Should I explain 5 Ws on Transcript? Forum

[nate3869]

I had five withdrawals over the course of my college career, all in two semesters. Two were during a semester where I was trying to work a full-time night shift job in addition to going to college full time - I ended up dropping to part time (because of the Ws) and getting a B and C in my classes that semester because of it. The other three came my last semester in college, where I decided to try to finish up my double major by taking 21 credits in a single semester while also working a part-time job. I decided to switch one of the majors to a minor because I didn't really like it all that much, so I dropped the classes I didn't need for the major. I ended up getting all As other than those three dropped classes that semester.

I was originally planning to go to law school straight from college, but ended up deciding to take a couple gap years in between. That leaves me wondering, should I write an addendum to explain the Ws on my transcript (which are luckily all WP so they don't affect my GPA) or should I just leave it alone?

[nate3869]

Is there anyone that was in a similar situation to this who could give advice?

[ek5dn]

I had five withdrawals over the course of my college career, all in two semesters. Two were during a semester where I was trying to work a full-time night shift job in addition to going to college full time - I ended up dropping to part time (because of the Ws) and getting a B and C in my classes that semester because of it. The other three came my last semester in college, where I decided to try to finish up my double major by taking 21 credits in a single semester while also working a part-time job. I decided to switch one of the majors to a minor because I didn't really like it all that much, so I dropped the classes I didn't need for the major. I ended up getting all As other than those three dropped classes that semester.

I was originally planning to go to law school straight from college, but ended up deciding to take a couple gap years in between. That leaves me wondering, should I write an addendum to explain the Ws on my transcript (which are luckily all WP so they don't affect my GPA) or should I just leave it alone?

I would write an addendum 1 or even 2 Ws don't raise eyebrows, but 5 is excessive

[nate3869]

I had five withdrawals over the course of my college career, all in two semesters. Two were during a semester where I was trying to work a full-time night shift job in addition to going to college full time - I ended up dropping to part time (because of the Ws) and getting a B and C in my classes that semester because of it. The other three came my last semester in college, where I decided to try to finish up my double major by taking 21 credits in a single semester while also working a part-time job. I decided to switch one of the majors to a minor because I didn't really like it all that much, so I dropped the classes I didn't need for the major. I ended up getting all As other than those three dropped classes that semester.

I was originally planning to go to law school straight from college, but ended up deciding to take a couple gap years in between. That leaves me wondering, should I write an addendum to explain the Ws on my transcript (which are luckily all WP so they don't affect my GPA) or should I just leave it alone?

I would write an addendum 1 or even 2 Ws don't raise eyebrows, but 5 is excessive

That makes sense, and was what I was thinking as well. I know some schools like UPenn ask you to write an addendum if you took the LSAT twice with a score difference greater than a certain number (I think three points, or something along those lines), which would also apply to me. So, in that case, would I attach two separate addendums or just one that mentions both topics?

[Lexaholik]

Yes you should explain it in an addendum.

Some unsolicited advice: Don't just focus on your Ws. What's your overall GPA? If it's low (and especially if it's coupled with a high LSAT and you're shooting for a top law school) you should come up with a complete explanation for why you had trouble in college, and how that's changed.

Why were you working part time and full time during college? I imagine you had a really good reason why (e.g. to help family members financially, because you had limited assistance from family because you were the first to attend college, etc. etc.). Whatever that reason was, it should go into your addendum. You should write something to the effect of:

"I had to work throughout college because of X. It was a struggle to balance school and work, and I bit off more than I could chew. I didn't know how to prioritize. It ended up impacting my grades, and I was forced to withdraw from classes during semesters A and B. After working for a few years I've now learned how to prioritize my time and avoid overextending myself. In the past 2 years I've been a successful [occupation] and now know how to manage my time properly."

It'll help to supply some recommendations or other info showing that you've been successful at the workplace.

[PrezRand]

There's always the possibility that you could not afford taking one of the classes

[Justtrying2help]

Don't write the addendum. Law school is a numbers game and you would hurt yourself if you focused a significant portion of your app on a negative part of your file or on an excuse that tries to minimize what happened. Destroy the LSAT and apply everywhere you would be a proud graduate of. If there are no other concerns then you will likely get in wherever your numbers say you should. If you want a chance at reaches outside your numbers, write tremendous essays (personal and diversity).

[Clearly]

I had five withdrawals over the course of my college career, all in two semesters. Two were during a semester where I was trying to work a full-time night shift job in addition to going to college full time - I ended up dropping to part time (because of the Ws) and getting a B and C in my classes that semester because of it. The other three came my last semester in college, where I decided to try to finish up my double major by taking 21 credits in a single semester while also working a part-time job. I decided to switch one of the majors to a minor because I didn't really like it all that much, so I dropped the classes I didn't need for the major. I ended up getting all As other than those three dropped classes that semester.

I was originally planning to go to law school straight from college, but ended up deciding to take a couple gap years in between. That leaves me wondering, should I write an addendum to explain the Ws on my transcript (which are luckily all WP so they don't affect my GPA) or should I just leave it alone?

I would write an addendum 1 or even 2 Ws don't raise eyebrows, but 5 is excessive

That makes sense, and was what I was thinking as well. I know some schools like UPenn ask you to write an addendum if you took the LSAT twice with a score difference greater than a certain number (I think three points, or something along those lines), which would also apply to me. So, in that case, would I attach two separate addendums or just one that mentions both topics?

1 don't write the addendum. It's drawing attention to a negative and raises questions that people didn't care about in the first place.
2 I don't believe that's true about Penn. I had about as big of a retake spread as possible and didn't write one.

[KissMyAxe]

I had five withdrawals over the course of my college career, all in two semesters. Two were during a semester where I was trying to work a full-time night shift job in addition to going to college full time - I ended up dropping to part time (because of the Ws) and getting a B and C in my classes that semester because of it. The other three came my last semester in college, where I decided to try to finish up my double major by taking 21 credits in a single semester while also working a part-time job. I decided to switch one of the majors to a minor because I didn't really like it all that much, so I dropped the classes I didn't need for the major. I ended up getting all As other than those three dropped classes that semester.

I was originally planning to go to law school straight from college, but ended up deciding to take a couple gap years in between. That leaves me wondering, should I write an addendum to explain the Ws on my transcript (which are luckily all WP so they don't affect my GPA) or should I just leave it alone?

I would write an addendum 1 or even 2 Ws don't raise eyebrows, but 5 is excessive

That makes sense, and was what I was thinking as well. I know some schools like UPenn ask you to write an addendum if you took the LSAT twice with a score difference greater than a certain number (I think three points, or something along those lines), which would also apply to me. So, in that case, would I attach two separate addendums or just one that mentions both topics?

1 don't write the addendum. It's drawing attention to a negative and raises questions that people didn't care about in the first place.
2 I don't believe that's true about Penn. I had about as big of a retake spread as possible and didn't write one.

This is all correct. Do not write the addendum. It would be stupid. 5 isn't excessive at all and no one cares anyway. Don't worry about it.

[ek5dn]

I had five withdrawals over the course of my college career, all in two semesters. Two were during a semester where I was trying to work a full-time night shift job in addition to going to college full time - I ended up dropping to part time (because of the Ws) and getting a B and C in my classes that semester because of it. The other three came my last semester in college, where I decided to try to finish up my double major by taking 21 credits in a single semester while also working a part-time job. I decided to switch one of the majors to a minor because I didn't really like it all that much, so I dropped the classes I didn't need for the major. I ended up getting all As other than those three dropped classes that semester.

I was originally planning to go to law school straight from college, but ended up deciding to take a couple gap years in between. That leaves me wondering, should I write an addendum to explain the Ws on my transcript (which are luckily all WP so they don't affect my GPA) or should I just leave it alone?

I would write an addendum 1 or even 2 Ws don't raise eyebrows, but 5 is excessive

That makes sense, and was what I was thinking as well. I know some schools like UPenn ask you to write an addendum if you took the LSAT twice with a score difference greater than a certain number (I think three points, or something along those lines), which would also apply to me. So, in that case, would I attach two separate addendums or just one that mentions both topics?

1 don't write the addendum. It's drawing attention to a negative and raises questions that people didn't care about in the first place.
2 I don't believe that's true about Penn. I had about as big of a retake spread as possible and didn't write one.

This is all correct. Do not write the addendum. It would be stupid. 5 isn't excessive at all and no one cares anyway. Don't worry about it.

I feel like 5Ws total isn't excessive, but OP says he had 5Ws in 1 year, which seems like a lot. I would talk to some more people before making a decision - I don't claim to be an expert in law school admissions lol

[LikelyThrowaway]

Just for the record, I asked this in the Spivey thread for two Ws and Karen said I should write a short addendum. I've gotta think they'd recommend one for five.

[Winter is Coming]

Just for the record, I asked this in the Spivey thread for two Ws and Karen said I should write a short addendum. I've gotta think they'd recommend one for five.

Yeah, Spivey and those folks are the go-to people for questions like this.

[nate3869]

I had five withdrawals over the course of my college career, all in two semesters. Two were during a semester where I was trying to work a full-time night shift job in addition to going to college full time - I ended up dropping to part time (because of the Ws) and getting a B and C in my classes that semester because of it. The other three came my last semester in college, where I decided to try to finish up my double major by taking 21 credits in a single semester while also working a part-time job. I decided to switch one of the majors to a minor because I didn't really like it all that much, so I dropped the classes I didn't need for the major. I ended up getting all As other than those three dropped classes that semester.

I was originally planning to go to law school straight from college, but ended up deciding to take a couple gap years in between. That leaves me wondering, should I write an addendum to explain the Ws on my transcript (which are luckily all WP so they don't affect my GPA) or should I just leave it alone?

I would write an addendum 1 or even 2 Ws don't raise eyebrows, but 5 is excessive

That makes sense, and was what I was thinking as well. I know some schools like UPenn ask you to write an addendum if you took the LSAT twice with a score difference greater than a certain number (I think three points, or something along those lines), which would also apply to me. So, in that case, would I attach two separate addendums or just one that mentions both topics?

1 don't write the addendum. It's drawing attention to a negative and raises questions that people didn't care about in the first place.
2 I don't believe that's true about Penn. I had about as big of a retake spread as possible and didn't write one.

This is all correct. Do not write the addendum. It would be stupid. 5 isn't excessive at all and no one cares anyway. Don't worry about it.

I feel like 5Ws total isn't excessive, but OP says he had 5Ws in 1 year, which seems like a lot. I would talk to some more people before making a decision - I don't claim to be an expert in law school admissions lol

OP here...I didn't have 5 Ws in one year. Two came during my fall semester of my sophomore year and three came during my spring semester of my senior year.

[nate3869]

Yes you should explain it in an addendum.

Some unsolicited advice: Don't just focus on your Ws. What's your overall GPA? If it's low (and especially if it's coupled with a high LSAT and you're shooting for a top law school) you should come up with a complete explanation for why you had trouble in college, and how that's changed.

Why were you working part time and full time during college? I imagine you had a really good reason why (e.g. to help family members financially, because you had limited assistance from family because you were the first to attend college, etc. etc.). Whatever that reason was, it should go into your addendum. You should write something to the effect of:

"I had to work throughout college because of X. It was a struggle to balance school and work, and I bit off more than I could chew. I didn't know how to prioritize. It ended up impacting my grades, and I was forced to withdraw from classes during semesters A and B. After working for a few years I've now learned how to prioritize my time and avoid overextending myself. In the past 2 years I've been a successful [occupation] and now know how to manage my time properly."

It'll help to supply some recommendations or other info showing that you've been successful at the workplace.

This is very helpful...thank you. My overall GPA came out to 3.6, so I guess it depends on your definition of "low". It's definitely closer to most of the t-14s 25th percentile than to their median.

[nate3869]

So far, general consensus seems to be that I should and should not write an addendum?

[Jordan Catalano]

So far, general consensus seems to be that I should and should not write an addendum?

Go with Spivey's advice and write one. Keep it short (a few sentences).

[nate3869]

So far, general consensus seems to be that I should and should not write an addendum?

Go with Spivey's advice and write one. Keep it short (a few sentences).

Sounds good. Thanks.

[lsatisfunbro1996]

Should i write an addendum for 1 W?