Pass/fail courses are classes graded only as Pass or Fail rather than with a letter grade. A Pass earns credit without grade points, so it usually does not change your GPA, and for law school LSAC generally excludes a plain Pass when it recalculates your GPA. Use pass/fail for low-stakes electives, not core courses.
By Ali Unar, Founder, Lovare Institut; JD/MSFS Candidate, Georgetown University. Last updated August 2026. Every figure on this page was verified in August 2026 against the sources listed below.
Pass/fail courses, sometimes called pass/no-pass, are graded on a two-outcome basis: you either pass and earn credit or you do not. They exist so students can explore a subject or manage a heavy term without risking their GPA on an unfamiliar class. The transcript shows a P or NP rather than a letter grade.
A pass/fail course counts toward your credit total but generally not toward your GPA, because a Pass carries no grade points to average. A Fail or No Pass may count as zero points at some schools and as non-punitive at others, depending on the grading policy. Check your registrar's rules to confirm how a Fail is recorded.
Law schools read your full transcript, so they see every pass/fail notation even though LSAC generally leaves a plain Pass out of the recalculated GPA. A few pass/fail electives are unremarkable, but a pattern of pass/fail grades in courses central to your major or your application can invite questions. Keep the classes that define your candidacy on a letter grade.
Take a course pass/fail when it sits outside your core story and you want to protect your GPA while exploring it, or when a demanding term makes a safe elective worthwhile. Avoid pass/fail in prerequisite, major, or writing-intensive courses that showcase the skills law schools value. Confirm your school's deadline to elect or reverse the pass/fail option.
Usually not. A Pass provides credit without grade points, so it does not raise or lower your GPA, and a No Pass often carries no points either. The course still appears on your transcript, and LSAC uses its own conversion for the law school GPA, generally excluding a plain Pass.
LSAC recalculates your undergraduate GPA through the Credential Assembly Service, converting graded coursework to a standard 4.0 scale and including failed and repeated courses. Because a plain pass/fail grade has no letter equivalent, it is generally excluded, so your LSAC GPA reflects your graded work rather than your pass/fail credits.
There is no universal cutoff. Each ABA-approved school publishes 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile GPAs, and matching a school's median makes you competitive there. Since pass/fail credits do not build your GPA, keep enough graded coursework to present a strong recalculated number alongside your LSAT.
September 20, 2026
September 20, 2026