Need advice regarding addendum

beerpub16

Long story short - I took a years worth of a challenging foreign language as a requirement to graduate with my second major of choice. My GPA suffered as a result. Should I explain this in an addendum or will the Admissions Committee review my transcripts and disregard it since its a foreign language and has little to do with my ability to succeed in law school? If I should write an addendum, how should I go about it without sounding like a whiner/arrogant?

Additionally, I took the LSAT more than once and plan on writing an addendum for my LSAT score. Should I keep the two addenda separate and attach two separate addenda or upload it as one file, on two separate pages?

Thanks!

Cant Get Right

They're only going to really care about your numbers because that's what they report to rankings. Your course load is a very minor consideration. Honestly, I'm not sure how to write that addendum. Can you say anything that isn't just an elaboration on the theme "I had a difficult course load and that got reflected in my GPA?" Any time you're giving them something additional to read, you need to make sure it's going to be worth their time. For the LSAT, it really depends on what the gap between your score is. 15 points? Yeah. 5? No. So it kind of just depends.

lawschoolstuff16

@beerpub16 said:
Should I keep the two addenda separate and attach two separate addenda or upload it as one file, on two separate pages?

It shouldn't be two pages. Keep your addenda short and to the point. But definitely make sure to separate the topics, 1 for foreign language course/gpa and the second section on your addenda to your LSAT.

If you want to go about writing about what happened -- you might mention that you made some mistakes by either overestimating your abilities/not being prepared/etc (you should admit to some sort of mistake -- but dont admit too much lol) and then talk about what you did to rectify the situation, how you handled it, and how that was a one time mistake and you've learned your lesson and took it as a learning experience.

Alex

@beerpub16 said:
Should I explain this in an addendum or will the Admissions Committee review my transcripts and disregard it since its a foreign language and has little to do with my ability to succeed in law school? If I should write an addendum, how should I go about it without sounding like a whiner/arrogant?

No, I don't think this is a good topic for an addendum. It will just sound like you took hard(er) courses and your grades reflected that. Nothing uncommon or worth mentioning.

As for the LSAT, @"Cant Get Right" nailed it!