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cmdcmd wrote:I have a precipitous decline in my GPA. I start with like a 3.9 my first semester and end with a cumulative average in the range of 3.0-3.1. Do I strike the right tone in this addendum? Obviously, I don't want to sounds like I'm just making excuses for myself.

My college transcripts show a significant decline in my GPA after my freshman year. During the summer of 2007, my parents' marriage began to fall apart. Contemporaneously, my mother began undergoing interferon treatment for hepatitis. For a year she was largely bedridden and unable to work. This contributed to my parents' marital difficulties, which culminated in their separation in 2009. Following their separation, my mother entered rehabilitation for the alcohol dependence she developed during her unemployment and separation from my father. I did not handle my turbulent family situation as well as I should have. My priorities and academic focus suffered, and this is reflected in both in my grades as an upperclassman and in my impulsive and unwise decision to transfer to the University of _____________ in 2009, following my then-girlfriend.
I was diagnosed with and began treatment for depression in the spring of 2010. Subsequently, I started working in a small law office as an assistant to a pair of attorneys. The opportunity to spend some time outside of school working in a professional environment has helped me clarify my goals and reestablish my sense of direction and purpose. I have re-enrolled for the spring semester at ______________ and anticipate graduating in May. I believe that my performance during my first year of college, during which I maintained a 3.84 GPA while taking a heavier than average credit load which included significant honors track coursework, best reflects my academic ability.

WhatSarahSaid wrote:What you have now is some pretty good reasoning for why your grades suffered. Unfortunately, if I were someone who gets to decide who should and shouldn't be admitted to my law school, I would hesitate to accept you based on this.

You might just not want an addendum. If you do, try something like:

"After my first semester of college, my parents experienced numerous marital hardships and difficulties that led to their separation in 2009. The pressures placed upon me during and after these turbulent times in my life contributed to a lowered academic focus, which was reflected in my grades. I believe that my performance during my first year of college, during which I maintained a 3.84 GPA while taking a heavy credit load with honors coursework, best reflects my academic ability."

CanadianWolf wrote:The reason that the OP should consider highlighting freshman year GPA of 3.84 is that subsequent years were near or below 3.0 during troubled times. The contrast suggests that without extenuating circumstances beyond OP's control, the OP is a serious & capable student. Several private universities engage in harsher grading during the first two "weed-out" years and use easier grading curves in the upper years.

CanadianWolf wrote:Then you may not be familiar with the same universities. Admissions officers should be, though. Granted this typically applies to engineering, pre-med & economics tracks at universities. I prefer not to name them, but I am not referring to large state Southern universities, for example.

CanadianWolf wrote:I don't know, but in this case it is important to highlight freshman grades regardless of whether or not OP fits into this group.

WhatSarahSaid wrote:What you have now is some pretty good reasoning for why your grades suffered. Unfortunately, if I were someone who gets to decide who should and shouldn't be admitted to my law school, I would hesitate to accept you based on this.

You might just not want an addendum. If you do, try something like:

"After my first semester of college, my parents experienced numerous marital hardships and difficulties that led to their separation in 2009. The pressures placed upon me during and after these turbulent times in my life contributed to a lowered academic focus, which was reflected in my grades. I believe that my performance during my first year of college, during which I maintained a 3.84 GPA while taking a heavy credit load with honors coursework, best reflects my academic ability."

CanadianWolf wrote:Although you have compelling circumstances, they are better stated in brief as suggested by WhatSarahSaid.

cmdcmd wrote:I appreciate everyone's input, including those of you telling me not to bother. I realize that I have to balance the risk of admissions folks thinking I may be unstable against the potential of getting some slack on my GPA. It's embarrassing to have put myself in a position where I need to explain poor performance. But I have a strong LSAT, and I figure that it's better than letting them just think I was just lazy. Here's my slightly edited draft:

During the summer of 2007, my parents' marriage began to fall apart. At the same time, my mother started undergoing interferon treatment for hepatitis; she was largely bedridden and unable to work. My parents' marital difficulties gradually worsened, eventually culminating in their separation. Subsequently, my mother entered rehabilitation for alcohol dependence and I began treatment for depression. The effect of my family situation on my priorities, academic focus and well being is reflected in my grades as an upperclassman.
This year, I started working as an assistant to a pair of attorneys. Working outside of school in a professional environment has helped clarify my goals and reestablish my sense of direction and purpose. I have re-enrolled for the spring semester at ______________ and anticipate graduating in May. I believe that my performance during my first year of college, during which I maintained a 3.84 GPA while taking a heavy credit load (which included honors and upper level coursework), best reflects my academic ability. Moreover, my personal life has stabilized significantly - the factors which impacted my academics these last few years will not affect my future performance.


Specific comments:

andedom wrote:If you want to go to a school that your GPA doesn't qualify you for, I would suggest that you possibly wait a couple years and get some work experience or grad school experience before going to law school.

I understand the putting some distance between my GPA and myself would be for the best. But I figure that in the worst case scenario - schools say "no" to me, and I apply again in a couple years anyways.

Barbie wrote:And to say that your freshman year most indicates your academic ability is a huge stretch, because some would argue that freshman classes are the easy-breezy ones and as you worked your way into upper levels...

I also understand that I have more or less the exact reverse of the kind of trend schools are looking for. However, I wasn't taking honors intro chem or something - I'd finished my geneds with AP credits, and I was taking 300 and 400 level philosophy and linguistics courses. I'm hoping that might lend some credibility to the account I'm giving.

noahzak wrote:I agree that it is getting better, and as for people who are telling you not to bother: I visited the LA law school forum and every single admissions counselor told me to attach an addendum explaining my situation. It is different than yours, but still, it seems they like hearing explanations? Just my thoughts.

Anyways, I have a horrible undergrad GPA of 3.03, but I was in the College of Communication within my university, and my COM GPA is 3.9. I keep trying to figure out a way to explain this, but what can I really say?

The purpose of this addendum is to explain my grades during my time at _____ University. I was a student in the College of Communication (COM) and there is a large discrepancy between my aggregate grade point average (3.03) and my COM GPA (3.9). My higher in-major GPA is more representative of my abilities as a student. It is an indication of what I can and will do when fully engaged. It was taking arbitrary classes that did not contribute to my major’s requirements that brought my overall GPA down. Furthermore, my success in a graduate journalism class later on indicates my potential for academic achievement.

That doesn't really explain anything...Does anyone have any tips?

Thanks in advance!

PS. I have no problem saying the name of my undergrad university, but it seems most people don't do that on the forum?

noahzak wrote: The purpose of this addendum is to explain my grades during my time at _____ University. I was a student in the College of Communication (COM) and there is a large discrepancy between my aggregate grade point average (3.03) and my COM GPA (3.9). It was taking arbitrary classes that did not contribute to my major’s requirements that brought my overall GPA down. / something needs to go here to make this transition work / Furthermore, My success in a graduate level journalism class later on in my academic career indicates my true potential for academic achievement. This is why my higher, in-major GPA is more representative of my abilities as a student. It is an indication of what I can and will do when fully engaged.

noahzak wrote:I know! That's why I'm trying to "spin" this addendum in some way that would be to my benefit. I mean, I do want them to know I had a 3.9 in my major, because it is so much better than a 3.0, but how can I make that sound good?

*Sigh* Thanks for the feedback

noahzak wrote:Thanks for the feedback...I will try to work my way around it, but no, none of my "other" classes were subjects that I improved in, so I can't go that angle. As far as them getting my transcript, I think they will see the journalism classes I took, but they probably won't see my singled out major GPA or calculate that themselves...

I'm really trying to decide whether I should just scrap the whole thing altogether.