Ok so, in college I started off pretty strong- here’s my GPA by semester my first two years. 3.7, 3.8, 4.0, 4.0 then my junior year my GPA dropped to below a 3.5- I got a 3.4 both semesters. My classes were not hard - I honestly just got too into partying and started losing motivation and didn’t really have any goals (whereas freshman and sophomore year I was excited and motivated). Then I only had one semester senior year (graduated early) where I got a 3.7. So my overall gpa is a 3.64. I’ve been out of school for almost two years and working in big law (and have matured a wholeeee lot). While I don’t think I should say “oh my gpa dropped bc I was partying :P” in my apps- it was a very transformative year for me personally and I changed a lot for the better (not sure if I would have seen that change had I not made and learned from all the mistakes of that year). I know this was a very long paragraph for maybe something that might not be so significant? I just wanted to know if I should write an addendum and if so how to frame it? Thanks!!!
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Im not an expert in the whole admissions process but I'd say don't bother with the addendum. If you really did mature and change, you could perhaps incorporate that into your personal statement, but don't dwell upon your gpa in there. You don't want to draw attention to the weakest part of your application unless you have a legitimate reason for it.
Besides, 3.64 isn't a bad gpa. It's below average for many schools, yes, but I would think it could easily be compensated for with a strong lsat score.
I'd write an addenda here and I think it's pretty clear cut!
1) You can't hide that downturn in grades junior year. That's going to stand out immediately when reviewing your app.
2) While the surface reason you're offering for the downturn isn't great, the key is what you learned from it and that you're no longer that person. I'd rather hear that ("my grades were lower that year because - to be honest - I was more focused on social matters than academic ones; however, this period led to a lot of self reflection and I entered senior year with a renewed focus which I've since carried through to my professional work...") then try to guess as to what happened.