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Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 3:18 pm
by Duo
Not sure whether I should attach a GPA Addendum, so I'll get your opinions on the matter. I should note though, I'm not expecting it to help in a significant manner during admissions, but I'm hoping it would help at least a little during financial aid consideration.
Cumulative GPA: 3.28
Major GPA: 3.31
Overall GPA barring 1st semester: 3.43
Major GPA barring 1st semester: 3.42
Overall GPA barring freshman year: 3.53
Major GPA barring freshman year: 3.54
Minor GPAs of 3.6 and 3.61. These were unaffected by my freshman year as I did not take any classes required for them before my sophomore year.
Reasoning for the poor start: I should not have been enrolled at a university. I had no idea what I wanted to study or do with my life, I was just going to school because that is what I was told to do. I was not particularly interested in the classes I was taking, and did not really try in them. By the time I enrolled in classes for sophomore year, I knew what I wanted to study. I chose a major, two minors, and did significantly better with those than my cumulative GPA would suggest.
I know these are typically suggested for those with family/medical issues, but a >.2 rise is fairly significant. What are your thoughts?
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 3:26 pm
by MidwestLifer
Almost everyone's freshman year is their worst academically, and without any actual big event causing you to do poorly, this just reads like excuse-making.
This is just my opinion though.
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 3:29 pm
by Mal Reynolds
You don't have a great GPA even excluding freshman year. Don't write an addendum.
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 3:30 pm
by tiltedwindmill
No addendum- what are you going to say? I was directionless in undergrad? Why would Law school, in an adcomm's eyes, be any different?
In any case, unless it was some extraordinary circumstance, adcomm's are looking to cop DAT MEDIAN.
Best advice, kill the LSAT.
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 3:41 pm
by Duo
MidwestLifer wrote:Almost everyone's freshman year is their worst academically, and without any actual big event causing you to do poorly, this just reads like excuse-making.
This is just my opinion though.
That's more or less what I was thinking unfortunately. Thanks!
Mal Reynolds wrote:You don't have a great GPA even excluding freshman year. Don't write an addendum.
Eh. If law schools considered major difficulty and undergrad university averages when looking at GPA my 3.5 would be very nice. That said, I'm aware that major difficulty is not a large consideration. I like the name though!
tiltedwindmill wrote:No addendum- what are you going to say? I was directionless in undergrad? Why would Law school, in an adcomm's eyes, be any different?
...Best advice, kill the LSAT.
It should be quite clear why law school would be different. I was directionless for one year of undergrad, until I decided what I wanted to do. I still know what I want to do, as such I shouldn't have a poor year in law school. Last 5 PTs have averaged at 174. Anything above a 165 will grant me admittance to my target school.
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 3:44 pm
by Mal Reynolds
Duo wrote:Mal Reynolds wrote:You don't have a great GPA even excluding freshman year. Don't write an addendum.
Eh. If law schools considered major difficulty and undergrad university averages when looking at GPA my 3.5 would be very nice. That said, I'm aware that major difficulty is not a large consideration. I like the name though!
Yeah but they don't.
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 4:01 pm
by gnomgnomuch
Almost everyone messes up their freshman year, its def not addendum worthy. Besides you didn't go from a 3.4 to a 4.0, you went from a 3.4 to a 3.6, its not that huge a jump in terms of trends. Upward grade trends are a positive, but they're such a negligible plus that you don't want to call attention to it.
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:25 pm
by victory
Mal Reynolds wrote:Duo wrote:Mal Reynolds wrote:You don't have a great GPA even excluding freshman year. Don't write an addendum.
Eh. If law schools considered major difficulty and undergrad university averages when looking at GPA my 3.5 would be very nice. That said, I'm aware that major difficulty is not a large consideration. I like the name though!
Yeah but they don't.
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 8:30 pm
by Duo
Fair enough. I suppose I'll hold off on the addendum then. That's more or less what I was expecting, but not what I was hoping for
Re: Is this worthy of a GPA Addendum?
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 9:47 pm
by tiltedwindmill
Duo wrote:MidwestLifer wrote:Almost everyone's freshman year is their worst academically, and without any actual big event causing you to do poorly, this just reads like excuse-making.
This is just my opinion though.
That's more or less what I was thinking unfortunately. Thanks!
Mal Reynolds wrote:You don't have a great GPA even excluding freshman year. Don't write an addendum.
Eh. If law schools considered major difficulty and undergrad university averages when looking at GPA my 3.5 would be very nice. That said, I'm aware that major difficulty is not a large consideration. I like the name though!
tiltedwindmill wrote:No addendum- what are you going to say? I was directionless in undergrad? Why would Law school, in an adcomm's eyes, be any different?
...Best advice, kill the LSAT.
It should be quite clear why law school would be different. I was directionless for one year of undergrad, until I decided what I wanted to do. I still know what I want to do, as such I shouldn't have a poor year in law school. Last 5 PTs have averaged at 174. Anything above a 165 will grant me admittance to my target school.
You didn't have a mandatory curve in undergrad...I would assume having a 'purpose' is a non starter viz. predicting 1L performance.