GPA Addendum Focus?
Edited for typos!!
I’m 30 years old applying to law school for the first time and honestly feeling a little discouraged right now. I had some struggles in undergrad and graduated with a 2.76 cumulative. A huge part of this was a traumatic experience in my first week (SA). I already had very little sense of direction at that point, so I just kind of shut down and did not care about my course work at all my first year.
I started to turn things around during my sophomore year. If you look at all the classes for my 2 majors, I received all As and a few Bs. When it came to classes I took to fulfill requirements or placate parents (before I declared), it’s clear that’s where I struggled. It’s not an excuse, but I now know a lot of that was my undiagnosed ADHD. I could lock in on the stuff I was interested in but just could not get it together for something like Calc II.
I’m now diagnosed (but unmedicated) and have MUCH better skills for working with my ADHD. I’ve had a successful career that includes upward progression and leadership roles, albeit not law related. So I can show that this particular issue won’t come up again in law school.
I’m working on getting my application materials together. I’m definitely going to include a GPA addendum for obvious reasons. But I’m trying to figure out which side(s?) of the story to tell. Do I mention the first year trauma? Or skim over that and talk about ADHD and how I’ve overcome it?
My main goal is to avoid coming across as a whiner. That’s not me. I only want to explain briefly what happened and that it’s absolutely not representative of who I am and what kind of student I can be today. Thoughts?