Loyola University Chicago

Pre-Law Advising

Career Services

Choosing an Undergraduate Major

Your academic performance as an undergraduate is an important indicator of how you may do in law school. Accordingly, law schools look closely at your college transcripts and GPA when considering individual applications.

In addition to GPA, many schools review performance trends in transcripts. For example, if an applicant finishes their degree strongly, they may discount a slow or difficult start. If you have improved your grades/GPA over time, you can note this in an addendum. Bearing this in mind, we recommend that you choose a major that you are interested in, that you enjoy, and that you will do well in.  

Academic Performance 

Avoid taking too many pass/fail courses. A grade of 'A', 'B', or 'C' will say more about your academic performance than the 'P' in a Pass/Fail course. In addition, pass grades are not computed in the GPA. Because law schools must select from within a group of highly qualified applicants, law schools gather as much information as they can about your abilities. Grades matter. 

Be aware that the Credential Assembly Service evaluates your academic record and reports your GPA along with your transcripts and LSAT score to the law schools. To make GPAs uniform (between schools who have a 4.0 scale and 5.0 scale, for example), Credential Assembly Service recomputes your GPA. Thus, the GPA the Credential Assembly Service reports to law schools might not be the exact GPA that appears on your transcript. For a description of how Credential Assembly Service converts a GPA, check out 7sage’s CAS Law School GPA Calculator.