OLSAS GPA Calculator: Convert Your Grades to the Ontario Law 4.0 Scale
Convert percentages or letter grades to the OUAC 4.0 scale and calculate your weighted OLSAS GPA for Ontario law schools.
| Course | Credits | Grade | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|
Applying to law school in Ontario? Your transcript is not read as it was printed. The Ontario Law School Application Service (OLSAS) converts every course to a common 4.0 scale first. Enter each course, its weight, and its grade above, and this OLSAS GPA calculator applies the standard OUAC conversion table and returns your credit-weighted cumulative GPA. Below you’ll find the full OLSAS GPA conversion table, a worked example of the OLSAS GPA calculation, and how the result compares to your LSAC (CAS) GPA.
How the OLSAS GPA Calculator Works
Each row in the calculator is one course. Choose its grade from the dropdown, which lists every OLSAS grade with its common Ontario percentage band (for example A+ (90–100%) = 4.00). Then enter the course weight. The tool multiplies each course’s grade points by its weight, adds the results, and divides by the total weight. That is how OLSAS builds its cumulative GPA.
OLSAS weights courses by length. A one-semester (half-year) course counts 1 and a full-year course counts 2. If you prefer, you can type your university’s own credit values (such as 0.5 and 1.0, or 3 and 6) instead. Only the ratio between courses matters, so you get the same GPA either way.
Inputs: a course name (optional), a course weight (1 for a half-year course, 2 for a full-year course), and the grade you earned. Output: your converted OLSAS cumulative GPA on the 4.0 scale, along with the total weighted grade points and the total weight behind it.
What Is OLSAS?
OLSAS is the Ontario Law School Application Service, the central application system for first-year JD programs in Ontario. It is run by the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC), the same organization behind OMSAS (medicine) and ORPAS (rehabilitation sciences). Ontario law schools take applications through OLSAS, including Osgoode Hall (York), the University of Toronto, Queen’s, Western, the University of Ottawa, Windsor, Lakehead’s Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, and Toronto Metropolitan University’s Lincoln Alexander School of Law.
Applicants come from universities with very different grading systems: percentages, letter grades, 9-point and 12-point scales. To compare them fairly, OLSAS converts every course grade to one common 4.0 scale. The resulting OLSAS GPA is the academic number Ontario admissions committees work from. Each school may then apply its own rules, such as looking at your last two or best years.
How OLSAS Converts Your Grades to a 4.0 Scale
OLSAS does not use the GPA your university prints. It converts each course grade one at a time using the OUAC Undergraduate Grade Conversion Table. That table has several numbered scales, and each university is assigned the scale that matches its own grading system. A school that reports percentages is converted on a percentage scale. A school that reports letter grades is converted on a letter-grade scale, and OUAC states that letter grades should not be reconciled to the percentage scales.
The most widely used percentage scale is shown below. Many Ontario universities issue grades that follow it. The top grade is 4.00. Unlike LSAC, OLSAS gives no 4.33 bonus for an A+, and an A is worth 3.90 rather than 4.00. Most other steps sit at familiar values: A– = 3.70, B+ = 3.30, B = 3.00, and so on down to 0.00 for a failing grade.
OLSAS GPA Conversion Table (Percentage → Letter → 4.0)
| Percentage | Letter grade | OLSAS 4.0 grade points |
|---|---|---|
| 90–100% | A+ | 4.00 |
| 85–89% | A | 3.90 |
| 80–84% | A– | 3.70 |
| 77–79% | B+ | 3.30 |
| 73–76% | B | 3.00 |
| 70–72% | B– | 2.70 |
| 67–69% | C+ | 2.30 |
| 63–66% | C | 2.00 |
| 60–62% | C– | 1.70 |
| 57–59% | D+ | 1.30 |
| 53–56% | D | 1.00 |
| 50–52% | D– | 0.70 |
| 0–49% | F | 0.00 |
The percentage bands above are the common Ontario mapping, not one rule for every school. The OUAC table also has other percentage scales with different cut-offs. Published summaries of the table show one where 84–92% converts to 3.90, so the same 84% can be 3.70 from one university and 3.90 from another. The letter-grade scales differ too: some schools have no A+, so an A converts to 4.00, and others have no minus grades, so an A converts to 3.80. If your school grades in letters, or uses a 9- or 12-point system, choose the letter printed on your transcript. Treat the percentage labels as a guide only. Check your university’s scale on the official OUAC table before relying on a result.
How to Calculate Your OLSAS GPA
According to OUAC’s OLSAS GPA calculation guide, the cumulative GPA is a weighted average of converted course grades. Course length sets the weight: a full-year course = 2, a half-year or semester course = 1, a three-quarter course = 1.5, and a lab = 0.5.
OLSAS GPA = Σ(grade points × course weight) ÷ Σ(course weight)
Worked example. Say a year of study includes Psychology (full-year, 82%), Calculus (half-year, 91%), English (half-year, 76%), History (half-year, 68%), and Sociology (half-year, 87%). Convert each mark first: 82% = A– = 3.7, 91% = A+ = 4.0, 76% = B = 3.0, 68% = C+ = 2.3, 87% = A = 3.9. Multiply by weight: 3.7 × 2 = 7.4, then 4.0, 3.0, 2.3, and 3.9 for the half courses. Add them: 7.4 + 4.0 + 3.0 + 2.3 + 3.9 = 20.6. The total weight is 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 6. Divide: 20.6 ÷ 6 = 3.43.
The weighted average of those percentages is 81%. Converting 81% directly would give 3.70, which overstates this student’s real OLSAS GPA by more than a quarter of a point. The scale has uneven steps, so a C+ costs far more than an A gains. That is why you must convert every course on its own.
Plugging your overall percentage average into the conversion table almost always produces an OLSAS GPA that is too high. Enter every course separately, as OLSAS does, to see the number law schools will actually see.
How to Use the OLSAS GPA Calculator
- Get a complete transcript from every university you attended, including exchange, summer, and transfer coursework shown on a transcript.
- Add one row per graded course. Enter 1 for a one-semester course and 2 for a full-year course (use 1.5 for a three-quarter course and 0.5 for a lab).
- Choose the grade. If your transcript shows percentages on the common Ontario scale, pick the band your mark falls in. If it shows letters, pick the letter exactly as printed.
- Include failed, repeated, and supplementary attempts, since OLSAS counts them all. Leave out Pass/Credit courses that carry no mark.
- Read your cumulative OLSAS GPA. To estimate a school’s last-two-years or best-years figure, enter only those years’ courses.
What OLSAS Includes and Excludes
OUAC states that the OLSAS cumulative GPA includes all courses and marks: failed, incomplete, repeated, and supplementary courses, plus courses taken beyond your degree requirements. If your university lets a retake replace an earlier grade, OLSAS still counts every attempt that appears on your transcript.
Some courses are left out. Challenge-for-credit courses are excluded. So are courses with no letter or numeric grade, such as Pass or Credit, because they can’t be placed on the conversion table. Coursework from diploma or certificate programs is generally excluded from the undergraduate GPA.
- Every university transcript is included, not just your degree-granting school
- Each course has a weight: 1 for half-year, 2 for full-year
- Failed and repeated attempts are entered, not deleted
- Pass/Credit and challenge-for-credit courses are left out
- Letter-grade transcripts are entered by letter, not converted to a percentage first
- An A is entered as 3.90 on the percentage scale; only an A+ (90%+) reaches 4.00
Is the OLSAS GPA the Same as the LSAC (CAS) GPA?
No. Both services recalculate your transcript, but they use different scales and serve different schools. OLSAS converts grades to a 4.0-maximum scale for Ontario law schools. LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS) uses a 4.33-maximum scale and reports to U.S. law schools. An A+ is worth 4.00 on OLSAS but 4.33 on LSAC. A plain A is 3.90 on the common OLSAS percentage scale but 4.00 on LSAC.
Using the worked example above, the same five letter grades give a 3.43 on OLSAS. Applying LSAC’s values (A– = 3.67, A+ = 4.33, B = 3.00, C+ = 2.33, A = 4.00) gives 21.0 ÷ 6 = 3.50. If you are applying on both sides of the border, calculate each separately. Use the LSAC GPA calculator for the CAS number.
| OLSAS (OUAC) | LSAC (CAS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | Ontario law schools | U.S. law schools |
| Top of scale | 4.00 (A+) | 4.33 (A+) |
| Value of an A | 3.90 on the common percentage scale | 4.00 |
| Conversion basis | Your university’s assigned OUAC scale | LSAC’s national letter-grade scale |
| Weighting | Course length (full-year 2, half-year 1) | Credit hours |
| Failed/repeated courses | Included | Included |
How Ontario Law Schools Use Your OLSAS GPA
OLSAS calculates the GPA, but each law school decides how to read it. Some schools, such as Lakehead and Toronto Metropolitan, describe using your cumulative undergraduate GPA. Others publish their own approaches, including a focus on your last two years or your best two or three years of full-time study. Policies change, so check each school’s admissions page for its current method. You can model any of these views here by entering only the relevant years’ courses.
Related GPA Calculators
Applying to U.S. schools as well? Use the LSAC GPA calculator to get your CAS GPA on the 4.33 scale. You can browse all GPA calculators for school-specific and standard 4.0-scale tools, or try the Grade Curve Calculator to see how a curved final mark changes the grade you enter here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an OLSAS GPA?
It is your undergraduate GPA after the Ontario Law School Application Service (run by OUAC) converts every course grade to a common 4.0 scale and weights each course by its length. Ontario law schools use this converted number, not the GPA printed on your transcript, to compare applicants from different universities.
How does the OLSAS GPA conversion work?
OLSAS converts each course separately using the OUAC Undergraduate Grade Conversion Table and the scale assigned to your university. On the common Ontario percentage scale, 90–100% = 4.00, 85–89% = 3.90, 80–84% = 3.70, 77–79% = 3.30, 73–76% = 3.00, 70–72% = 2.70, 67–69% = 2.30, 63–66% = 2.00, 60–62% = 1.70, 57–59% = 1.30, 53–56% = 1.00, 50–52% = 0.70, and below 50% = 0.00. Other universities may be assigned different scales.
How is the OLSAS GPA calculated?
Convert each course to grade points, multiply by the course weight (full-year = 2, half-year = 1, three-quarter = 1.5, lab = 0.5), add the results, and divide by the total weight. For example, 20.6 weighted points over a total weight of 6 gives an OLSAS GPA of 3.43.
Is the OLSAS GPA the same as my CAS/LSAC GPA?
No. OLSAS caps the scale at 4.00 and, on the common percentage scale, values an A at 3.90. LSAC’s CAS scale gives an A+ 4.33 and an A 4.00. The same transcript will usually produce a slightly higher LSAC GPA than OLSAS GPA, so calculate them separately.
Can I convert my overall average into an OLSAS GPA?
You shouldn’t. Converting a single overall percentage skips the uneven steps in the conversion table and usually overstates your GPA. In our example, an 81% average would convert to 3.70, but the course-by-course OLSAS GPA is only 3.43. Always convert each course first.
Does OLSAS count failed and repeated courses?
Yes. OUAC says all courses and marks are included, including failed, incomplete, repeated, and supplementary courses and courses beyond your degree requirements. If your school replaces an earlier grade after a retake, OLSAS still counts both attempts if they appear on your transcript.
Are Pass/Fail or Credit courses included in the OLSAS GPA?
No. A Pass or Credit notation has no letter or numeric grade, so it can’t be converted and is left out. Challenge-for-credit courses are also excluded.
My university uses letter grades or a 12-point scale. Which option should I choose?
Pick the letter grade printed on your transcript and ignore the percentage band in the dropdown. OUAC assigns letter-grade and numeric-grade universities their own scales and says letter grades should not be reconciled to the percentage scales. Some schools have no A+ (A = 4.00), and some have no minus grades (A = 3.80), so check your university’s scale on the OUAC table.
Is an A+ worth more than 4.0 on OLSAS?
No. The OLSAS scale tops out at 4.00. On the common percentage scale an A+ (90–100%) earns the full 4.00, and an A (85–89%) earns 3.90. There is no 4.33 value like the one on LSAC’s scale.