Introduction

Your grade point average (GPA) is one of the most important factors in your law school application. It’s also the first thing your admissions officers read during the admissions process. And, we get it: not everyone is perfect.

If your GPA falls short, there’s still hope!

You can explain the extenuating circumstances behind your low GPA and turn the tide in admission.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about writing a GPA addendum for law school. We’ll also cover nitty-gritty details about the GPA addendum, how to write it, and an example for your reference! This will help admissions officers understand your circumstances better. And, more importantly, it’ll maximize your chances of getting accepted into your dream law school!

So, let’s get started!

Table of Contents

1. What is a GPA Addendum?
2. What if I Don’t Have Anything Compelling to Say in my GPA Addendum?
3. When Should I Write a GPA Addendum?
4. How to Write a Compelling GPA Addendum for Law School Admissions
   • Honesty is Worth its Weight in Gold
   • Conciseness is Key
   • Personal Growth Over Time
   • The Importance of Impossibility Within Reason
   • Better in During Law School
   • Records, Documents, and Attachments
5. Example GPA Addendum for Law School
6. FAQ
   • How Long Should a GPA Addendum Be?
   • Do GPA Addendums Work?
   • Can I submit a GPA Addendum After I’ve Submitted My Application?
   • Will a GPA Addendum Make Up for Low Grades?

What is a GPA Addendum?

A GPA addendum, AKA an explanatory statement, is a document submitted to law schools explaining your GPA. It lets you explain and provide context behind any weaknesses, unusual anomalies, or dips in academic performance.

For instance, a student who typically receives straight As may want to write a GPA Addendum if their grades dipped.

You can think of this as sort of a “red flag” explainer.

“A law school addendum offers law school applicants the opportunity to clarify anything in their academic or legal background that could be seen as a red flag by admissions. 

This means that you have the space to tell your story, rather than leave it open to misinterpretation. Proactively addressing any potential issues may show that you can hold yourself accountable and learn from past mistakes or obstacles.”

Ohio Northern University –Pettit College of Law

What if I Don’t Have Anything Compelling to Say in my GPA Addendum?

Well, then… that just makes you a… Law School Adden-dummy!

*Ba Dum, Tss*

Serious answer: If you don’t have anything specific to say about your GPA addendum, there are two potential paths.

1. You actually do have reasons behind your low GPA, but you just don’t know it yet.
2. You simply couldn’t perform well academically, and there’s no other reason.

Let’s talk about the first scenario.

Most people THINK they have no valid excuse for low academic performance. But, they actually have more valid reasons that they just didn’t consider.

Below, we’ve provided a general list of possible reasons for a low GPA.

1. Accidents: Family health problems, struck by a car, breaking a limb.
2. Learning Disabilities: Undiagnosed or diagnosed depression, anxiety, ADHD, dyslexia, etc.
3. Travel: Moving across states or abroad due to familial dedication or job requirements.
4. Developing Unhealthy Work Habits: things like getting burnt out, sleeping late at night, unhealthy procrastination, etc.
5. Outside Commitments: Running a side hustle, a YouTube channel, or practicing a sport are just a few examples.
6. Major Change: If you change your major, you could be facing an unusual shift in academic content. This is especially true for students who go from STEM fields to Liberal arts fields.
7. Having an Unusual or Bad Teacher: Most people don’t think this is a valid reason. Don’t worry, your admissions officers are human. They understand that there are some bad apples in the bunch.

Now, for the second scenario: if you have no valid excuse in your GPA addendum, don’t lose hope. You can still make a solid case for yourself and avoid admissions officers misinterpreting your situation.

First, try to be as honest as possible. Ask yourself why you may have struggled to earn higher marks. Then, articulate this in as clear and professional a voice as possible. This isn’t to get them to feel sorry for you, but to recognize your insufficiencies and clarify why you won’t struggle in the future. Your readers won’t make a 180; but, they’ll appreciate your honesty and understand your circumstances.

You’ll find an example here.

When Should I Write a GPA Addendum?

You don’t ALWAYS have to write a GPA addendum. It’s written only if there are blemishes in your GPA that require extra context to understand. In other words, anything that raises an eyebrow is worth writing a GPA addendum for.

Here are some examples of circumstances:

1. Major Dips or Spikes in GPA: If your GPA increased or decreased dramatically, a GPA addendum is right for you.
2. Extenuating Circumstances: As we’ve mentioned before, any extenuating circumstances can qualify you for a GPA addendum.
3. One Unusual Class: It’s actually very common for our clients to have GPAs ruined by a single class. Often, it’s a gen-ed class where they received a C or D. If you’re someone who received a low grade despite having otherwise high marks, you should write a GPA addendum.

How to Write a Compelling GPA Addendum for Law School Admissions

Okay, let’s cover some GPA Addendum best practices. To explain your low grades for law school admissions, follow each of these steps to make it convincing and solid.

Remember: this is an explanation of low performance in GPA, one of the most important elements. So, don’t skimp out on any of these steps!

Honesty is Worth its Weight in Gold

Honesty is One of the most important things in your law school admissions. Your GPA, LSAT scores, and any other activities and awards will not matter if your words don’t hold water. The admissions office receives countless students attempting to game the system, and stretching the truth is not exempt from that. That’s why your readers will comb through your application carefully and with caution. So, consider addressing at the beginning of your GPA addendum that your GPA may not meet expectations for law school.

Conciseness is Key

Keep your statement short and sweet. That doesn’t mean making your overall GPA addendum shorter than what others write. Rather, try to avoid being more verbose in explanations than absolutely necessary. This is especially important when you get to the “why” part of your addendum. It’s often in explaining “why” that prospective law students get a bit too verbose. As a tip, think of rewriting your sentences over and over. Make them as short as possible WITHOUT losing any crucial context.

Personal Growth Over Time

Contrary to popular belief, mistakes can come with lessons! You can grow from your mistakes over time. Not only that, but you may have even grown and matured without you even knowing it! This is quite common with some of the clients we’ve spoken to during our brainstorming sessions! They don’t realize that while struggling to increase their GPA, they’ve honed their study and work habits. Highlight how you’ve grown and learned from the experiences that contributed to your lower GPA. Some examples include developing a more deterministic temperament, proper work habits, and getting diagnosed with a learning disability.

The Importance of Impossibility Within Reason

When writing your GPA addendum for law school, the tone is key. You need to be professional and avoid sounding too defensive. Take responsibility for any poor academic performance, as it demonstrates the much-needed maturity required to succeed in law school. At the same time, it’s very useful for students to explain if their situations were impossible to improve. Some students, unfortunately, undergo situations in life that make any possible improvements virtually impossible to achieve. For example, living in an abusive situation, undergoing surgery, and other extreme examples make academic improvement impossible within reason. If this applies to you, emphasize the impossibility element. Remember: don’t write this in a blaming manner; you want to demonstrate dignity and humility while writing this!

Better in During Law School

After covering everything, circle back to how you will be a good law student. You’ve learned a lot from your mistakes. So, you can translate this knowledge to your everyday academic life as a prospective law student and future lawyer.

Records, Documents, and Attachments

Some students, depending on their circumstances, may need additional documents to support their claims. For instance, students who suffer from medical issues may need to retrieve medical records. Ensure these documents are permitted, as some schools bar you from sending certain documents such as unsolicited letters of recommendation.

Example GPA Addendum for Law School

Here’s an example of a GPA Addendum for law school. You may use this as inspiration for how to write your own GPA addendum. Don’t copy this example into your application to avoid plagiarism.

“Dear Duke University Office of Admissions,

Thank you for taking the time to consider my addendum; I write this in the hopes of addressing potential concerns regarding my undergraduate GPA. Specifically, I earned a GPA of 3.5, which falls below both Duke Law standards and my own expectaions. I would like to address reasons behind my lower GPA and reasons why I believe these marks don’t reflect my full potential as a future law school candiadte.

To preface, I recognize that my academic performance falls under my responsibiltiy; thus, I take full responsibility for my lacking marks.

During my second and third undergraduate years, I faced significant challenges attempting to catch up with my academic materials. In full transparency, I’m still unsure of why such materials felt difficult at the time. But, It was during those times that my perfromance, motivation, and even mental processing of information was much lower than what I was used to.

In full transparecny, I found myself sleeping through much of the day, with little energy to do general maintenance such as eating or cleaning (let alone my studies.)

Strangely enough, I had not undergone any medical abnormalities nor changes in nutritional diet. In fact, those years appeared to be times of unusal dips in performance; yet, when I decided to apply myself in my senior year, I managed to significantly spike my performance. My motivation rose drastically, and I managed my work time properly whilst keeping a healthy relationship with my school work.

I’m not quite sure what had happened to incite such a change; but, I’ve instantiated my newfound healthy habits and work patterns into my everyday work. Funnily enough, I’m actually more determine and confident in my ability now than ever befre. My new time-management and self-care skills have flourished and helped me manage even some of the unforseen adversities of my senior year (including but not limited to family medical emergencies and dire travel requirements.)

In a contradictory manner, my senior year was more hectic with external issues than my sophomore and junior years; but, my senior year was the one where I performed better nonetheless.

I understand the importance of a high academic performance at Duke Law, and I’m confident that I may fulfill the standards set before me. My overall GPA paints a rather unusual story of my undergraduate experience. But, I hope that my explanation would suffice in providing a more holsitic story for the Admissions Committee.

Thank you once again for taking the time to consider my application and addendum; I understand this is seldom the most typical context for an addendum; but, I hope you will understand and empathize with my sudden arbitrary dip and spike in academic performance, and not see it as an inability on my own part. If you have any questions, I would be happy to clarify.

Sincerely,

Duke University School of Law –Example GPA Addendum

FAQ

Here are a few questions we come across often about writing the GPA addendum for law school.

How Long Should a GPA Addendum Be?

All GPA addendums for law school are subject to your respective campus’ rules. However, if no official rules are articulated on the school website, you should consider the following length and formatting rules.

1. Times New Roman.
2. 12 pt font.
3. Single Space
4. 1-inch margins
5. Full page max

Do GPA Addendums Work?

Here’s the thing. They CAN work depending on how well you’ve written them and how compelling your topic is.

GPA addendums are really only as effective as the topic you’ve given them plus the way you present the information. If you’ve suffered from a severe accident that makes your situation very understandable, you have a much higher chance of your GPA addendum making your GPA seem less bad.

However, if you don’t have any reason for your GPA dipping, you’re going to need to take extra care with your statement. If you don’t know whether your addendum is covering the situation properly, consider speaking with a professional law school admissions consultant on how to write your GPA addendum for law school.

Can I Submit a GPA Addendum After I’ve Submitted my Application?

Often, it’s recommended to submit your GPA addendum alongside your law school application. However, some campuses may have rules allowing you to submit them after the application deadline. Additionally, new information or extenuating circumstances may come up after your submissions that bring to light many reasons behind your low performance. (Example: late diagnoses of learning disorders after the application is submitted.) If this applies to you, you can often submit a GPA addendum after the deadline.

Will a GPA Addendum Make Up for Low Grades?

No.

Although GPA addendums provide context and explain why your grades may have endured a dip or spike, they do NOT make up for low performance. To make up for bad performance would mean completely ignoring the low GPA. At the end of the day, you earned a lower GPA, and that is considered in the admissions process. However, a good GPA addendum can make admissions officers more lenient on your low GPA. It doesn’t make you exempt from the negative connotation, though.

Think of it as a red flag turning into an orange flag. The flag is still there; but, it’s less alarming and scary to admissions officers.

If you’re still unsure of how to write your GPA addendum for law school, don’t worry! We’re here to help! Schedule a free consultation with us here at PenningPapers, and our law school admissions consultants will work with you to craft a compelling GPA addendum for law school that frames your grades in the best way possible. We’ll fight for your acceptance!