GPA Addendum? Forum

[petunia28]

I had one awful class in college. Taking calc first semester freshman year was a poor choice... My cumulative gpa is a 3.6, but would have been a 3.75 were it not for this class. Woops. In retrospect I should have dropped, duh, but I'm wondering if this warrants and explanation/addendum, since the 3.75 is a more accurate reflection of my abilities (at least my non-math abilities). Thoughts?

[20130312]

Depends. Did you only do poorly because it was a tough class? If so, that's probably not the best reason to write an addendum.

[petunia28]

It was definitely one of the hardest classes in the math department, but it was paired with an absolutely abysmal professor that was totally unavailable for outside help and was definitely of the mindset that "if you don't get math, you never will." The grade certainly wasn't for lack of trying, but the lack of resources + a clueless freshman made for a pretty toxic combination. I've worked for two years after college so certainly have other academic/work successes under my belt, but I want to make it clear that this was, without a doubt, an anomaly.

[20130312]

I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but it sounds like you are just making excuses. I would leave the addendum off. If this was your worst class, then your transcript will already reflect that it was an anomaly. HTH

[crumpetsandtea]

I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but it sounds like you are just making excuses. I would leave the addendum off. If this was your worst class, then your transcript will already reflect that it was an anomaly. HTH

+1.

[oaken]

You sound like every other college student in history. You found some classes harder than others and did worse in some rather than others. Why would this necessitate an addendum?

[petunia28]

I wasn't lobbying for including an addendum, I just wanted to get some thoughts. I figured it'd be best to omit one, so it's good to hear others concur. I figure the rest of my transcript will speak for itself. Hindsight is 20/20, sigh. Thanks!