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In this guide, we’ll go over what the law school admissions index is, how the top 50 schools use it to predict applicant strength and competitiveness, and how applicants should use this information when applying to law school.
According to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), the law school admissions index formula is a numerical calculation that combines your LSAT score and undergraduate GPA into a single weighted figure. This index appears on your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report and is often the first step schools use to evaluate and compare applicants before moving on to a holistic review.
Each law school chooses its own formula inside ACES2, the Law School Admission Council’s secure online system for managing applications, data, and index calculations.
The general structure of the index is:
Index = (A × LSAT) + (B × GPA) + C
The C term can be positive or negative, depending on the school.
Schools can set different weights or adjust the scale depending on their admissions priorities.
An admission index is calculated by (1) multiplying your LSAT score by the school’s LSAT coefficient (A); (2) multiplying your GPA by the school’s GPA coefficient (B); and (3) adding those together with the school’s constant (C). In symbols:
Index = (A × LSAT) + (B × GPA) + C
Example: Columbia University Law School
Formula: 0.016 × LSAT + 0.242 × GPA - 0.284
Suppose you have a 3.8 GPA and a 171 LSAT. Your index would be:
(0.016 × 171) + (0.242 × 3.8) - 0.284 = 2.736 + 0.9196 - 0.284 = 3.37
Now compare that to Columbia’s 25th percentile matriculant profile (LSAT 169, GPA 3.85):
(0.016 × 169) + (0.242 × 3.85) - 0.284 = 2.704 + 0.9317 - 0.284 = 3.35
And Columbia’s median matriculant profile (LSAT 173, GPA 3.92):
(0.016 × 173) + (0.242 × 3.92) - 0.284 = 2.768 + 0.9486 - 0.284 = 3.43
With a 3.8 GPA and 171 LSAT, you fall slightly above Columbia Law’s 25th percentile index and just below the median. Scoring in the 25th percentile of recent matriculants places you on the low end of competitiveness. Raising your LSAT score by 2 points would place you in the median range, which will make you a more competitive applicant at Columbia Law.
The law school admissions index number has no universal “high” or “low” value because each law school uses its own scale. For example, one school’s index might run from 100–250, while others could range from 2–5 or 400–1000, depending on how they weigh LSAT and GPA in ACES2. What matters is where your number falls relative to other applicants at that school.
Law schools use admissions index scores as a quantitative tool to standardize and streamline the early stages of applicant evaluation. Instead of comparing raw GPAs from different institutions (which vary in rigor, grading scales, and course difficulty) and LSAT scores separately, the index converts them into a single, weighted metric tailored by each school.
That way, admissions committees can efficiently sort and filter large applicant pools based on comparable data. According to LSAC’s Index Formula Selection Reference Guide, the index is “a weighted composite of LSAT score and undergraduate grade-point average (UGPA)” that schools may use “as part of their assessment of applicant qualifications.”
Different law schools weigh the LSAT and GPA differently, some being LSAT-heavy (where a strong LSAT score can compensate for a weaker GPA), others being GPA-sensitive (where your undergraduate record carries more weight), and the rest being balanced.
Here is how the top 50 U.S. law schools weigh the LSAT vs. GPA, according to their admissions index. Please note that many top schools do not publish this information.
We used each school’s published 2025-2026 admissions index formula, which combines LSAT scores and GPA. Since LSAT scores (120–180) and GPAs (0–4.0) are on very different scales, we adjusted the formula using each school’s 25th–75th percentile data. These percentiles show how much LSAT scores and GPAs typically vary among students, allowing us to put the two measures on the same scale. The adjusted values were then converted into percentages to show the relative weight each school places on LSAT versus GPA. These figures are based on our calculations and should be viewed as estimates, as individual schools may use different methods when applying their index formulas.
Looking at these patterns, very few schools in the top group are LSAT-Heavy. The only clear example is Columbia Law School, where the formula places nearly 69% of the weight on the LSAT and just 31% on GPA.
The vast majority of schools fall into the Balanced category. These include Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, UCLA, Cornell, Notre Dame, Fordham, Boston College, Emory, George Mason, and many others, where the LSAT and GPA contributions hover close to an even split. For applicants, this means that both metrics matter significantly, and neither can be relied on alone to carry an application.
A smaller subset of schools emerges as GPA-Sensitive. Notable examples are UC Berkeley (61% GPA, 39% LSAT) and Vanderbilt (63% GPA, 37% LSAT), where the undergraduate record carries somewhat more influence than the test score.
After calculating your admission index, law schools move on to a holistic review process. The index helps schools quickly organize applicants but does not determine final decisions.
Instead, admissions committees carefully evaluate the entire application, including essays, recommendation letters, work experience, community involvement, and personal background, to see how well-rounded and prepared you are for law school.
As Jesse Wang, a consultant at Juris Education and graduate of USC Gould School of Law, explained during the How to Get Into Your Dream School in 2025 webinar:
“The applications tend to be very very holistic… you want to have a balanced application and that can come through in every single portion of the application. You can’t change your transcript, but when it comes to the statements that you write you don’t want to write all your statements on one topic… you want to show different parts of yourself… showcase your strengths even in your resume… law related or not.”
This underscores how the index is only a starting point. Admissions committees often use it to quickly organize files and identify applicants in different score bands, but the real decision-making happens during holistic review.
Schools then look beyond your LSAT and GPA to essays, recommendation letters, work experience, leadership, and community impact to see how well you would fit in.
Knowing how law schools weigh LSAT score vs. GPA and having a working admissions index formula lets you estimate how competitive you are at each school. You can plug your LSAT score, GPA, and a school’s (A, B, C) coefficients into the index formula to see whether your “index score” falls close to the 25th percentile, median, or 75th percentile scores of recent matriculants.
No, the admissions index is not the only factor in admissions. The index is a preliminary filter or sorting tool. After calculating index scores, admissions committees shift to holistic review, considering your essays, recommendations, work/research experience, qualities and traits, personal background, and more.
The top 14 (T-14) law schools tend to admit students whose index scores fall well above the 50th percentile of their entering class. While these schools typically place stronger emphasis on the LSAT, you’ll still want to score near or above their median LSATs (170-175) and median GPAs (3.9-4.0) to be considered competitive.
Yes, you can still get into a top law school if your index score is low, though it becomes more challenging. A lower index doesn’t automatically disqualify you. Many applicants with weaker index scores compensate through exceptional optional essays, unique experiences, outreach or leadership activities, strong recommendation letters, or diversity statements.
The law school admissions index is a powerful tool for understanding how your LSAT and GPA combine in the eyes of admissions committees. While each school sets its own formula, knowing whether a program is LSAT-heavy, GPA-sensitive, or balanced helps you see where your profile is strongest before the admissions committee reviews your application.
For a clearer picture of your law school chances and personalized strategies to boost them, consider working with one of our admissions experts.
Reviewed by:
Former Admissions Officer at Cornell Law School, Cornell Law School
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