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How important would you say that one's GPA trend is?

combsnicombsni Free Trial Member
in General 652 karma
My first two years were not great (2.7 GPA), I spent too much time at my fraternity, showing up to class hungover/still drunk, and just did not take school as seriously as I should have. My GPA as since been rising (3.77 average). Will this come into play?
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  • SprinklesSprinkles Alum Member ⭐
    edited October 2016 11542 karma
    For sure. I assume you will write an addendum explaining your GPA, when you do be sure to mention that since settling down, your grades have uptrended dramatically and this will give adcomms belief that you have the potential to be a good student for the school. It's not enough to just say "I'm sorry I messed up but I won't mess up in law school." They need factual evidence to play into this.
  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma
    Upward trends will certainly come into play!
  • combsnicombsni Free Trial Member
    652 karma
    @montaha.rizeq , wouldn't they see that on the transcripts? I am planning to write an addendum but I want to word it extremely carefully. They will see that my GPA dramatically increased with my more difficult courses. I even had one professor that I had sophomore year and junior year talk about the positive change
  • danielznelsondanielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    4181 karma
    @combsni Will that professor be writing a letter of recommendation?
  • SprinklesSprinkles Alum Member ⭐
    11542 karma
    @combsni said:
    wouldn't they see that on the transcripts? I am planning to write an addendum but I want to word it extremely carefully. They will see that my GPA dramatically increased with my more difficult courses. I even had one professor that I had sophomore year and junior year talk about the positive change
    Yes it will show on transcripts but I still think it's good to acknowledge it in the addendum only - you don't want to include any numerical info in your PS or diversity statement if you choose to write one. It's just another opportunity for adcomms to get to know you without being pushy.
  • SprinklesSprinkles Alum Member ⭐
    11542 karma
    Also yes, I assume (and hope) the professor you mentioned will be writing a letter for you? that will assure adcomms even further to not be wary of your GPA hiccup.
  • combsnicombsni Free Trial Member
    652 karma
    @montaha.rizeq yeah, she is! That's what I meant by "talk..."
  • SprinklesSprinkles Alum Member ⭐
    11542 karma
    Ah ok that's awesome! :)
  • Ron SwansonRon Swanson Alum Member Inactive ⭐
    1650 karma
    I'm going to be contrarian here and say the difference of an upward trend will be minimal.

    Your gpa is your gpa..that's what law schools have to report for rankings purposes so the number itself is what matters.

    However, if three students had the same gpa, but one had a big upswing while one was steady and one struggled down the stretch..I'd say the advantage probably goes to the upswing applicant (all other factors equal). So while it's definitely good to trend upward towards the end of UG, I don't think it's a noteworthy factor to the extent that it would make admissions consider your gpa to be higher than what the final number is.
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