LSAC retake policy Forum

[Robesone1]

Hi all. I know questions like this have been asked before, but I’m just looking for some final clarity on this. For reference, LSAC official policy states they will not count

the original grade for a repeated course when the transcript does not show both the grade and the units for the original attempt.

My transcript does not show both the grade and units for the original attempt. It only shows the grade. There is no “credits attempted” or similar measurement. Only the retake has both pieces of info.

Will both courses be counted, or just the retake? A screenshot from my transcript is here if that helps: https://pasteboard.co/INlUJir.jpg

[cavalier1138]

I'm almost certain that they will count the original grade (and usually will not count the retake). But call LSAC and ask about your specific situation, preferably with more clarity.

[Robesone1]

I don’t believe that’s a possibility here, unless I’m misunderstanding you. The retaken course will always be counted, the question is whether the original will also be counted.

[The Lsat Airbender]

I think it's quite possible that both grades will count here. Zero is still a number, and LSAC is neurotic about including everything on a transcript. If you get lucky, it'll be because they use a weighting multiplier of zero rather than because the grade is excluded entirely.

I'm also not sure why cav thinks the second attempt wouldn't count, but the "get an actual answer from LSAC" advice is still the way to go here. Genuine gray area.

[cavalier1138]

I'm also not sure why cav thinks the second attempt wouldn't count

My understanding has generally been that LSAC wants to prevent exactly what the OP is trying to do. They don't want people to get a GPA boost from retaking the exact same course (presumably allowing them to do better the second time around). But I may also be remembering instances where the school's transcript assigned credits to the first iteration and just included a grade for the second time.

[mysonx3]

I'm also not sure why cav thinks the second attempt wouldn't count

My understanding has generally been that LSAC wants to prevent exactly what the OP is trying to do. They don't want people to get a GPA boost from retaking the exact same course (presumably allowing them to do better the second time around).

That would make sense for them to prevent this, but their website seems clear to me that they will count both if they can:

"All grades and credits earned for repeated courses will be included in the GPA calculation if the course units and grades appear on the transcript. A line drawn through course information or a grade does not eliminate the course from GPA calculation if the course units appear on the transcript."

So, while I am just a 0L who hasn't even sent in transcripts yet (so take this with a massive grain of salt), I don't see them not including the retake as a potential scenario.

No idea how to answer the original question, though. Seems to me that the two scenarios are:

1. They count it using the number of credits from the retake version (so 4 credits of C+ along with 4 credits of B)
2. They count it using the number of attempted credits on the transcript (so 0 credits of C+ along with 4 credits of B).

No clue which they'll do. Sorry OP.

[The Lsat Airbender]

I'm also not sure why cav thinks the second attempt wouldn't count

My understanding has generally been that LSAC wants to prevent exactly what the OP is trying to do. They don't want people to get a GPA boost from retaking the exact same course (presumably allowing them to do better the second time around). But I may also be remembering instances where the school's transcript assigned credits to the first iteration and just included a grade for the second time.

The policy means you can't overwrite old grades -- e.g. getting a D and then retaking for an A. Many universities' internal grading policies would only count the A for GPA calculation and other things of that nature (perhaps subject to other factors). LSAC makes clear that they don't do that -- they count everything on the transcript -- presumably to try and be as consistent as possible. But they definitely count the latter grade as a result of the same ethos.

[Robesone1]

Thanks all for your responses. I’m going to call them on Monday morning. My understanding is that typically, in situations like these, LSAC counts both and dismisses universities’ retake policies. However, my university is a bit strange in that it doesn’t count towards graduation (or even list) the number of credits for the original course — and LSAC’s website makes it look as though that means only the retake will be counted in my specific scenario.

Anyway, I guess the only thing that could be helpful beyond guesses at this point would be if something had a similar issue in the past.

[Robesone1]

Just for future reference, I called them and got a straight answer. Unless the number of credits for the first course attempt is included on the transcript (for that specific attempt), it will not be counted in the UGPA calculation.