Addendum or no?

mjpatty12

Before I transferred to my degree granting school, I was cramming in a lot classes in the last semester before I transferred, and I ended up making a pretty dumb mistake. I missed a final, and ended up with a D in a Gen Ed class, and the professor would not let me retake the final. Is this worth an addendum? thanks in advance.

Pacifico

No, do not draw undue attention to this with an addendum. It's one class and it's really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. You want to write as few addenda as possible.

mjpatty12

For sure, thanks man. @Pacifico

stepharizona

Most consultants recommend writing Addenda if you had a D or F, especially if it had a major impact on your GPA.

Pacifico

Personally, I have never seen that to be the case and was not told to write one by my consultant and one grade out of ~40 is likely not going to make too much of an impact on your GPA. GPA addenda are for addressing low GPA, not addressing a single grade.

Nicole Hopkins

@Pacifico said:
No, do not draw undue attention to this with an addendum.

Agree—unless you were like hit by a car right before the final. I wouldn't draw attention to the fact that you were, like, super disorganized; addenda probably only make sense if there's a good reason for them—or if you really do need to "fill in the gap" for admissions staff because you DID have a good reason for such an aberrant grade. If filling in the gap is going to hurt you and waste their time, probably not a win/win. Just my guesses though—not a professional opinion.

lsatings

@"Nicole Hopkins" said:
addenda probably only make sense if there's a good reason for them—or if you really do need to "fill in the gap" for admissions staff because you DID have a good reason for such an aberrant grade

I agree with this, but also want to add something else that is super crucial in an addendum:
writing an addendum should show two things: a BRIEF and to the point explanation for what happened (in your case, a bad grade), but it is also crucial to show evidence of growth and some sort of amendments you made to show you are 'not those grades'.

Do what @Pacifico said, and don't write an addendum because quite frankly, you don't draw anymore attention to it. Especially if your addendum will only show that maybe you were disorganized/rushed.

Pacifico

@lsatings said:
it is also crucial to show evidence of growth and some sort of amendments you made to show you are 'not those grades'.

This.