Does a strong GPA trend and addendum reason make a difference? Forum

[DMVdude]

I'm a senior majoring in finance at a top 20 undergraduate business school (state school). I'm planning on taking the LSAT in Feb/May of 2020 and applying to law school next September.

I got a 2.48 the first semester of freshman year, 3.46 my second, and a 3.67 first semester sophomore year. I've gotten a 4.0 each of the last 3 semesters since then and fully expect to get a 4.0 in my final 2 semesters as well. This will give me an LSAC GPA of 3.71 and my school does not give A+'s.

My freshman year I was dealing with severe insomnia, which was undiagnosed at the time, and was living in a quad dorm with 3 other people. Halfway through the second semester of freshman year I moved off campus and started dealing with my insomnia. Since then my GPA has been good, and I think my struggle with insomnia is worthy of an addendum.

I know I still need to do very well on the LSAT, and I'm confident I can score in the 170s. In addition, I also have two internship experiences and was offered a full-time position at the place I interned this past summer if that makes a difference.

My question is if any of this matters? Especially to top schools? Do they even look at the addendums or weigh recent GPAs more heavily? Any chances at T7 if I score in 170s, or am I forever screwed by my freshman year?

From what I've read schools don't consider trend at all, but mine is pretty steep and with good reason.

Thanks for the input.

[LSATWiz.com]

It's a factor. Schools look to preserve their medians but between two candidates above or below the GPA median, this may be a factor but I'd expect to be treated like your overall GPA.

[The Lsat Airbender]

3.7 isn't bad, even by HCCN standards. I wouldn't stress too much about this. Definitely still write a (short) addendum to explain the aberrant freshman year.