Four Takes, Two are Cancelations. Addendum?

AlessioMatteo

So I came across a previous posting on 7sage regarding topics and circumstances that are appropriate for an addendum:

https://7sage.com/admissions/lesson/when-to-write-a-non-required-addendum/

However I wanted to seek out clarifying advice for my situation as it refers to a cancelation and not cancelations.

I took the LSAT four times, the first receiving a score, second was a cancelation, the third was a four point improvement from my first score, and my fourth take will be my second cancelation.

The two cancelations we’re under the circumstances of finding out about my parents getting divorced shortly before, and the second cancelation will be due to my aunt’s death two weeks ago which I know with certainty affected my performance to the extent that my score will not be an improvement.

I am not leaning towards a fifth take as I’m sure it wouldn’t look good and there is no guarantee for an improvement. But should I even bother writing an addendum for two cancelations regarding the circumstances?

Thank you all for any help/advice.

janelleeng

Those are some extenuating circumstances, so I would definitely write an addendum. It's better to write and explain as opposed to letting them jump to conclusions. Life happens. Make sure your personal statement and everything else is solid. I

Leah M B

I don't think you need to. I thought originally this was saying 4 takes + 2 cancellations, like you sat for it 6 times. In that case, maybe. 4 takes with 2 cancellations is not too many in my (granted, unprofessional) opinion. That's only 1 more than the previous max. And cancellations in general aren't that big of a deal. I think if you were to take it again, that's getting in the territory of addendum. If you're done at 4, I think you're fine.

JustDoIt

I don’t think an addendum would hurt. As long as you don’t have any other glaring issues with your application you should be good. But the last thing you want to do is to have them question any part of your application and if you think they will question this then you should write a very short one.

AlessioMatteo

Thank you all for your feedback. I understand it may not be necessary but wanted to be thorough and write one briefly. It’s only a few sentences and was wondering if it’s permissable for me to post or pm it to someone who could say if it’s sufficent/correct.

I simply describe the circumstances and say these were the reasons for the cancelations.

CantStopWontStop

I would advice not to write one. I think they will look at it, say that’s a little odd and move one. An addendum just brings more attention to it than it’s worth in this particular case.

CantStopWontStop

*move on

Tom_Tango

@July2018Taker said:
I would advice not to write one. I think they will look at it, say that’s a little odd and move one. An addendum just brings more attention to it than it’s worth in this particular case.

seconding this.

samantha.ashley92

@"David.Busis" would be able to answer this better than I could. However, I would lean towards "yes" with two cancellations since you have significant factors that led to the cancellations. I'm also sorry that you've been going through so much! Also, I'm clearly not a professional here. I could be 100% wrong.

David Busis

I'd write a very, very short one unless they indicate they aren't interested. Emory, for example, says something like "please spare us your LSAT addenda" (paraphrasing) on their application.