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lawyerwannabe wrote: Generally, isn't a GPA addendum (or any addendum for that matter) supposed to only be like 3 - 5 sentences?

imjustjoking22 wrote:

lawyerwannabe wrote: Generally, isn't a GPA addendum (or any addendum for that matter) supposed to only be like 3 - 5 sentences?

I really need more than that to explain fully...would love to know if there's a strict limit. Also, would you mind removing my addendum from the quote? Thanks!

ETA: Mr Anon- I'd rather elaborate unless it would really harm my application.

JamMasterJ wrote:

imjustjoking22 wrote:

lawyerwannabe wrote: Generally, isn't a GPA addendum (or any addendum for that matter) supposed to only be like 3 - 5 sentences?

I really need more than that to explain fully...would love to know if there's a strict limit. Also, would you mind removing my addendum from the quote? Thanks!

ETA: Mr Anon- I'd rather elaborate unless it would really harm my application.

you still need to pare it back substantially unless you want to go full-DS

imjustjoking22 wrote:

JamMasterJ wrote:

imjustjoking22 wrote:

lawyerwannabe wrote: Generally, isn't a GPA addendum (or any addendum for that matter) supposed to only be like 3 - 5 sentences?

I really need more than that to explain fully...would love to know if there's a strict limit. Also, would you mind removing my addendum from the quote? Thanks!

ETA: Mr Anon- I'd rather elaborate unless it would really harm my application.

you still need to pare it back substantially unless you want to go full-DS

Ugh, I don't know what to do...I am writing my PS on being a caregiver but not really addressing academic failure, everyone said to put that into the addendum - how do I convey how much this dominated my life? Could I turn this into a good DS? I was also involved peripherally with my mom's cancer support groups and assisted/volunteered with many of them as well, maybe that would work?

msblaw89 wrote:GPA/LSAT addenda can be about a page... no more. But of course you can always manipulate margins...

crumpetsandtea wrote:Yeah, this needs to be 3-5 sentences. Mine was about 2 family members getting cancer, and as hard as it was to just say the bare bones, I did it in ~5 sentences.

My suggestion (just tell me when you've seent his and want me to delete):

Winter quarter of my freshman year at X, my mother experienced many unexpected and life-threatening health complications related to a previous bone marrow transplant. She developed XXXXXX Disease (acronym) and was routinely in the hospital or traveling to appointments. During that time, she and my father separated, leaving her without a reliable caregiver in my absence. As a result, I often had to drive 14 hours multiple times a week to return home. Due to my mother’s needs at home and the financial obligations our family faced, I also took on a part time job and took care of my sister during this period of time, and eventually withdrew from school. [1 sentence about your mother passing away -- I can't do it justice] Despite my overwhelming grief, I excelled upon returning to school, earning straight A's. I maintained these same high academic standards for the rest of my college experience. I believe that my academic record during this time is more representative of my abilities and I would ask the admissions committee to take that into account when considering my application.

I know it feels like you're not adequately explaining it, but admissions committee's are only looking for the bare bones. They want to read something quickly and understand: I'm not sure they'd have the patience for a transcript of the entire experience of your mother's illness ): I understand how hard it is to make something like this brief, because I struggled with it with my own statement as well. If you want you can see mine.

ETA: reading the posts you just made, if you address this issue in your PS, you can cut down even more here because theoretically they should have details from your PS.

JamMasterJ wrote:

imjustjoking22 wrote:

JamMasterJ wrote:

imjustjoking22 wrote: Ugh, I don't know what to do...I am writing my PS on being a caregiver but not really addressing academic failure, everyone said to put that into the addendum - how do I convey how much this dominated my life? Could I turn this into a good DS? I was also involved peripherally with my mom's cancer support groups and assisted/volunteered with many of them as well, maybe that would work?

I would not write a DS on the same subject as your PS. Since you've already detailed the caretaking responsibilities, you should definitely remove a lot of the detail if you want to write a gpa addendum

imjustjoking22 wrote:Thanks, crumps! I'm just loathe to edit things out because I don't want it to seem as if it was *just* about my mom getting sick and dying, but really emphasize the massive amount of time/energy that went into being a pretty much full-time caregiver and how that made it pretty much impossible to succeed academically.