Should I write a transcript addendum (international 'above average')? Forum

[TuviaG]

I'm a US citizen, but did my undergrad outside of the US. I began my BA in a Middle Eastern country, got straight A's the first semester, hated it, and applied out. I got into a top LLB program in England (without any credit transferred), and they told me they didn't care if I finished the year at my university.

US Law school wasn't something I was considering at the time, so I told my existing school that I was leaving and only wanted to take 2 classes which were interesting to me. They didn't have a 'withdraw' procedure, so I got a non-punitive incomplete for 5/7 classes second semester. I left with an A-avg on my GPA, and spent my time studying language, traveling, etc. I was on a scholarship and thus didn't care about the tuition.

Fast-forward, and I've decided to apply for a JD after taking some time to work, because I'd like to move to the US and practice there. I've read that US law schools don't care much about international transcripts, since they don't affect their rankings. Given that I have an A-avg listed for my first year of university and have an 'above-average' evaluation, should I write an addendum about the non-punitive incompletes (potentially drawing attention to them), or leave it?

[The Lsat Airbender]

"I didn't know my grades were going to matter" is a bad angle for an addendum, and you don't even have a problem worth addressing here: Above Average isn't that bad, nor are non-punitive incompletes.

If you're worried the pattern of dropping a bunch of classes and then transferring will look weird, you can drop a sentence in your personal statement about why you transferred.