if obama had a mediocre gpa, how the hell did get into HLS? Forum

[v_san]

been hearing he had a 2.6 gpa at Columbia... WTH this must be bs, how are you supposed to get into one the best law schools in the world with such bs grades

[Kimikho]

I bet it's because he's half white

[hdunlop]

More like 2.6bama

[eriedoctrine]

AA

[PeanutsNJam]

URM with a 180, maybe? Not even a 180, just anything above 75th.

[eriedoctrine]

URM with a 180, maybe? Not even a 180, just anything above 75th.

LSAT wasn't out of 180, but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing somewhere that he got the equivalent of a 160ish.
He got in because there were way fewer AA at law schools, let alone Harvard.
Also coming out of Columbia as an AA and writing a great PS probably meant something back then.

[FlanAl]

guessing this thread is going to get locked but its also important to note that a 2.6 back then was probably close to like a 3.5 today. Grade inflation was not happening.

[nyanyanya]

guessing this thread is going to get locked but its also important to note that a 2.6 back then was probably close to like a 3.5 today. Grade inflation was not happening.

One L is published in 1977 and the author mentioned something like everyone at hls has fairly good grade in undergrad because of grade inflation.
Obama entered Harvard in 1988.

edit: but I do agree that a 2.6 in 1988 should be much better than a 2.6 today.

[TheSpanishMain]

URM with a 180, maybe? Not even a 180, just anything above 75th.

LSAT wasn't out of 180, but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing somewhere that he got the equivalent of a 160ish.
He got in because there were way fewer AA at law schools, let alone Harvard.
Also coming out of Columbia as an AA and writing a great PS probably meant something back then.

I Googled "Obama LSAT" and got this: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government ... LSAT-Score which suggests he had something around a 168-169. And this is from Breitbart, which would obviously be inclined to lowball his LSAT score.

[sideroxylon]

I had always assumed that Obama's GPA was quite high, and the reason he didn't share it is because you lose some of the power of "yeah, we have a black president!" when you recognize how much of an outlier he is.

He was EIC of HLR. He was a law professor. He's obviously very very good at school. He might have had worse grades in undergrad, but it's clear that he was successful academically after that.

[TheodoreKGB]

.

[2807]

I bet it's because he's half white

Awesome.

[Desert Fox]

I had always assumed that Obama's GPA was quite high, and the reason he didn't share it is because you lose some of the power of "yeah, we have a black president!" when you recognize how much of an outlier he is.

He was EIC of HLR. He was a law professor. He's obviously very very good at school. He might have had worse grades in undergrad, but it's clear that he was successful academically after that.

However he got in, he graduated magna.

[el madrileno]

However he got in, he graduated magna.

How did Michelle do?

[BankruptMe]

I read:

3.5 GPA
165-169 LSAT
3-5 years of community service
1 - 2 years of global markets research at Business International

And either way, he graduated Magna, and head of HLR.

[rinkrat19]

The 2.6 GPA "report" is supposedly from an anonymous wealthy Columbia donor who also happens to be a Marine vet who reported to The Daily Caller, a conservative website. Totally legit, I'm sure.

Obama's biographer says he had a 3.7 at Columbia, btw.

[Moneytrees]

I had always assumed that Obama's GPA was quite high, and the reason he didn't share it is because you lose some of the power of "yeah, we have a black president!" when you recognize how much of an outlier he is.

He was EIC of HLR. He was a law professor. He's obviously very very good at school. He might have had worse grades in undergrad, but it's clear that he was successful academically after that.

This is not necessarily true. First off, he didn't actually get into Columbia for UG but transferred there from Occidental. He claims he got a 3.7 at Columbia, but has never received honors in college and hasn't released any of his transcripts. Obama's a smart man and an even smarter politician, but I think the evidence thus far supports the notion that he was not an outstanding student until he got to Harvard.

Btw, Harvard has the luxury to take into account an applicant's intangible elements when making an admissions decision. It could be true that Obama's numbers weren't at a Harvard level but that the admissions committee appreciated some of the other qualities he brought to the table. Top schools like Harvard are always trying to bring in future leaders and innovators, and admitting a handful of those types of students every year doesn't hurt their medians in the slightest.

[Winston1984]

This is thread is awful.

[sublime]

..

[patogordo]

see this is what's wrong with AA. you let undeserving minorities in and they accomplish nothing. i bet the white dude who got bumped would have got at least V20.

[Winston1984]

see this is what's wrong with AA. you let undeserving minorities in and they accomplish nothing. i bet the white dude who got bumped would have got at least V20.

[LSL]

LOL oh my fucking god at this question again.

RIDDLE ME THIS BATTERED VICTIMS OF AA PRIVILEGE: On a scale of self-important hill intern to social-climbing prestige whore how mad are you that GPA doesn't necessarily factor as "GOAT important thing"?

[bjsesq]

I bet it's because he's half white

I just laughed at a Scoobers joke.






































Fuck

[A. Nony Mouse]

Nah, scoobers is good people.

[84651846190]

Remind me again, is it harder to have a good UG GPA or get elected POTUS?