Lesson Eight: The Addendum

The “Additional Information” Essay

A poor grade, a period of unemployment, a low test score, or academic punishment does not have to automatically end your chances of admission to your dream school.

But not taking ownership with a proper, mature explanation in your addendum can do just that.

Even for the most studious and disciplined students, life happens. You may have to drop out for a semester because of financial difficulties; you may struggle to perform academically while a close family member struggles with illness; or you may have personal circumstances that lead to a gap in your resume. And sometimes, there does not even seem to be a good excuse—you just had a bad semester or struggled to find a job.

The addendum is your chance to frame these mistakes in a mature light. It shows you take responsibility, understand what went wrong, and have learned the proper lessons to prevent or minimize the chances of similar situations from happening in law school. It is your best—and only—chance to make the admissions committee understand a smear on your application.

Brainstorming for the Addendum

For a lot of students, you’ll already know what you want to write about, because you are not proud of it. You know your sub-3.0 GPA sophomore year does not reflect your capabilities, and you know the DUI arrest you got did not just “happen.” If you have even a gut feeling about what to write about, odds are good you should.

But what if you are unsure if you should say anything? Here are some general guidelines for when you should add anything here:

·      If you have a grade of C or below in any course or a semester or year with a GPA significantly lower than normal. For many of the top schools, you need at least a 3.75 GPA to be considered—at Duke, for example, the median GPA of admitted students is 3.78. Given that a C will equal a 2.0 GPA at almost every school, this can cripple your overall GPA and set you below the median. Similarly, a semester where you only average a B or B- can give you a GPA below 3.0 for 1/8th of your college career. If you can justify these low grades with extenuating circumstances, it will make the schools look more closely at your application.

·      If you dropped out of a course or out of school. In the absence of information, a law school may conclude you found the course too hard or could not handle the stress of college. Do not let them think this.

·      If you have a low LSAT score—because of an unexpected disaster the day of the test. Do not say you are not a good test taker—law school is too competitive for this to be a valid excuse, especially when considering the T14 schools. Do not say you didn’t study well enough or were nervous on the day of the test—if you write about this, law schools will doubt if you have the aptitude for a career in the legal field. But if, for example, you fell ill with a terrible virus the day of the test, you got in a car crash and showed up late and injured, or you had a family member suffer a heart attack in the middle of your LSAT, law schools will have more sympathy.

·      If you have any academic misconduct or criminal charges. If you are going to be in a career as ethically serious as the law, you have to explain any academic or civil charges. Sometimes, you will fill this information out in the Character & Fitness section (see the next page for that), but if not, you should address it here.

If you know what to say, how do you say it? Keep these three things in mind.

·      Be honest. Do not lie about what you did, do not make excuses, and do not go overboard into unnecessary details. Just lay out the facts as they are, not as you want the admissions committee to believe they are.

·      Take ownership of why it happened. If you write about a “C” and say the teacher had it out for you, that will hurt your chances of admission. If you got a DUI and say your friend peer pressured you into driving, that will hurt your odds of admission. Even if it is embarrassing to admit what you are writing about, ownership shows maturity and an applicant who understands their mistake. Blaming others shows you are not ready for the ethical burdens of law.

·      Discuss how you have grown. Just admitting your mistakes and taking responsibility will not go far enough—law schools have to know what you have learned or done so you will not repeat the mistake. Be detailed and discuss what you have done to improve.

To better understand these points, look at these passages from one sample addendum:

The first disciplinary incident occurred during the spring semester of my freshman year. A couple of weeks before final exams, I stole a neon sign to a food vendor’s truck. As a result, I was issued a warning and required to complete several educational tasks.

Here, the student does not try to excuse their behavior; they simply explain it and the consequences. This sort of factual, straightforward ownership is as good a start as you can ask for. You do not need, for example, to go into details about how much alcohol you had consumed, how your friends dared you to do it, or how you thought it would be funny—just say what happened, period.

I remedied my actions by completing twenty hours of community service hours, wrote a reflection paper of my experience with the service, and worked for the food truck vendor for five eight-hour shifts.

Here, the student writes how they took ownership of it. They don’t blame anyone else, they say that they took the steps to remedy their actions, including going above and beyond the punishment. Again, this is a spot where you don’t need to color your experiences—just say what happened.

As a result of these experiences, I take more caution in my actions and make sure to respect others’ property.

Finally, they close with a succinct note about how they will act going forward, making it clear they have changed overall. Ending the essay like this shows the student has learned from their mistakes to avoid repeating them—and for that reason, they stand a much better chance of being understood by the admissions committee and having their mistake forgiven.

Not all schools, however, will need an addendum. All schools, however, will have something we will cover next—Character & Fitness questions.