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Two-fold question here. First, can you include an addendum to explain work/extracurricular gaps in your resume?

If so, I'd appreciate some advice about whether my situation is addendum-worthy. I had a few decent extracurriculars (good, not spectacular) until I got sexually assaulted about a couple of years ago. It sort of messed things up for a while and I had a period of being pretty depressed and withdrawn. My grades stayed intact (somehow scraped out a 3.98, so no addendum needed for GPA) but my extracurriculars pretty much died off at that point, and I was having trouble getting myself together to find a job. Things are better now , but I'm left with some big holes in my resume that I'm afraid are going to hurt my app.

I'm discussing the assault (specifically, the way it's shaped my attitude towards law) in my PS, but I don't explicitly explain my shaky resume there. Should I assume that adcomms would make this connection themselves or would it be better to use an addendum to explain the gaps?

Thanks guys.

Sorry to hear about you assault. Glad to hear that things are better for you now.

It's not necessary to explain gaps in your extracurriculars. You were still in school, which is what counts. An addendum would've been appropriate if you took a leave of absence or this happened after graduation and stopped you from working.

curiouscat wrote: I'm discussing the assault (specifically, the way it's shaped my attitude towards law) in my PS, but I don't explicitly explain my shaky resume there. Should I assume that adcomms would make this connection themselves or would it be better to use an addendum to explain the gaps?

Thanks guys.

Congratulations on getting through the assault and maintaining your grades. That's amazing and speaks highly of you. Maybe you could throw a simple sentence in your PS ie "While I managed to persevere through my coursework following the assault, the prospect of a job or social club was overwhelming and I spent my free time ________" or something like that.

That's helpful to know. I was just getting a little nervous about what a meh resume would do to my chances at competitive schools, so I was worried I might have to do some explaining. I was trying to avoid getting into that in my PS, but I'll try to find a way to work in a quick sentence about that - that does make more sense. Really appreciate the comments too.

If you want help with the PS or some eyes to review it, feel free to PM me. It can take me a long time to have time to look, but I will.

That would be awesome. My PS is still a work-in-progress and by the looks of it, it's probably going to be in that stage for while. If it ever gets finished, I'll probably post it or something - it's a tricky PS so I'll need all the feedback I can get.