Should I write an Addendum? Forum

[redmessengerbag]

During my preparation for the December 2012 test, a very close friend of mine of 14 years past away unexpectedly in October. I traveled to see him in October while he was in ICU and went to his memorial service in November, which truly affected my ability to study for some time, is that something I should write about? I don't plan to retake the LSAT, I got a 160, just above median of the program I want to apply to.

Secondly, I've had a strange path to my bachelor's degrees. I was issued a diploma in error back in 2005 even though I was one class short, and I didn't learn of this error until later so I didn't actually technically graduate until 2011 when I finally took that class, even though I thought I was already done and had been working. Should I explain that my graduation date shows 2011 even though I've worked for so many years?

Thank you all for your help.

[nickb285]

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[redmessengerbag]

Why aren't you retaking the LSAT? If the score is low enough that you want to write an addendum for it, it's low enough that you should be retaking.

As for the bachelor's degree, that's an odd situation and would probably be worth a (very short) note.

I got a 160 on the LSAT, and I want to apply this cycle and don't want to delay. It's right above the median of the program I want to go to, but my GPA is on the 25-percentile, I don't know if it's worth writing to help strengthen the app. I'm not sure if I am totally comfortable to write that as part of an addendum to begin with.

[rinkrat19]

1. You should retake. "Not wanting" to delay should be outweighed by not wanting to saddle yourself with crippling debt without the best possible chances of getting a job that will pay it off.

2. I would lean towards not writing the LSAT addendum. If it had been closer to the test date, that would be a different thing.

3. The diploma thing deserves an addendum. That's an odd one that adcomms would probably appreciate explanation of.

[nickb285]

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[bp shinners]

2. I would lean towards not writing the LSAT addendum. If it had been closer to the test date, that would be a different thing.

Even if it had happened closer to the test date, there's no way I would recommend the addendum without retaking the exam. You need that second, higher score to both prove that you can score better and show them how much better. Without that score, they'll probably agree that you under-performed, but will have no idea by how much, and as such won't really take a guess at what your score should have been.

3. The diploma thing deserves an addendum. That's an odd one that adcomms would probably appreciate explanation of.

Definitely voting yes for this one.

[suralin]

I got a 160 on the LSAT, and I want to apply this cycle and don't want to delay. It's right above the median of the program I want to go to, but my GPA is on the 25-percentile, I don't know if it's worth writing to help strengthen the app. I'm not sure if I am totally comfortable to write that as part of an addendum to begin with.

Five or ten points on the LSAT means thousands and thousands of dollars. "I don't wanna!" is not a legitimate reason not to retake, especially if circumstances suggest you could have done better.

If you're absolutely insistent on going now, despite being able to avoid more debt and/or go to a better school, do not write the addendum. First, as rinkrat said, it's not close enough to the test for it to make much of a difference to adcomms--had it been the day before or something, yes, but not the month before. Second, an addendum is meant to help explain something, it doesn't add points to your LSAT score so addenda in general often don't help all that much anyway unless the explanation is particularly compelling. Third, adcomms will think the same thing I did--well, why the hell aren't you retaking then? They'll assume that you're either a) lacking in patience (which you are) or b) not sure you could have done any better anyway.

This. Retake for your future self's sake.

[oaken]

Retake, get a higher score, THEN come back and ask if you should write the addendum about the first score. No other option.