***Trigger warning: SA***
Hi everyone!!!
Unfortunately... I do need to write an addendum explaining my GPA in undergrad. I don’t want to go too deep into my mental health issues because I know there’s still stigma, even though schools can’t discriminate.
My personal statement is going focus on my experience with Title IX after experiencing sexual assualt at university, followed by my legal compliance internship within an education/school Title IX department. I want to highlight how I faced my trauma head-on and used it as inspiration to pursue law school. Obviously, my traumatic experience and the failures of my university’s Title IX office almost destroyed me, and it significantly impacted my grades for a long period of my college career.
I was sexually assaulted in the “red zone” (the period from the beginning of the fall semester—typically the first year—until Thanksgiving break), so I was struggling from the start. By my senior year, I worked with psychiatrists, counselors, advisors, and others to better myself, ultimately earning my highest GPA in all four years while taking seven classes, being an RA and working 20 hours a week.
So, the question is: Is a personal statement about my sexual assault (SAd), internship, and pursuit of law school, combined with an addendum on mental health and overcoming a traumatic event, okay?
Thanks, y’all!
3 comments
Hey there - I'll echo the same I'm just terribly sorry.. (I've been through similar things myself, and major kudos to you because I can tell you first hand, getting through it... it isn't easy. I know that personally too. So my heart goes out to you.)
I agree with the others - my statement is similar but different than you. I'm in my mid-thirties, but always wanted to be a lawyer when I was younger, I just never ended up going to law school because life took me other ways. In 2024, my 18month old daughter was named as a victim in a multi-victim abuse case against two of her former daycare teachers. (thankfully, she really was always ok, but the prosecutor's pulled her in as a charge anyway). This experience is what fueled me to want to return to law school, and is what my statement is about. Also, my feelings about it were way more complex than many other people. My feelings and the emotional impact were one thing, but they were also different than most others who were involved, specifically because of how I view the current state of the justice system. And this is really the crux of my story.
So how am I approaching it:
I'm not going into the dirty details of the case. They're not here to fact check my story, or relieve the trauma and feelings with me in depth. I absolutely mention the emotional impact, but I'm not dwelling on it. It sets the scene.
I focus on what made me as a person care about this issue so deeply, and why it fuels my desire to go to law school. I talk about how going through the experience changed me (for the better still!), and why living through this experience will make me a valuable student and lawyer who can bring a unique perspective to the world.
I'm tying it back to me - how did this experience ultimately relate to who I always was - why was I so empathetic in ways to the defendants that others couldn't be (because I've always cared about equity and fairness, a principle I could still maintain in the most personal circumstance), why was I obsessed with learning about details I didn't have access to (because I have this insanely deep drive to figure out the objective truth) etc... what I want to show them isn't just "Something bad happened to me, and now I care about getting in the legal system to fix what wronged me"... I want to show them that this experience showed me who I really am, what resilience I have, and how this reignited a passion I always had. And how that will make me a fantastic lawyer.
Hope that helps!!
I'm very sorry that happened to you. My PS is on a similarly traumatic topic. THe key things to me are
Not lingering on the event, but framing it in terms of how you overcame it and how it has pushed you to choose law. You may want to make it clear that you've sought help and have recovered to avoid any judgment on it. Remember your tone ultimately has to be both professional and personal.
Make your addendum about the impact of the event on your grades and the recovery of your grades as you got better yourself. I wouldn't linger on PTSD / depression or explicitly name them. I'm diagnosed with both but I didn't name them on my addendum, just tried to be like "here's how this affected my grades, here's how my grades got better when my situation improved."
I'm still applying, so I'm not an expert, but I will tell you what I've been told and have learned recently.
First off, the addendum should be framed less as “here is everything that negatively affected my GPA” and more as “here is what happened, and here is how I responded.” You want to briefly acknowledge the circumstances that contributed to the lower grades, but the emphasis should be on the upward trend afterward. The most compelling part of your story is that, once you got through that difficult period, your academic performance improved. That gives admissions a reason to view your cumulative GPA as less representative of your current academic ability and instead shows your hard work and drive in overcoming your situation.
For the personal statement, I’m also writing about adversity I’ve overcome because I want the statement to show not just what I’ve been through, but how it shaped why I want to go to law school. My structure is basically: the story/context → what came from it → why law → how it will make me a better lawyer → what I can contribute to that specific law school. I think the last two parts are especially important because I don’t want the essay to just be about overcoming something; I want to show how that experience will shape the kind of lawyer I become and, most importantly, what I would bring to each school. I’m going to tailor that part to every school’s specific mission, values, programs, and community, so I would recommend that.
Overall, I think having a true reason why from your story is really strong and meaningful. Props to you for channeling this into fire to help others in the future. Good luck on your applications and I hope this helps a little!