Grade trends? Forum

[stratocophic]

Do upward trends in grades need to be pointed out, or do admissions offices skim transcripts/LSAC reports to see if there is any sort of trend if they have interest in an applicant? My apps are all complete, but I just realized that I never actually highlighted the fact that my grades are on the rise. Much thanks.

[dakatz]

They see a breakdown of your grades by each year. So no, grade trends do not need to be pointed out to be noticed. That isn't to say that they know or understand the specific reasons behind the trend. If you have an extenuating circumstance that explains a particularly bad semester or year, you should make it clear to them in an addendum. As one adcom mentioned, you never want to leave the committee with questions about your transcript.

[stratocophic]

They see a breakdown of your grades by each year. So no, grade trends do not need to be pointed out to be noticed. That isn't to say that they know or understand the specific reasons behind the trend. If you have an extenuating circumstance that explains a particularly bad semester or year, you should make it clear to them in an addendum. As one adcom mentioned, you never want to leave the committee with questions about your transcript.

Ah. Good to know. I've seen the report the LSDAS compiles, but wasn't sure if they actually look at it or simply use the final GPA. Long story short, I suck at math and had to take 17 hours worth (about 15% of my total credit hours right now, and math GPA is only slightly above a 2 ), but other than that my grades are pretty good. That's why I have the upward trend, I got done with math classes and my grades normalized to an above-average level (vs. both the engineering school and the rest of the university) over the last three semesters. Would it be too much to send an after-the-fact addendum, and a better question is would it be worth it when sucking at math is the biggest contributing factor? I've already written an addendum explaining a six point jump on my LSAT score (from good to damn fine) so I don't want to be whiny, but my GPA is pretty wretched.

[stratocophic]

bump - see 3rd post for current question.