Writing a GPA Addendum

[ndimas]

Hi! I have a couple questions regarding the GPA addendum. First off, my GPA is pretty low as it is a 2.98. I know that I will need to write a GPA addendum to explain why it is so low. During my second year at the university, I had a really tough quarter as I had to work to send money back home due to my family's financial issues. Trying to balance my heavy workload as well as my school work was extremely challenging, and I considered taking the quarter off as I saw my grades were dropping. I decided to push through and finish the quarter however, I was not able to pick up my grades in time so I decided to switch my classes from letter grades to no passes. Thus, I ended that quarter with 3 no passes. At the time, I did not know that law schools calculated no passes as F's on your transcript so the decision to switch to no passes ended up back firing on me in the long run. Thus, although I ended my undergraduate GPA with a 3.14, the LSAC calculation came out to a 2.98 after calculating the no passes into my GPA. I am not sure how to address all of this in the GPA addendum. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

[Dave Killoran]

Good question! Address it just how you have here, by explaining what happened in an even and calm manner. Add a few more details (why did you need to send money back to the family, for example) but your explanation of changing to No Passes and how that backfired is a a reasonable one, and will make sense to Adcomms. Give them as much relevant info as possible, and make the point that your LSAC GPA isn't a true reflection of your ability.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[ndimas]

Thank you for the feedback! It definitely helps! I will use it to structure my addendum. Thanks!!