JD Help

ABA-approved law schools and many other law schools require the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) for JD applicants. If you are a JD applicant educated outside the US, its territories, or Canada, and you are not applying to any school that requires the authentication and evaluation feature of the Credential Assembly Service (CAS), you are not required to register for it. However, you may choose to register for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) if you wish to use the electronic application or the letter of recommendation and evaluation services.

You do not need to sign up for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) at the same time you register for the LSAT; however, you should sign up at least four to six weeks before your first law school application deadline. It takes approximately two weeks to process a transcript from the time it is received.

No, application fees are not included in these fees. Check each law school's application instructions for information about their fees.

If you have registered for an LSAT or the Credential Assembly Service (CAS), any changes to name, date of birth, and/or Social Security/Social Insurance number must be submitted to LSAC in writing and require a signature. Fill out the LSAC Biographical Information Changes form (PDF), then e-mail the form to LSACbio@LSAC.org, or fax your correction(s) to 215.968.1119, or mail them to:

Law School Admission Council
662 Penn Street
PO BOX 2000-C
Newtown PA 18940-0994

All other biographical information can be changed online.

Choose the Transcripts link under the My Home tab in your LSAC.org account. Then click on the applicable Add Institution button to add the school. If you receive the message "You cannot add institutions to your file at this time" please send your request to LSACinfo@LSAC.org. Include the name of the school, dates attended, level (graduate/undergraduate), degree expected or awarded if applicable, and your name and LSAC account number.

If a summary of your bachelor's-level record has not yet begun, no letters of recommendation or evaluations have been received, and no electronic applications have been sent to LSAC for processing, LSAC will refund $49 of your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) fee. Your request must be in writing and be received before your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) registration expires. Simply send the completed refund request form (PDF) available on this website or send a signed, dated letter requesting a refund.

NOTE: Refunds for law school reports ordered but not used will not be given once any summarization has occurred.

It is your responsibility to have official copies of your transcripts sent to LSAC directly from the registrar for every institution you have attended. If you register online, your Transcript Request Forms are accessible only after you sign up for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and enter your institution information.

US, US territories, and Canadian transcripts should be mailed to:

Law School Admission Council
662 Penn Street
PO BOX 2000-M
Newtown PA 18940-0993

International transcripts should be mailed to:

Law School Admission Council
662 Penn Street
PO BOX 8502
Newtown PA 18940-8502
USA

Safari—The default application in OS X to view PDFs is Preview. Some LSAC PDF documents do not display correctly in Preview and must be viewed using Adobe Reader. Opening the PDF document in Preview will also place a copy of the file on your desktop as Example.pdf. Open Adobe Reader, click File, then Open. Browse to your desktop and select the downloaded copy of the PDF. This should open the PDF document properly and allow you to view and print it.

Firefox—Version 15 and later display PDF documents using Firefox's own browser software, and some LSAC documents will not display correctly. To change Firefox’s default PDF viewer to Adobe Reader, select the Tools menu item, then Options. Click on the Applications tab to display the default programs linked to each file extension. For each Adobe Forms Document listed in the Content Type column, select the pull-down menu for the associated Action and change it to Use Adobe Reader (default). Reopen your PDF document; it should open in Adobe Reader with your personal information.

Yes. Send graduate transcripts to LSAC. Although LSAC does not summarize graduate or professional school work, it does list these transcripts on the law school report and send copies of them to law schools.

Law schools receive a copy of graduate school transcripts with the law school report, but do not calculate an overall grade-point average combining undergraduate and graduate school performance. The graduate school experience is one of the many factors that schools consider when reviewing applications that contribute to the breadth and depth of a candidate's overall qualifications for the study of law.

US grades are converted by LSAC to a standard 4.0 system in order to furnish law schools with a uniform basis for comparing applicants. LSAC-member schools, in establishing the Credential Assembly Service, have selected a common set of numerical values to represent the various grading systems used by colleges. This system may vary from that of the college you attended.

* In some instances, a school's numeric grading scale might be converted differently than shown here.

LSAC does not report a cumulative GPA or admission index for applicants who:

• received their undergraduate degree from an institution located outside the United States, its territories, or Canada, and who also completed less than 60 credits of US/Canadian undergraduate-level work prior to the awarding of the international degree.
• received their undergraduate degree from a US institution that does not issue grades and credits, only narratives.
• received their undergraduate degree from a US institution that does not issue grades and credits, only narratives, and also completed less than 60 credits of other US/Canadian undergraduate-level work prior to the awarding of the US/Canadian degree.
• do not have an institution identified as their undergraduate degree-granting school and have a total of less than 60 credits of US/Canadian undergraduate-level work on their file.

If a law school uses an index to assess its applicants, reporting an index (which uses the cumulative GPA for calculation) or cumulative GPA for someone who only had a few hours of US/Canadian classes could be misleading.

Most schools will ask applicants for whom English is not their native language to take a standardized test. Each school sets its own standard for required minimal scores on the tests. While the JD programs may accept scores from various testing agencies, LSAC will only accept score reports for either TOEFL or IELTS exams. LSAC will include your TOEFL/IELTS score(s) on your JD International Credential Evaluation upon receipt of an official score report from the testing service.

We have arranged with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to receive your score(s) electronically. This is only possible if and when you supply ETS with our institution code 8395 at the time that you place your order for a copy of the score report to be sent to LSAC. Any department code will do, regardless of the corresponding department name. We cannot accept paper copies from candidates. Law schools participating in this credential service will accept your results as part of your LSAC JD law school report, so there is no need to have additional copies sent to the participating law schools. It is your responsibility to learn from the law school(s) how old of a score is acceptable.

LSAC has also arranged with IELTS to receive scores electronically, however, you MUST indicate before or at the time of your exam that LSAC receive an official score report. If you do not make the request at this time, LSAC will be unable to retrieve your score information. In this case, please have your score report sent directly to the school(s) to which you apply.

Please note that once we receive a TOEFL or IELTS score, it cannot be deleted or replaced. There are no exceptions to this rule. In the event that we already have a score on file for you, and you decide to retest and have the new score sent to us, we will report both scores. The new score will not replace the previous, regardless of how long ago the previous score was reported. LSAC will report all English proficiency scores on your law school report.

If we receive your TOEFL or IELTS score(s) after your report has been completed and/or released to a participating law school, we will update your report to reflect your test results free of charge. The updated report will automatically be forwarded to the school(s) that previously received your report.

Your report consists of data such as your bachelor's level academic summary, your LSAT score(s), copies of your transcript(s), writing sample(s), letter(s) of recommendation and evaluations (if you use LSAC's Letter of Recommendation and Evaluation services), and other relevant information, such as prior matriculation. Some schools require a copy of their application to be sent with their law school reports.

You will need to order a report for each law school to which you apply. In addition, if you reapply to a school for a new admission term, you will need to order a report for that term.

To order Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Law School Reports (cost: $21 each):

• Go to your LSAC.org account, select the term for which you are applying, and add the report to your Cart; or
• Call LSAC at 215.968.1001 and speak to a representative.

You do not need to inform LSAC of the law schools to which you want reports sent. Once you apply to the schools, they will request your report directly from LSAC. Just be sure to pay for the number of reports you need. Failure to pay for the number of reports you need will delay the forwarding of your reports to the law schools.

Once all of your bachelor's level transcripts are summarized, you can go online to view your Academic Summary Report and/or Credential Assembly Service international credential evaluation (if applicable). The report contains your biographical and academic information that will be provided to the law schools to which you apply. It does not contain your score, index information, letters of recommendation, evaluations, prior law school matriculation (if applicable), or findings of misconduct or irregularity (if applicable). Score, index, letter of recommendation, and evaluation information can be found in your LSAC.org account.

The Academic Summary Report, the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) authentication and evaluation feature for applicants educated outside the US, its territories, or Canada, and the law school report will be updated if a transcript is added or revised.

After an initial (first time) report is sent to the law school, an update will be sent if additional/corrected transcript data, an LSAT score, another letter of recommendation or evaluation, a TOEFL score, or prior matriculation is added to your file. The status messages identify the reason for the update.

Your file must be complete in order for reports to be forwarded to the law schools. This means that all bachelor's level transcripts, as well as a valid LSAT score and any required letters of recommendation or evaluations must be in your file before your report is sent to the schools. For schools requiring the authentication and evaluation feature of the Credential Assembly Service (CAS), all transcripts—bachelor's level and graduate level—must be on file.

Use of these services is optional unless a law school to which you are applying states that their use is required. You should always check the specific letter of recommendation and evaluation requirements of each law school to which you are applying by consulting each law school's application materials.

LSAC's Evaluation Service is a new way for law schools to learn about the skills and attributes their applicants possess. Evaluators are invited by applicants via e-mail to electronically provide ratings and comments on six noncognitive skill and attribute categories. Law schools specify how many evaluations they wish to require or accept. There is no additional charge for this service when you are registered with the Credential Assembly Service.

You can find information about law school requirements at Services Required or Recommended by Law Schools.

No. You need to request only one "general" letter or evaluation when the content is the same. You then designate the school(s) to which you want the letter and/or evaluation sent. See the "How do I?" Guide in your online account for instructions on assigning letters/evaluations to be sent with law school reports.

Yes, LSAC will accept letters of recommendation from such a service. The LSAC Letter of Recommendation Form must accompany each letter. When the form is completed by the school's service, the lower portion can either be filled in with the recommender's name and address, or—if the recommender's address is not available—with the recommender's name and the address of the school's service.

After entering your recommender information, you may submit your request for a letter from your LSAC.org account. You may have LSAC send an e-mail that includes the prefilled LOR form to the recommender. Or, you may print out your prefilled LOR form to give to your recommender. The form will be barcoded and prepopulated with your information and your recommender's information.

NOTE: Do not use Google Chrome to print your LOR forms; your personal information does not print correctly, and the form will not be accepted by LSAC.

Safari—The default application in OS X to view PDFs is Preview. Some LSAC PDF documents do not display correctly in Preview and must be viewed using Adobe Reader. Opening the PDF document in Preview will also place a copy of the file on your desktop as Example.pdf. Open Adobe Reader, click File, then Open. Browse to your desktop and select the downloaded copy of the PDF. This should open the PDF document properly and allow you to view and print it.

Firefox—Version 15 and later display PDF documents using Firefox's own browser software, and some LSAC documents will not display correctly. To change Firefox’s default PDF viewer to Adobe Reader, select the Tools menu item, then Options. Click on the Applications tab to display the default programs linked to each file extension. For each Adobe Forms Document listed in the Content Type column, select the pull-down menu for the associated Action and change it to Use Adobe Reader (default). Reopen your PDF document; it should open in Adobe Reader with your personal information.

Yes. Once the recommender receives your prefilled Letter of Recommendation form, he or she may choose to upload a letter for you or to mail a letter to LSAC.

They may be sent when your file is complete or at a later date dependent upon the preferences of each law school. Letter(s) and evaluations received by LSAC after law school(s) receive your initial Credential Assembly Service (CAS) report will also be sent to school(s) in accordance with their unique needs.