One bad year

[egaertner]

Hi! I just graduated dual baccalaureate in five years. Unfortunately, freshman year I was in a major I didn't like, not adjusting well my first year, parents were divorcing, I was in a new state, etc... and my grades reflected it. The four years after, I got my act together and raised my.GPA substantially, and have a resume I'm very proud of.

1. I want to write an addendum and point out that if you calculate my gpa without my freshman year, it's .53 higher. Is that a good idea?
2. How forgiving may law schools be of an ugly freshman year?

[Dave Killoran]

Hi E,

Thanks for the questions! Let's take a look at both:

• 1. Yes, I would write an addendum explaining this. The freshman first year syndrome is pretty well-known, and since your grades thereafter back up your point, there's no harm in making sure the Adcoms know that your first year was a fluke. I'd take pains to be very careful in how you phrase this. Explaining it is one thing, but definitely make sure it doesn't sound defensive or that you are complaining. Simply note near the end that you knew you could do better, you then did better, and that your first year performance won't happen again should you be so fortune as to gain admission at law school X.
  
  2. Law school is definitely a numbers game, so even though you have a solid reason for that first year, it will still hurt a bit. What the Addendum will do is eliminate questions about overall ability as well as give you a slight advantage in a head-to-head comparison against another candidate with the same GPA but no positive grade trend. If your GPA is below the median, the most sure-fire way to compensate for that is obtaining an LSAT score above the median (see my article on Splitters for more info on this situation).

the bottom line is that writing the Addendum is probably a good idea, and do what you can on the LSAT side to make yourself even more attractive.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!