unusual system, LSAC uses its Interpretive Guide to Undergraduate Grading Systems (IGUGS) to convert to the 4.33 scale. Conversions are school-specific, not generic.

Pro tip: Check whether your school officially awards A+ grades. If it does, those grades can push your CAS GPA above 4.0 — a meaningful advantage since most schools cap at 4.0. Your transcript key (usually on the last page) will show the grade scale your institution uses.

How Does LSAC Calculate Your GPA?

The formula is straightforward:

CAS GPA = (Sum of grade points × credit hours) ÷ total graded credit hours

For each course, multiply the LSAC grade point value by the number of credit hours. Add all those products together. Divide by the total number of graded credit hours. That’s your CAS GPA.

The complexity isn’t in the math — it’s in knowing which courses count and which don’t.

What’s Included in Your CAS GPA

• All undergraduate courses completed before your first bachelor’s degree — every class, from every institution you attended
• Both attempts of repeated courses — if you retook a course, LSAC includes both the original grade and the new grade, with both sets of credit hours
• Community college and dual enrollment courses — even if the credits didn’t transfer to your degree-granting institution
• Transfer credits that appear on your undergraduate transcript
• Study abroad grades that appear on your domestic transcript
• AP and CLEP credits — only if credit hours and a grade appear on your undergraduate transcript
• Physical education, ROTC, and other practical courses — if they carry credit hours
• Punitive withdrawals (WF, WU, WNP) — these count as 0.00 unless your institution classifies them as non-punitive

What’s Excluded from Your CAS GPA

• Coursework completed after your first bachelor’s degree — post-baccalaureate courses, master’s degrees, professional degrees, second undergraduate degrees: none of it counts
• Pass/Fail passing grades — “P,” “CR,” “S,” and similar passing marks are excluded. However, the credit hours are recorded as “unconverted credits” and appear separately in your CAS report. (Failing grades on P/F courses — “F,” “NC,” “U” — do count as 0.00.)
• Non-punitive withdrawals (W, WP) — excluded if your institution classifies them as non-punitive
• Incomplete grades — excluded if non-punitive per your institution’s policy
• Remedial courses — excluded if clearly marked as such on the transcript
• Non-credit courses
• International coursework — courses taken at non-U.S. or non-Canadian institutions are excluded unless they appear on your domestic transcript as study abroad credits
• Institutionally forgiven grades — only if the original grade no longer appears on the transcript. If the grade is still listed (even with a forgiveness notation), LSAC counts it.

The 60-Credit Minimum

If you have fewer than 60 graded semester credits, LSAC won’t calculate a numeric CAS GPA. Instead, your CAS report will include a qualitative description of your academic record. This affects students who transferred after two years, took heavy pass/fail course loads, or attended international institutions for part of their education. If you’re close to 60 credits, check your count carefully before applying.

Why Is Your CAS GPA Different from Your Transcript GPA?

This is the question most students come here to answer — especially after getting back a CAS GPA that’s lower than expected. Here are three realistic scenarios showing exactly how divergence happens.

Scenario 1: The A+ Advantage

Transcript GPA: 3.87 | CAS GPA: 3.94

Jamie attends a university that awards A+ grades and caps the GPA at 4.0. Jamie earned A+ in four courses over four years (4 credits each, 4 courses = 16 credits). On the transcript, those A+ grades count as 4.0 — the same as a regular A. In LSAC’s calculation, they count as 4.33.

Those 16 credits contribute 5.28 extra grade points in CAS compared to the transcript. On a transcript with 120 total graded credits, that’s a CAS GPA roughly 0.04–0.07 higher than the transcript GPA.

Takeaway: If your school gives A+ grades, your CAS GPA could be above 4.0.

Scenario 2: The Retake Problem

Transcript GPA: 3.45 | CAS GPA: 3.19

Alex failed Organic Chemistry freshman year (F, 4 credits) and retook it the following year (A-, 4 credits). Alex’s university uses grade replacement — only the A- appears in the transcript GPA. Alex assumed the same would apply to LSAC.

It doesn’t. LSAC includes both attempts.

The first attempt adds 4 zero-value credit hours to the denominator while contributing nothing to the numerator. That drags the GPA down. Across 120 graded credits, those 4 failed credits alone cost roughly 0.13 GPA points. If Alex also retook a couple of B- courses, the gap widens further.

Takeaway: Every retake leaves a mark in CAS. Academic forgiveness, grade replacement, and repeat policies at your institution have zero effect on your LSAC GPA.

Scenario 3: Transfer + Pass/Fail

Transcript GPA: 3.52 | CAS GPA: 3.31

Morgan attended community college for two years before transferring to a four-year university. The CC grades (a mix of A’s and C’s, 60 credits) were not counted toward the four-year university’s GPA. Morgan also took 20 credits of pass/fail coursework in subjects where they were confident they’d do well.

In LSAC’s calculation:

• The CC credits are included — all 60 of them, with whatever grades Morgan earned
• The P/F credits are excluded — reducing the graded credit pool

The result: LSAC calculates GPA over 100 graded credits (60 CC + 60 four-year = 120 total, minus 20 P/F excluded = 100 graded). The C grades from CC, diluted across a smaller credit pool than Morgan expected, pull the CAS GPA down noticeably.

Takeaway: Every institution you attended matters. Grades from community college, dual enrollment, or transferring institutions all feed into your CAS GPA — even if they never appeared in your four-year school’s GPA calculation.

Common Divergence Scenarios at a Glance

What to Do If Your CAS GPA Is Lower Than Expected

Finding out your CAS GPA is lower than your transcript GPA is frustrating. If you’re in that situation right now, you’re not alone — it’s one of the most common surprises in law school admissions, and it doesn’t have to derail your application.

Here’s what you can actually do about it.

Write a GPA Addendum

A GPA addendum is a brief (usually one paragraph) explanation of circumstances that impacted your GPA — either the calculation difference or underlying academic performance. Law schools expect and accept these.

Good reasons to write one:

• Your CAS GPA is significantly lower than your transcript GPA due to retakes or transfer credits (explain the mechanics briefly)
• An early, difficult semester dragged your GPA down, but your grades have been consistently strong since
• An external circumstance (illness, family situation, financial hardship) affected a particular period

What to avoid: excuses that don’t explain anything, over-explaining minor dips, or anything that sounds defensive. Keep it factual and forward-looking.

Focus on Your LSAT Score

Your GPA is fixed at this point. Your LSAT score is not. Law schools weigh both heavily — and a strong LSAT can offset a below-median GPA at many schools.

This is called the splitter strategy: applying with a GPA below a school’s median but an LSAT above it. It works because LSAC’s 509 data shows admitted students across a range of GPA/LSAT combinations, and many schools deliberately admit strong splitters to raise their median LSAT scores.

For more on the LSAT and what scores correspond to which schools, see:

• LSAT Scores for the Top 100 Law Schools — median LSAT and GPA data by school
• How LSAT Scoring Works — score scale, percentiles, and what a good score looks like
• LSAT Percentiles — where your score ranks nationally

If your CAS GPA is lower than you’d like, the most actionable step is to maximize your LSAT score. Magoosh LSAT prep includes official LSAC-licensed practice questions and video explanations from top-scoring tutors.

Pro tip: Not sure where your LSAT score stands? Take a free LSAT practice test to get a baseline before you start studying. It takes about 35 minutes and gives you a realistic picture of where you are and how much room you have to improve.

Choose Schools Strategically

Every law school reports 25th and 75th percentile GPA data to the ABA. If your CAS GPA falls between a school’s 25th and 75th percentile, you’re in a competitive range. If it’s below the 25th percentile, you’re applying as a statistical outlier — not impossible, but you’ll need other strengths to compensate.

Use the LSAT Scores for Top 100 Law Schools data to identify schools where your GPA and LSAT combination is competitive. Building a list with realistic reach, match, and safety schools matters more when your GPA is below median.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does LSAC count retaken courses?

Yes — LSAC counts both attempts. If you received a D in a course freshman year and retook it for an A senior year, both the D and the A appear in your CAS GPA calculation, with full credit hours for each attempt. Your school’s grade replacement or academic forgiveness policy has no effect on how LSAC calculates your GPA.

Do law schools use LSAC GPA or transcript GPA?

Law schools use your LSAC CAS GPA, not your transcript GPA. It’s the standard number used across all applications processed through CAS, and it’s the figure schools report to the ABA for median GPA rankings. Admissions offices cannot access or use a different GPA.

Does pass/fail affect my LSAC GPA?

Passing grades (P, CR, S) are excluded from the GPA calculation — those credits appear separately as “unconverted credits” in your CAS report but don’t affect your GPA numerically. Failing grades on pass/fail courses (F, NC, U) do count as 0.00 and are included in the calculation. Note that heavy use of P/F courses reduces your total graded credit pool, which can affect how much individual grades move your GPA.

Do withdrawals affect my LSAC GPA?

It depends on how your institution classifies the withdrawal. Non-punitive withdrawals (W, WP) are excluded and don’t affect your GPA. Punitive withdrawals (WF, WU, WNP) — those that indicate you withdrew while failing — count as 0.00 and are included in the calculation. Check your transcript carefully: a simple “W” is typically non-punitive, but any withdrawal notation that includes “F” almost certainly is punitive.

If you’re unsure how your school classifies a particular withdrawal, ask your registrar. They can help you interpret your transcript so you have an accurate GPA estimate before applying.

Does graduate school count toward my LSAC GPA?

No. LSAC only includes coursework completed before your first bachelor’s degree was conferred. Graduate coursework, professional school coursework, post-baccalaureate courses, and second bachelor’s degree coursework are all excluded — regardless of how strong your grades were.

What about community college classes?

Yes, they count. LSAC includes coursework from all undergraduate institutions you attended before your bachelor’s degree, not just your degree-granting institution. That means community college courses, dual enrollment courses taken in high school, and any institution you transferred from are all included — even if those credits never transferred to your main school or weren’t counted in that school’s GPA calculation.

Can my CAS GPA be higher than my transcript GPA?

Yes — if your school awards A+ grades. LSAC converts A+ to 4.33, while most schools either don’t award A+ or cap the GPA scale at 4.0. If you earned multiple A+ grades at a school that doesn’t reward them numerically, your CAS GPA can exceed 4.0 and be higher than your transcript GPA.

What is a good CAS GPA for law school?

It depends on your target schools. Based on 2025 ABA 509 data, the median GPA at T14 schools ranges from roughly 3.88 to 3.96. Across all ABA-accredited schools, the median CAS GPA is around 3.65. For competitive regional schools, 3.4–3.6 is often in range.

The most useful thing to do is compare your GPA to the 25th–75th percentile range at specific schools you’re considering. See LSAT Scores for the Top 100 Law Schools for school-by-school data. If your GPA is below median at your target schools, focus on maximizing your LSAT percentile — that’s where you have the most room to improve your application.

How do quarter credits convert to semester credits?

Multiply quarter credits by 0.67 to get the semester equivalent. For example, a 4-quarter-credit course = 2.67 semester credits. LSAC applies this conversion automatically when it processes transcripts from quarter-system schools (common in the UC system and other universities). You don’t need to do this manually when submitting — but it’s helpful to know when estimating your CAS GPA.

What if I have fewer than 60 graded semester credits?

If you have fewer than 60 graded semester credits, LSAC will not generate a numeric CAS GPA. Instead, your CAS report will include a qualitative description of your academic record. This can happen if you transferred after two years with heavily pass/fail coursework, or if you have significant excluded international credits. If you’re in this situation, contact LSAC directly to understand what your report will show before submitting applications.

Updated March 2026. GPA conversion values and calculation methodology sourced from LSAC’s Transcript Summarization documentation and LawHub’s GPA Calculation guide.