Addendum needed?

[bluberry98]

Hello, I have a question regarding addendums...

My undergraduate major, internships, and work experience are all in an area that shows that law school is clearly a pretty recent decision for me. I already have my personal statement written ( it is on a completely different topic) and I’m pretty happy with it, so my question is: do I need to write an separate addendum explaining why I decided to switch my career path last minute?

Thanks

[KelseyWoods]

Hi bluberry98!

People from all sorts of different academic backgrounds and careers apply to law school. You do not need to have majored in pre-law/political science/history/etc. and have worked as a paralegal in order to demonstrate your interest in law. Law schools welcome diverse perspectives and experiences. If you had a particularly compelling reason for wanting to go to law school or for how your previous experiences had inspired you to go to law school or for how you would work that prior knowledge into your career as a lawyer, I assume you would have addressed it in your personal statement. But if the school does not directly ask you to address why you want to go to law school, then you do not need to provide them with any specific reason.

Addenda are used to explain issues with your application, such as a low GPA or a low LSAT score or a criminal record. A background in a field that is seemingly unrelated to law (really I could argue that almost anything could be related to the law) is not an issue and is really more of an asset as a way to make you standout from the stack of applicants. If a school gives you the opportunity to write an optional essay (different than an addenda) explaining why you want to go to law school and you believe you have a compelling reason to write about, go for it. But if your reason is anything along the lines of "I realized I don't want to go to med school because I hate needles so I thought I would give law a try," there's no need to share that with the admissions committee. Optional essays should only be used as a way of adding valuable material to your application, not submitting lackluster responses about things you think they want to hear.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Best,
Kelsey