GPA Addenda Forum

[Judith Butler]

My GPA has suffered because of a 4 year battle with Anorexia and Bulimia. I think an addenda would help explain my performance.

Here is a breakdown that reflects an upward trend in my numbers:

Spring 09 - 2.5
Fall 09 - 3.3
Spring 10 - 3.6
Summer 10 - 4.0

Cumulative: 3.4
LSAT- 167

I'm GUESSING that this semester will be around 3.3- 3.8 or so. My eating disorder symptoms have vastly improved and are currently in remission. Although I was hospitalized for pretty bad depression last month, I am responding to treatment.

How should I explain myself in this addenda? I am not embarrassed; I will be as candid as necessary.

How should I explain my situation

[whymeohgodno]

This addendum could hurt you because you haven't fully gotten over anorexia/depression.

[Jack Smirks]

Hey, we're numbers twins (for now).

[ohlawl]

Personally, I wouldn't call attention to it if the explanation might hurt your consideration more than it would help. If you are still battling with it, while it may explain a poor semester, would it in the end reflect positively on you? You may want to consider this before you say anything.


Edit: Not trying to be a dick, but have you weighed the stresses of law school and the profession against your struggle with ED and depression?

[bigwillie]

I think this is one of the few reasons to include an addendum. You were seriously ill, and it negatively impacted your grades. If I were you, I would try to state that your current grades demonstrate that you have moved past your illness/learned how to manage it and school at the same time.

While it may be risky to disclose some of the information about your illness, if you don't disclose anything schools will probably wonder why your grades dropped so severely for those two semesters.

[2014]

I don't think you would look good writing that addendum.
Additionally, I don't think you can include summer 2010 as an example of a continued upward grade trend. From what I can see, summer courses are almost universally easier.

I would just let your grades speak for themselves, or if you want to write an addendum, cite health problems, not an eating disorder you haven't recovered from.

[Hedwig]

I'm honestly not sure on this one. If you can frame it like you are "over it" (although obviously I know that's subjective) now and it will not be a problem at law school, then it might be okay. But I can see adcomms thinking "oh, well, look at this up and down trend, maybe she'll be like this at law school" - because if you look at like, 2.5, 3 something, 4.0, down again, it looks like you could be going through periods of remission with relapses in between - something that makes it seem likely you'll relapse again. You'd have to explain why this time is different than what happened before.

Congrats on being in recovery though.

[Spack]

I kind of disagree with some of the previous posters. Even if your GPA is lower than 4.0 this semester that doesn't seem to me to indicate that you were having another problem with your ED and depression rather my first thought would be "Well, she DID take Neuropharmacology and six other difficult classes". I would only be wary if your class difficulty hasn't increased (so if you took an extremely difficult course and got a 4.0 but now you're taking coloring inside the lines 101 and don't get a 4.0 this semester).

As for your personal issues affecting your GPA I would encourage you to write about it. I think it shows remarkable strength and your ability to push through even in tough times. It can be as simple as saying "During X semester I was dealing with X and as a result dealt with frequent bouts of depression. Due to this issue, my grades were not representative of my full capabilities as a student. I subsequently sought out counseling/whatever and since then I have been able to improve my academic performance."

[Judith Butler]

Personally, I wouldn't call attention to it if the explanation might hurt your consideration more than it would help. If you are still battling with it, while it may explain a poor semester, would it in the end reflect positively on you? You may want to consider this before you say anything.


Edit: Not trying to be a dick, but have you weighed the stresses of law school and the profession against your struggle with ED and depression?

You're not being a dick. I appreciate the question. Your concern about how stress will affect me is certainly valid.

Many of you made good points. I would like to clarify my statement about my eating disorder being in "remission." My philosophy about ED is that the dualistic notion of ill/recovered is misleading. The ED changed who I am today. Mainly, when I eat and drink and behave normally, I have enhanced appreciation for normalcy. The fact that my symptoms are NOT present makes me feel grateful. In a clinical context, I am "recovered."

As far as the depression, I no longer feel that it's reasonable to include that. It is an unnecessary risk.

I'm on the fence about the summer gpa. I took two classes (one was a core class: rocks for jocks 101). This semester I'm taking 5 classes, and four of them are pretty tough. I'm also working (at a restaurant, ha).

Thoughts?