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A pass/fail grade generally has no effect on your GPA, because a Pass carries no grade points to average. It still appears on your transcript, and for law school LSAC recalculates your GPA under its own rules, usually excluding a plain Pass while sometimes counting a failing mark. see the linked source (see the linked source).
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Figures on this page were verified in August 2026 or point readers to the current source.
Pass/fail affects your GPA mainly by leaving it unchanged. A Pass grants credit without grade points, so it does not enter the grade-point average, and a Fail may or may not add points depending on your school's policy. The practical effect is that pass/fail courses move your credit total without moving your GPA.
Most colleges record a Pass as credit-only, with no grade points, so it is neutral to the GPA calculation. A Fail is handled two ways depending on the institution: some treat it as zero grade points like an F, while others record it as non-punitive with no effect. Your registrar's grading policy defines which rule applies to you.
LSAC recalculates your undergraduate GPA for law school through the Credential Assembly Service and applies its own conversion. The table summarizes the general pattern, though you should confirm the current rule directly.
The current ranking is best read directly from the source. See the U.S. News Best Law Schools list for the up-to-date order, and each school's ABA Standard 509 report for its median LSAT, GPA, and acceptance rate.
Pre-law students should use pass/fail sparingly and strategically, reserving it for electives outside their main academic story. Because a plain Pass is generally left out of the LSAC GPA, it neither helps nor hurts that number, but a transcript heavy with pass/fail core courses can still prompt questions. Keep graded work in the subjects that define your candidacy.
In most cases no. A Pass earns credit but no grade points, so it does not raise or lower your GPA, while a Fail may count as zero points at some schools. The grade remains on your transcript, and LSAC applies separate rules when it recalculates your GPA for law school.
LSAC produces one cumulative GPA through the Credential Assembly Service, converting all graded coursework to a standard 4.0 scale and counting failed and repeated courses. A plain pass/fail grade without a letter equivalent is generally excluded from the calculation, so the LSAC figure can differ from your college GPA.
There is no fixed minimum, only each school's published medians. Being at or above a target school's median GPA makes you competitive there, and a higher LSAT can offset a lower GPA. Check the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile GPAs in each school's ABA 509 report to set your targets.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026