Graduating in Fall + Odd Semesters - addenda? chances? Forum

[Ixiion]

I have a couple questions.

1) Unlike the majority of people, I'll be graduating in Fall 2013 instead of Spring. Will this in any way hurt my application - the fact that I'll be off from school for a whole semester between their acceptance and my matriculation?

2) In my first semester at this uni* I got into a car accident at the end of the first month (Sept) and totaled the car. Couldn't walk/drive for about 2 months, so obviously couldn't attend my school which was 30min away driving. The result of that was 3 Fs and 2 Incompletes (the 3 Fs were supposed to give me (I)s but then said they couldn't at the last minute.) Eventually I got those Fs changed to Ws in a Retroactive Withdrawal for medical reasons.
Then, second semester, I only took 2 courses due to both an error on my part (my online registration was wonky), and also because I was completing those two (I)s from the previous semester.

So, because 2 semesters essentially went to waste in terms of credits, I'm graduating a semester late. Also, since then, I have taken 17-18 credits every single semester and am continuing to do so every semester until graduation, as well as 2 courses in summer.

Of course, my transcripts show none of this. All it says is 1st semester, 2 classes with As and 3 with Ws, and 2nd semester 2 classes with As. Should I write an addendum for this when I apply?

*I've starred this because prior to attending THIS university, I attended a university abroad in the Middle East. My father passed away and so because of that I transferred to the US. So it wasn't my freshman year. Not sure if that matters any.

[Yardbird]

I have a couple questions.

1) Unlike the majority of people, I'll be graduating in Fall 2013 instead of Spring. Will this in any way hurt my application - the fact that I'll be off from school for a whole semester between their acceptance and my matriculation?

2) In my first semester at this uni* I got into a car accident at the end of the first month (Sept) and totaled the car. Couldn't walk/drive for about 2 months, so obviously couldn't attend my school which was 30min away driving. The result of that was 3 Fs and 2 Incompletes (the 3 Fs were supposed to give me (I)s but then said they couldn't at the last minute.) Eventually I got those Fs changed to Ws in a Retroactive Withdrawal for medical reasons.
Then, second semester, I only took 2 courses due to both an error on my part (my online registration was wonky), and also because I was completing those two (I)s from the previous semester.

So, because 2 semesters essentially went to waste in terms of credits, I'm graduating a semester late. Also, since then, I have taken 17-18 credits every single semester and am continuing to do so every semester until graduation, as well as 2 courses in summer.

Of course, my transcripts show none of this. All it says is 1st semester, 2 classes with As and 3 with Ws, and 2nd semester 2 classes with As. Should I write an addenda for this when I apply?

*I've starred this because prior to attending THIS university, I attended a university abroad in the Middle East. My father passed away and so because of that I transferred to the US. So it wasn't my freshman year. Not sure if that matters any.

Write an addendum explaining the W's. They won't care that you're graduating a semester late (though they will care if you attended a university abroad if it was for longer than 2 academic semesters) - in any case, if your GPA/LSAT are good, you'll likely have a few acceptances by the start of January. You can get a job for the 7ish months before you start law school - or better yet, go travel the world.

[cahwc12]

I have a similar situation as you, wherein my transcript looks like something of a train wreck. I actually have four semesters of W's interspersed with 18-20 hour class loads. I'm really hoping that adcoms will see past this and take a hard look at my numbers/softs.

To the first point, it will be mostly irrelevant (although I would think it's likely they'll hold off on final admission until they receive your final UG transcript). To the second point, since there are people like me applying that will make your transcript look much less anomalous, I wouldn't sweat a semester of W's.

[Ixiion]

Write an addendum explaining the W's. They won't care that you're graduating a semester late (though they will care if you attended a university abroad if it was for longer than 2 academic semesters) - in any case, if your GPA/LSAT are good, you'll likely have a few acceptances by the start of January. You can get a job for the 7ish months before you start law school - or better yet, go travel the world.

I did - I attended the foreign university for 3 semesters technically. In terms of credits, though, it was under 2 semesters of full-time credits and thankfully isn't being counted by LSAC, lol.

I'm expecting to graduate with an LSAC GPA of between 3.8 and 3.9 if I keep going the way I am now and am aiming for an LSAT in the 172-175 range. I'm aiming for UVA/Duke. (Would also love Stanford but I know that's going to be really unlikely.)

I have a similar situation as you, wherein my transcript looks like something of a train wreck. I actually have four semesters of W's interspersed with 18-20 hour class loads. I'm really hoping that adcoms will see past this and take a hard look at my numbers/softs.

To the first point, it will be mostly irrelevant (although I would think it's likely they'll hold off on final admission until they receive your final UG transcript). To the second point, since there are people like me applying that will make your transcript look much less anomalous, I wouldn't sweat a semester of W's.

I'm so glad LSAC isn't counting my foreign transcripts, because if they did, mine would also look like a trainwreck of Ws. :] But, awesome, thanks! Good luck with that! (To both of us.)

As to your point about final transcript - what about if I apply ED? I'm hoping to apply ED to either UVA or Duke though I really can't decide which one just yet. Do you think they'd flat out reject me for ED and defer me to regular admissions?

[Yardbird]

Write an addendum explaining the W's. They won't care that you're graduating a semester late (though they will care if you attended a university abroad if it was for longer than 2 academic semesters) - in any case, if your GPA/LSAT are good, you'll likely have a few acceptances by the start of January. You can get a job for the 7ish months before you start law school - or better yet, go travel the world.

I did - I attended the foreign university for 3 semesters technically. In terms of credits, though, it was under 2 semesters of full-time credits and thankfully isn't being counted by LSAC, lol.

I'm expecting to graduate with an LSAC GPA of between 3.8 and 3.9 if I keep going the way I am now and am aiming for an LSAT in the 172-175 range. I'm aiming for UVA/Duke. (Would also love Stanford but I know that's going to be really unlikely.)

I have a similar situation as you, wherein my transcript looks like something of a train wreck. I actually have four semesters of W's interspersed with 18-20 hour class loads. I'm really hoping that adcoms will see past this and take a hard look at my numbers/softs.

To the first point, it will be mostly irrelevant (although I would think it's likely they'll hold off on final admission until they receive your final UG transcript). To the second point, since there are people like me applying that will make your transcript look much less anomalous, I wouldn't sweat a semester of W's.

I'm so glad LSAC isn't counting my foreign transcripts, because if they did, mine would also look like a trainwreck of Ws. :] But, awesome, thanks! Good luck with that! (To both of us.)

As to your point about final transcript - what about if I apply ED? I'm hoping to apply ED to either UVA or Duke though I really can't decide which one just yet. Do you think they'd flat out reject me for ED and defer me to regular admissions?

With a 3.8/3.9 and a 170+ LSAT (if you get it), you should not be EDing anywhere and you will be in good range for HYS + CCN with $.