How LSAC's GPA Calculation Differs From Your School's

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In doing my research for applying to law school I've encountered different versions on how LSAC calculates my GPA. Is it possible my GPA when applying to law school is actually higher than my transcript GPA? And how are Pass-fail classes counted towards that? -- GPAnxious

[Read: What Is a Good GPA in J.D. Admissions?]

Dear GPAnxious,

Rest assured you're not the only applicant to be confused by LSAC policies on GPA. There are a lot of intricacies and conflicting accounts out there, and many are just a result of conjecture or speculation. For example, one of the most common question I'm asked is whether an A+ is converted to a 4.33 or a 4.0. While the answer is 4.33, many make the assumption that the latter is true.

One reason for the assumption is fairness -- some schools don't have +/- grades, putting their students at a possible disadvantage; another is simply that even colleges that do hand out A+ grades count them as a 4.0 on their own transcripts. While the reasoning is valid, LSAC policies don't have to be grounded in fairness or tradition, so if unsure, you're best off contacting LSAC directly and asking them.

Pass-fail courses are generally excluded from calculation, but there's an unfortunate caveat to that policy. While a passing grade won't do anything to impact your LSAC GPA, a failing grade will count as a 0. Be warned, however, that while it may be a good idea to take a difficult class on a pass-fail basis, law schools will be highly suspicious of an applicant with more than a couple of such classes on their transcript.

In their mind, that student just took every remotely challenging class as pass-fail, making their GPA suspect at best and raising a red flag over their application. Failed classes will also be included in your LSAC GPA, even if your college allows you to retake that class and subsequently strike the "F" from your GPA calculation.

[Read: A Low GPA Might Not Derail Your GPA.]

As a rule of thumb, every class that appears on your transcript -- even if it looks to be crossed out or has been improved on in accordance with your college's policies -- will factor into LSAC's calculation. That includes AP classes, classes you took in other institutions, theses, study abroad and even physical education and music classes.

Things get even murkier with international applicants. While your instincts might tell you that the conversion is simple -- taking whatever scale your country's schools use, then converting the percentage to the traditional US model (where 90-92 is an A-, 93-97 is an A and so on), it's not quite that simple.

In the past, LSAC explicitly stated that it cooperates with an outside service - American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers -- to evaluate international transcripts before submitting them to schools. Today, this policy is only officially applied to LLM applicants.

Nevertheless, you can get a better idea of how law schools will look at your grades by doing some research, starting with the World Education Services. You'll find that scores that would put you in the C-range in the U.S. are actually translated as A grades. For example, a score from an Israeli university -- where GPAs of 90% and over are incredibly hard to obtain -- even 75% is the equivalent of an A.

[Read: Law School Q&A: Can You Trust Online Data Sources?]

However, you shouldn't just assume that law schools will do all the work for you. If you feel like your grades should be viewed through a different lens, include an addendum with your application imploring admission committees to do so, while including the appropriate guidelines from the sources you came across.

With this knowledge in hand, a final warning: Do not try to hide grades from LSAC. Even if you've transferred or attempted a class multiple times, and are unsure of the implications of those grades -- you should report them. The last thing you want is law schools coming across those grades and thinking you omitted them intentionally.

Good luck!