LSAC Foreign Grade Ratings Forum

[roumitadey]

Hey All,

I am writing to all international law students out there who are studying JD in the USA. I would like to talk about the CAS evaluation report. I have received "Superior" and the US suggested grade is "A". What does that mean? If anyone out there has any idea how law schools in the USA look at them?

[The Lsat Airbender]

Hey All,

I am writing to all international law students out there who are studying JD in the USA. I would like to talk about the CAS evaluation report. I have received "Superior" and the US suggested grade is "A". What does that mean? If anyone out there has any idea how law schools in the USA look at them?

Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open. LSAT will be more important.

[roumitadey]

Hey, Thank you for your reply. However, could you please interpret this "Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open"? Like I want to know, whether law schools in the USA will convert my grades into GPA? If I get 163 in LSAT and with my Superior grade, is it possible to apply to UChicago or Georgetown?

Hey All,

I am writing to all international law students out there who are studying JD in the USA. I would like to talk about the CAS evaluation report. I have received "Superior" and the US suggested grade is "A". What does that mean? If anyone out there has any idea how law schools in the USA look at them?

Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open. LSAT will be more important.

[BEng,MBA,FRM,JD(?)]

Hey, Thank you for your reply. However, could you please interpret this "Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open"? Like I want to know, whether law schools in the USA will convert my grades into GPA? If I get 163 in LSAT and with my Superior grade, is it possible to apply to UChicago or Georgetown?

Hey All,

I am writing to all international law students out there who are studying JD in the USA. I would like to talk about the CAS evaluation report. I have received "Superior" and the US suggested grade is "A". What does that mean? If anyone out there has any idea how law schools in the USA look at them?

Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open. LSAT will be more important.

Schools will likely view this evaluation as a median GPA (because your GPA won't have any impact on their median GPA). You need to work on maximizing your LSAT score as that's almost dispositive for international students. With a 163, you won't get into GULC or UChicago as your score is far below their LSAT median. I am also an international student from your country (based on your name). You can pm me if you need any other guidance or help. I know it's tough for international students.

[roumitadey]

Hey,

I have lots of questions. However, I cannot pm you as I am not a registered user yet in this forum. Could you please connect to me on LinkedIn. Or leave your full name here, so that I can connect to you. It's very important for me to connect to an international law student from India who studied JD in the USA.

Thanks,
Roumita

Hey, Thank you for your reply. However, could you please interpret this "Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open"? Like I want to know, whether law schools in the USA will convert my grades into GPA? If I get 163 in LSAT and with my Superior grade, is it possible to apply to UChicago or Georgetown?

Hey All,

I am writing to all international law students out there who are studying JD in the USA. I would like to talk about the CAS evaluation report. I have received "Superior" and the US suggested grade is "A". What does that mean? If anyone out there has any idea how law schools in the USA look at them?

Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open. LSAT will be more important.

Schools will likely view this evaluation as a median GPA (because your GPA won't have any impact on their median GPA). You need to work on maximizing your LSAT score as that's almost dispositive for international students. With a 163, you won't get into GULC or UChicago as your score is far below their LSAT median. I am also an international student from your country (based on your name). You can pm me if you need any other guidance or help. I know it's tough for international students.

[BEng,MBA,FRM,JD(?)]

Hey,

I have lots of questions. However, I cannot pm you as I am not a registered user yet in this forum. Could you please connect to me on LinkedIn. Or leave your full name here, so that I can connect to you. It's very important for me to connect to an international law student from India who studied JD in the USA.

Thanks,
Roumita

Hey, Thank you for your reply. However, could you please interpret this "Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open"? Like I want to know, whether law schools in the USA will convert my grades into GPA? If I get 163 in LSAT and with my Superior grade, is it possible to apply to UChicago or Georgetown?

Hey All,

I am writing to all international law students out there who are studying JD in the USA. I would like to talk about the CAS evaluation report. I have received "Superior" and the US suggested grade is "A". What does that mean? If anyone out there has any idea how law schools in the USA look at them?

Superior is the best evaluation possible and keeps your options open. LSAT will be more important.

Schools will likely view this evaluation as a median GPA (because your GPA won't have any impact on their median GPA). You need to work on maximizing your LSAT score as that's almost dispositive for international students. With a 163, you won't get into GULC or UChicago as your score is far below their LSAT median. I am also an international student from your country (based on your name). You can pm me if you need any other guidance or help. I know it's tough for international students.

Have sent you a dm

[crazywafflez]

Hey, I'm a quasi international student (I'm an American who graduated from Uni in UK). The CAS evaluation means nothing- I'm just being honest- as long as you don't receive a below average (an average might raise eyebrows though for higher ranked schools). The only thing that matters for you is your LSAT score. Your score is almost the exact same as mine and I also received a Superior. You won't outperform your LSAT. The T20s are out for you with the exception of WashU- even that will be tough. You will be in the sweet spot for BC, BU, Emory (maybe USC?), but you won't get much scholarship money. You'll get good options at lower T1s though. I'm not sure they'll be worth it though for true international students looking to stay in the states or bank on the name (even the T20 is risky for them tbh). Again, your LSAT is going to be like 90% of your admissions criteria. Best of luck.

[The Lsat Airbender]

The CAS evaluation means nothing- I'm just being honest- as long as you don't receive a below average (an average might raise eyebrows though for higher ranked schools).

This isn't quite true—received wisdom is that Average or even Above Average can be a liability at top schools, especially those with tiny international classes like Stanford, Chicago, or UVA. It's very hard to get Yale or Stanford with less than Superior.

Superior doesn't help much, without a median or better LSAT, but it's still a good box to check.

[crazywafflez]

I agree to an extent- and said so - as in a below average will certainly hurt you, and at higher ranked schools an average is plausibly a way to ding you as well. I have a number of friends from golden triangle unis who had 2:1s (above average ratings) who went on to study at T14 schools (Harvard takes many more)- I have one friend (anecdotal evidence and all hah) who had an above average at Science Po who is at S now. I also have a friend who received an average from Oxbridge at H. I haven't seen a differentiation between above average and superior, or know any hard and fast rule on them- these might help at the fringes but, please, original poster- your LSAT score will be worth substantially more than your CAS evaluation- do not bank on superior and a 25% score and getting into a top uni. Airbender, I don't think we disagree really. From what I understand, there's no difference to admins on a Superior vs Above Average unless identical people are coming forward, and I suspect an above average from oxbridge is prized more compared to a superior from south hampton- especially since these CAS evaluations don't count for ranking purposes. I know for US ones they don't care about your school merely your GPA, I think it could be different for international schools, but alas, I don't truthfully know.

[The Lsat Airbender]

Airbender, I don't think we disagree really. From what I understand, there's no difference to admins on a Superior vs Above Average unless identical people are coming forward, and I suspect an above average from oxbridge is prized more compared to a superior from south hampton- especially since these CAS evaluations don't count for ranking purposes. I know for US ones they don't care about your school merely your GPA, I think it could be different for international schools, but alas, I don't truthfully know.

Yeah, I think we accord here. Harvard takes a boatload of internationals with its huge class and need to maintain that 173 median, so they definitely are willing to dip down into the A/AA/S scale if you have the right LSAT. I'm a little surprised about that SLS result but don't mean to suggest it's impossible either for the right applicant. Yale is the one school where the Superior/Above Average delta probably "matters" in a real sense because it's snooty professors reading the apps, not just adcomm. For the same reason they probably prefer Oxbridge and other prestigious international unis to Belarus Petroleum Institute or whatever.

All any of this means for OP is that they need to get their LSAT score as high as is practical.

[t.curie96]

I agree to an extent- and said so - as in a below average will certainly hurt you, and at higher ranked schools an average is plausibly a way to ding you as well. I have a number of friends from golden triangle unis who had 2:1s (above average ratings) who went on to study at T14 schools (Harvard takes many more)- I have one friend (anecdotal evidence and all hah) who had an above average at Science Po who is at S now. I also have a friend who received an average from Oxbridge at H. I haven't seen a differentiation between above average and superior, or know any hard and fast rule on them- these might help at the fringes but, please, original poster- your LSAT score will be worth substantially more than your CAS evaluation- do not bank on superior and a 25% score and getting into a top uni. Airbender, I don't think we disagree really. From what I understand, there's no difference to admins on a Superior vs Above Average unless identical people are coming forward, and I suspect an above average from oxbridge is prized more compared to a superior from south hampton- especially since these CAS evaluations don't count for ranking purposes. I know for US ones they don't care about your school merely your GPA, I think it could be different for international schools, but alas, I don't truthfully know.

Hey Crazywafflez, I'm an international applicant and I come from SciencesPo like your friend who's at SLS now. I was wondering about the evaluation that CAS will make of my transcripts, and as such I'd be really interested to know a bit more on what your friend's transcripts looked like...? Would you have some further info on that or could your friend maybe tell me a bit more ? It would really help me out and relieve some of my stress !

[crazywafflez]

I'll reach out to him. Again though, your LSAT is going to be most of your criteria- I will say though that he is a bit of a unicorn; great/borderline amazing softs and I think he had a 174 or north of that.
Aim for a high lsat- it'll be most of the criteria and apply broadly to the T14. Even if you don't plan to go to Cornell, Duke, or UVA, it'll be good to use them for scholarship money or something. Additionally, S takes such a small class of international students compared to H- I would not rely on S even if you had a perfect LSAT.

[Modena23]

I will second those who said earlier that your grade ratings from LSAC mean nothing. I have a high GPA from one of the top universities in Europe. Admission counselor at my target school told me that because they can not report GPA obtained abroad to ABA, it is irrelevant. All they will look at is LSAT score that has to be at top 25%.

[t.curie96]

I'll reach out to him. Again though, your LSAT is going to be most of your criteria- I will say though that he is a bit of a unicorn; great/borderline amazing softs and I think he had a 174 or north of that.
Aim for a high lsat- it'll be most of the criteria and apply broadly to the T14. Even if you don't plan to go to Cornell, Duke, or UVA, it'll be good to use them for scholarship money or something. Additionally, S takes such a small class of international students compared to H- I would not rely on S even if you had a perfect LSAT.

Hey, thank you very much for your answer. I did gather from the available information that my LSAT would be by far the most important part of my application, especially as an international student without a UGPA, and as such I was really relieved when I scored a 175 in July. I also think I have some good softs (grew up in several countries and speak 3 languages, have extensive work experience in global law firms, experience in a law clinic in France..), but I would love to have more info on what documents your friend sent LSAC for his transcript evaluation since we come from the same school ! And I also think you're right regarding S, I have better hope of getting into H or lower ranked schools in the T6/T10 considering the size of the class at S.

[t.curie96]

I will second those who said earlier that your grade ratings from LSAC mean nothing. I have a high GPA from one of the top universities in Europe. Admission counselor at my target school told me that because they can not report GPA obtained abroad to ABA, it is irrelevant. All they will look at is LSAT score that has to be at top 25%.

Thank you for your input, I'm also under the impression that the grade ratings for international applicants rarely are a deciding factor since they're not reported to the ABA. This might actually work out quite nicely for me since I have an LSAT at or above the 75th percentile LSAT for every school in the top 10 (175). I'm therefore not too concerned with the grade ratings, although I'm sure getting an under-average or average might raise a red flag.