Worth a GPA Addendum? Forum

[ihaveadogking]

I have a 3.5ish GPA and a 170+ and I am aiming for T13 (hopefully T10, reach choices UofC & NYU). The second semester of my freshman year of UG I did particularly badly (2.3x GPA) due to a variety of issues but namely because I was dealing with illness and traveling home, spending time in and out of doctor's offices, and surgery. Is it worth including an addendum to address this issue? Could it make a difference?

If so, should I mention my positive grade trend afterward up to a 3.8 junior and senior years? Or should I focus exclusively on the reasons why I did badly? etc.

Appreciate any and all input - thanks!

[Rigo]

Physical illness makes for an appropriate addendum.

Basically just say what you did in this post.
Say you're healthy now and your upward grade trend is a better indicator of your academic abilities.

[Floriform]

Absolutely.

If there's anything on your resume that you feel might raise eyebrows or be brought up by the admissions committee (such as a low UGPA one semester/year or a leave of absence due to health, etc.), you should definitely address that in an addendum.

Just make sure it's short, sweet, and to the point. Admissions readers have a lot of reading too, and while they'll appreciate you addressing the problem early-on, they also don't want to read a short story.

[ms9]

I have a 3.5ish GPA and a 170+ and I am aiming for T13 (hopefully T10, reach choices UofC & NYU). The second semester of my freshman year of UG I did particularly badly (2.3x GPA) due to a variety of issues but namely because I was dealing with illness and traveling home, spending time in and out of doctor's offices, and surgery. Is it worth including an addendum to address this issue? Could it make a difference?

If so, should I mention my positive grade trend afterward up to a 3.8 junior and senior years? Or should I focus exclusively on the reasons why I did badly? etc.

Appreciate any and all input - thanks!

I don't think you need to mention the positive trend (this is WAY too overdone. Indeed I've read hundreds of addenda that compute a GPA "without that one semester" etc. which is worse than pointless). But I would for sure bring up your situation, and I hope you are fully recovered!