GPA Upward Trend - How Helpful Forum

[Law Sea]

Had a 2.95 in freshman year.
Had a 3.88 after freshman and have a 3.62 cumulative now.

Will the admissions notice and appreciate this upward trend? How will they think of it compared to e.g. a more consistent 3.65/3.7 without any upward or downward trend?

[longlivetheking]

adcom response to 'upward grade trend': http://imgur.com/EyLNXVq

[hephaestus]

Unfortunately it really won't help you at all. Cumulative is all that matters.

[notalobbyist]

It may help you relative to others with the same GPA, but they won't ignore the statistic they have to report. I don't know how close adcoms view a 3.65 and a 3.62, but you're not being looked at the same as somebody with a 3.7

[clee33]

Had a 2.95 in freshman year.
Had a 3.88 after freshman and have a 3.62 cumulative now.

Will the admissions notice and appreciate this upward trend? How will they think of it compared to e.g. a more consistent 3.65/3.7 without any upward or downward trend?

Make them notice it. Write an addendum. They aren't getting the 18 year old you, they are getting the current you. If the current you is a 3.9 student, someone might find that more attractive than the consistent 3.6 person.

Having a legitimate reason for your struggles, of course that would help. But even saying "after my freshman year struggles I matured and realized I wanted to go to law school because blah blah blah" might strike a cord with someone, and certainly wouldn't hurt assuming it is well written.

Just to be clear, this probably won't help you bypass someone with much better grades than you, especially if you are below median and the other person above. But it could help you bypass someone with similar grades that doesn't write one, or hold off someone with slightly worse grades that writes one. It's probably a pretty small benefit overall, but then again writing a short addendum doesn't take very much effort. Most people have at least one school during their cycle where they are a tossup, may as well use every weapon you have to improve your odds.

[wtrc]

Had a 2.95 in freshman year.
Had a 3.88 after freshman and have a 3.62 cumulative now.

Will the admissions notice and appreciate this upward trend? How will they think of it compared to e.g. a more consistent 3.65/3.7 without any upward or downward trend?

Make them notice it. Write an addendum. They aren't getting the 18 year old you, they are getting the current you. If the current you is a 3.9 student, someone might find that more attractive than the consistent 3.6 person.

Having a legitimate reason for your struggles, of course that would help. But even saying "after my freshman year struggles I matured and realized I wanted to go to law school because blah blah blah" might strike a cord with someone, and certainly wouldn't hurt assuming it is well written.

Just to be clear, this probably won't help you bypass someone with much better grades than you, especially if you are below median and the other person above. But it could help you bypass someone with similar grades that doesn't write one. It's probably a pretty small benefit overall, but then again writing a short addendum doesn't take very much effort.

This. Adcomms care a lot about what they need to report, and they don't report an upward grade trend. But still, definitely write an addendum. If you are borderline, it will help.

If you destroy the LSAT a 3.62 upward trend won't hold you back anywhere but HYS.

[longlivetheking]

Had a 2.95 in freshman year.
Had a 3.88 after freshman and have a 3.62 cumulative now.

Will the admissions notice and appreciate this upward trend? How will they think of it compared to e.g. a more consistent 3.65/3.7 without any upward or downward trend?

Make them notice it. Write an addendum. They aren't getting the 18 year old you, they are getting the current you. If the current you is a 3.9 student, someone might find that more attractive than the consistent 3.6 person.

Having a legitimate reason for your struggles, of course that would help. But even saying "after my freshman year struggles I matured and realized I wanted to go to law school because blah blah blah" might strike a cord with someone, and certainly wouldn't hurt assuming it is well written.

Just to be clear, this probably won't help you bypass someone with much better grades than you, especially if you are below median and the other person above. But it could help you bypass someone with similar grades that doesn't write one. It's probably a pretty small benefit overall, but then again writing a short addendum doesn't take very much effort.

This. Adcomms care a lot about what they need to report, and they don't report an upward grade trend. But still, definitely write an addendum. If you are borderline, it will help.

If you destroy the LSAT a 3.62 upward trend won't hold you back anywhere but HYSB.

FTFY.

[Toby Ziegler]

It may help you relative to others with the same GPA, but they won't ignore the statistic they have to report. I don't know how close adcoms view a 3.65 and a 3.62, but you're not being looked at the same as somebody with a 3.7

[Nelson]

Everyone has an upward trend. It's not a differentiating factor.

[Law Sea]

Thanks folks for your great advices. I'll definitely write an addendum on this.

[PRgradBYU]

Had a 2.95 in freshman year.
Had a 3.88 after freshman and have a 3.62 cumulative now.

Will the admissions notice and appreciate this upward trend? How will they think of it compared to e.g. a more consistent 3.65/3.7 without any upward or downward trend?

Make them notice it. Write an addendum. They aren't getting the 18 year old you, they are getting the current you. If the current you is a 3.9 student, someone might find that more attractive than the consistent 3.6 person.

Having a legitimate reason for your struggles, of course that would help. But even saying "after my freshman year struggles I matured and realized I wanted to go to law school because blah blah blah" might strike a cord with someone, and certainly wouldn't hurt assuming it is well written.

Just to be clear, this probably won't help you bypass someone with much better grades than you, especially if you are below median and the other person above. But it could help you bypass someone with similar grades that doesn't write one. It's probably a pretty small benefit overall, but then again writing a short addendum doesn't take very much effort.

This. Adcomms care a lot about what they need to report, and they don't report an upward grade trend. But still, definitely write an addendum. If you are borderline, it will help.

If you destroy the LSAT a 3.62 upward trend won't hold you back anywhere but HYSB.

FTFY.

Good fix. As far as answering OP's original question, it's actually quite common for law school applicants to have an upward GPA trend. It's not exactly a soft, but my guess is that if it came down to you and someone else with a 3.62 / downward trend, all else being equal, AdComms would go with you.

[Happy Gilmore]

It's one of those things that can't really help, but could only hurt (say if it was a downward trend instead). But at the very least, it is one more positive thought they will have when they read your application.