CAS stands for the Credential Assembly Service It is a service administered by the Law School Admission Council (the same organization that administers the LSAT) that standardizes your grades and sends them as a part of a report to the law schools you want to attend. Almost all American Bar Association approved law schools require applicants to use CAS and you can sign up through LSAC’s website.
What’s in my CAS report?
The CAS facilitates the law school admissions process by compiling and disseminating most parts of the law school admission application. The CAS report contains:
- LSAT scores and writing sample
- CAS GPA
- Copies of all transcript(s), including all undergraduate coursework taken at other institutions
- Copies of letters of recommendation
CAS GPA
Because of the wide range of grading systems used by US colleges and universities, the CAS converts records into a standard format. Your CAS GPA may be different from your Cal GPA. For example, the CAS assigns an A+ a value of 4.3, while at Cal, an A+ is equivalent to 4.0. Since the CAS also takes into account all undergraduate coursework taken at other institutions, your CAS GPA will probably be different from your Cal GPA if you took classes at other colleges or universities. Detailed information about CAS GPA calculations can be found on the LSAC website.
Transcripts
Send all college transcripts to LSAC electronically through CAS. Once you send a copy of all transcripts, LSAC sends a copy of your transcripts to each law school you apply to. To request your official UC Berkeley transcript, contact the Office of the Registrar. If you attended a community college or other institution of higher education, you must also submit transcripts for those institutions. For transcripts from other institutions, contact their Registrar’s office.
If you are applying to law school during the first semester of your senior year, you can request your transcript without your senior year fall grades. Applying early in the admissions season can be advantageous so don’t wait for fall grades. Once your fall grades are posted, forward a copy of your updated transcript to LSAC and the law schools you applied to will receive a new law school report with this updated information.