GPA addendum

daisycrazy

Very specific question. In undergrad I did pretty well my first two years with A/Bs and had approx 3.65 GPA. Fall of my junior year I got into a car accident that messed with me mentally. My grades for that Fall were three B+’s and one C+ that brought my GPA for that quarter to a 3.05 however in the remainder of that academic year (2019-2020) I studied and managed to get good grades that left me with my cumulative GPA as 3.60. After that my senior year I received straight A’s. This is the only quarter in which I received so many B’s and the only time in my undergrad that I received a C. I’ve heard that if it’s one bad grade that an addendum isn’t needed but I’m not sure.

Basically I’m not sure if the one C+ warrants me writing an addendum since my grades technically weren’t that bad considering what happened (although imo my grades were bad that quarter)

It seems silly and a straight no answer but I’m paranoid about doing the applications right and heard that addendums could hurt you if the school felt it wasn’t necessary

Pretzel Logic

While I'm obviously not an admissions person, I don't see a big problem writing 1-2 quick paragraphs. Get directly to the point, don't make them read a lot and just let them know it was an off semester. Ideally they're like "Ok, fair enough."

Selene Steelman

Former admissions officer here. It would be appropriate to write a concise and factual explanation of the fact that you were in a car accident, and this prevented you from performing to your fullest potential that semester. The purpose of the addendum is to provide context when the admissions committee reviews your transcript. The addendum should be no longer than a paragraph. Good luck!