GPA Addendum

TigerDen

I have a 3.32 cumulative gpa. However, I had poor grades my first year of undergrad. I want to write an addendum that states that my grades my first year are not reflective of my potential as a law school student. I am writing that high school was simple and that everything was set out by teachers. However, in college, I had to adjust to creating my own schedules to plan my study time. I am also writing that I lacked maturity coming out of high school to know that I needed to plan my time. My grades rose during my second year up until I graduated. Does this addendum sound good?

Ohnoeshalpme

No, I don’t think that this is a good excuse. When people include an addendum for GPA it usually involves an extrinsic factor. This can be a health-related issue that made you miss classes, a psychological problem or a death in the family. Something that was totally out of your control that you can verify will be looked on favorably.

Another note that I have here is that you’re framing yourself in a negative way. You’re suggesting that you have a hard time adjusting to a new work load. This might make admissions officers doubt your ability to cope with the workload that comes with law school.

I hope this helps, best of luck on your apps

NotMyName

The point of an addendum is to add context to a particular aspect of your application. In the case of a GPA, I think it's perfectly reasonable to cite immaturity as long as you can clearly show that you grew out of it. After all, current-you is applying to law school not freshmen-you. What's most important is that there is a clear and striking change between where you started and where you ended.

My cumulative GPA is a 3.51 so I wrote an immaturity addendum showing that my underclassmen GPA was a 3.3 but that my upperclassmen GPA was a 3.7. If, however, my underclassmen GPA had been a 3.4 and my upperclassmen GPA a 3.6, I don't think the difference is great enough to persuade anyone that I had actually matured.

LCMama2017

@NotMyName said:
The point of an addendum is to add context to a particular aspect of your application. In the case of a GPA, I think it's perfectly reasonable to cite immaturity as long as you can clearly show that you grew out of it. After all, current-you is applying to law school not freshmen-you. What's most important is that there is a clear and striking change between where you started and where you ended.

My cumulative GPA is a 3.51 so I wrote an immaturity addendum showing that my underclassmen GPA was a 3.3 but that my upperclassmen GPA was a 3.7. If, however, my underclassmen GPA had been a 3.4 and my upperclassmen GPA a 3.6, I don't think the difference is great enough to persuade anyone that I had actually matured.

I never thought of including an underclassmen and upperclassmen GPA. That is brilliant. Ofcourse I will have to do the math and who knows what the adcoms will think about that but its not a bad strategy for my GPA addendum. I'm also wondering if I can somehow quantify all of my experience since my olden college days (military, work, volunteer) and if that will help the admissions committee see my potential for law school. I'm talking out loud now, lol.