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Hi Fusac,

I was in the same position, studied abroad for a year in Mexico and the credits didn´t transfer back directly. The answer is no, those courses won´t factor into your LSDAS GPA, I sent my transcripts in just to be sure and they weren´t included on LSAC´s academic report. However, I would still send your transcripts because they´re forwarded to law schools even though they´re not on the academic summary report.

If you were there for more than a year, then I´m not so sure. I think in that case your gpa is included in the academic summary report but doesn´t get factored into the LSDAS GPA, mostly because foreign institutions don´t use the same grading scale.

Hope this helped!

fusac8 wrote:I know this question has come up a few times, but after reading through older posts and even calling LSAC, I've had no success in getting an answer.

I'm studying abroad with IES and my school does not accept the credits directly, so I have to get the credits through the University of Rochester as the school of record. That transcript will contain grades from classes taken at IES + at the local European university. Will these grades count towards my LSDAS GPA?

I'm hoping to get a response from someone who has studied abroad with IES and used a school of record.

It depends on Rochester's policy. This happened to me: my school didn't have a program where I want to go so I went through another school. While many schools do not transfer European grades (since the scale is VASTLY different from our own) to actual letter grades, that school through which I participated in the program actually did. Since you will have to send THAT transcript, you want to be sure as to whether Rochester simply gives you the credit hours from the courses you took OR (like in my case) they actually compute a GPA from your European grades. If it is the latter, like it was for me, then yes, the grades you get while abroad will factor into your LSDAD GPA (and trust me- IT SUCKED!).

edit: just reread this response Michaela. I misread it the first time and its actually really helpful. thanks!

fusac8 wrote:Ah this is so tricky. So far what I've gathered is this:
Although URochester WILL produce American grade equivalents for my European grades, it is still possible for them not to be counted toward my LSDAS GPA, because they will appear as credits received from IES and LSDAS simply does not factor in grades earned through IES.

That's why I'm really hoping to hear from someone who got a school of record through IES (or a very similar American program).

I don't think that's true. If you have grades from URochester, you have to send that transcript, and it WILL be counted in your LSDAS GPA.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think LSAC looks at where the grades are coming from- they simply calculate them.

that makes sense.

I can't speak for your program, but with mine and some others I know at different schools their study abroad GPA is included in their LSDAS GPA. I guess you just need to know it is a possibility and hopefully do well in your classes abroad! I wish I had known that going in... I just figured I would only be getting the grade- not the credit! It only brought me down a point but I still wish I had realized that ahead of time.