Why hasn't Obama released his college transcripts?

[XMan]

College transcripts and grades were huge issue in '00 and '04 . . . the media has made a big deal about McCain's poor performance at the Naval Academy - why aren't they being unbiased in this regard?

The only info I was able to find was that he graduated from Columbia without honors, so it was likely his GPA was 2.0-3.0 or so. He did graduate SCL from Harvard . . . but how in the world did he get into Harvard with such a low GPA? (For full disclosure, that was MY GPA when I went to college and I had troubles getting other college opportunities). And how did he get such good grades at Harvard after being a mediocre student at Columbia, which to me should be regarded as an easier school?

I am genuinely being curious here, and not trying to pick a fight.

Title edited to be more unbiased.

 

[Deeko]

Ah....isn't graduating with honors something like 3.7 or higher, depending on the school? So why do you assume he had a C average?

If he graduated from Columbia (not exactly a bad school like you make it seem) with a 3.65, and ended up getting into Harvard, I wouldn't be too concerned with his grades....

 

[dbk]

He became the 1st black president of the Harvard Law Review. 'Nuff said.

 

[CanOWorms]

URMs (under-represented minorities) have huge increases in their law school applications. You can basically add 10 points to their LSAT.

 

[Farang]

As Deeko said you are assuming his grades were much lower than they could have been. He entered Harvard at something like 29 and had done a lot of community service stuff before that, plus he went to one of the top schools in the country and was black. A 3.0-3.5 would probably give him a good shot at getting in with that resume.

Also grades are largely a result of motivation. I have a 2.9 because I was extremely lazy my first year, but now that I get good grades it is because I do the assignments and not because I'm smarter than anyone else. So for him to do better at Harvard years later does not surprise me.

 

[jpeyton]

Did you get Palin to release her transcripts yet?

Don't throw stones when you live in glass houses :laugh:

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Ah....isn't graduating with honors something like 3.7 or higher, depending on the school? So why do you assume he had a C average?

If he graduated from Columbia (not exactly a bad school like you make it seem) with a 3.65, and ended up getting into Harvard, I wouldn't be too concerned with his grades....

He graduated from Columbia without honors per the Wall Street Journal. He's himself said that he was abusing drugs during that time period, so to me, if he cleaned his act up and kicked ass at Harvard, kudos to him.

 

[Dari]

His GPA at Columbia was a 3.8 (out of 4), I believe. And Columbia is a very tough school, much tougher than Harvard where the professors are too busy with their pet projects. For undergrads, Columbia has a reputation for being a place where you just study.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Farang
As Deeko said you are assuming his grades were much lower than they could have been. He entered Harvard at something like 29 and had done a lot of community service stuff before that, plus he went to one of the top schools in the country and was black. A 3.0-3.5 would probably give him a good shot at getting in with that resume.

Also grades are largely a result of motivation. I have a 2.9 because I was extremely lazy my first year, but now that I get good grades it is because I do the assignments and not because I'm smarter than anyone else. So for him to do better at Harvard years later does not surprise me.

None of his activities would matter. Law schools really only care about undergrad GPA, LSAT score, and if you're a URM. Everything else is just a minor factor.

 

[First]

Originally posted by: XMan

I am genuinely being curious here, and not trying to pick a fight.

Then you're intellectually challenged.

 

[First]

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: Deeko
Ah....isn't graduating with honors something like 3.7 or higher, depending on the school? So why do you assume he had a C average?

If he graduated from Columbia (not exactly a bad school like you make it seem) with a 3.65, and ended up getting into Harvard, I wouldn't be too concerned with his grades....

He graduated from Columbia without honors per the Wall Street Journal. He's himself said that he was abusing drugs during that time period, so to me, if he cleaned his act up and kicked ass at Harvard, kudos to him.

rofl.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Evan Lieb

Originally posted by: XMan

I am genuinely being curious here, and not trying to pick a fight.

Then you're intellectually challenged.

WTF? Personal attack much?

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Dari
His GPA at Columbia was a 3.8 (out of 4), I believe. And Columbia is a very tough school, much tougher than Harvard where the professors are too busy with their pet projects. For undergrads, Columbia has a reputation for being a place where you just study.

Do you have a source for the 3.8? Just because the source I found said without honors was significantly lower than that.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

This is a strange topic. Why would he go out of his way to release his transcripts? I can't imagine he has anything to be ashamed of - it would just seem like a weirdly arrogant act to release his Ivy League transcripts for no apparent reason.

As another poster has observed, I don't know why you are assuming he had such a low GPA. I had a 3.4 in college (from the University of WI) and didn't graduate with honors. I did very well on the LSAT and was still able to get into a number of top 25 law schools (though I'm sure I couldn't have gotten into Harvard and didn't try). A decent GPA from an Ivy League undergrad school, combined with strong LSATs, an interesting personal story, and, let's face it, minority status, would have made him a strong candidate for any law school in the US.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: Farang
As Deeko said you are assuming his grades were much lower than they could have been. He entered Harvard at something like 29 and had done a lot of community service stuff before that, plus he went to one of the top schools in the country and was black. A 3.0-3.5 would probably give him a good shot at getting in with that resume.

Also grades are largely a result of motivation. I have a 2.9 because I was extremely lazy my first year, but now that I get good grades it is because I do the assignments and not because I'm smarter than anyone else. So for him to do better at Harvard years later does not surprise me.

None of his activities would matter. Law schools really only care about undergrad GPA, LSAT score, and if you're a URM. Everything else is just a minor factor.

I'm aware of that but I think when you get to a school like Harvard and everybody is submitting a 4.0 GPA and a 175 LSAT, you've better have done something or you aren't getting in. I mean look at their admission statistics, you could ace everything and still not make it.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: Deeko
Ah....isn't graduating with honors something like 3.7 or higher, depending on the school? So why do you assume he had a C average?

If he graduated from Columbia (not exactly a bad school like you make it seem) with a 3.65, and ended up getting into Harvard, I wouldn't be too concerned with his grades....

He graduated from Columbia without honors per the Wall Street Journal. He's himself said that he was abusing drugs during that time period, so to me, if he cleaned his act up and kicked ass at Harvard, kudos to him.

Yes.....that's exactly what I said. I don't know what Columbia's requirement for graduating with honors is, but at most schools it's in the upper 3s, therefore, your assumption that he was in the 2 range is asinine.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Did you get Palin to release her transcripts yet?

Don't throw stones when you live in glass houses :laugh:

She probably had a higher GPA than McCain.

Like I said, I'm not trying to pick a fight. I don't why you have to be a dick when I'm asking an honest question.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: Deeko
Ah....isn't graduating with honors something like 3.7 or higher, depending on the school? So why do you assume he had a C average?

If he graduated from Columbia (not exactly a bad school like you make it seem) with a 3.65, and ended up getting into Harvard, I wouldn't be too concerned with his grades....

He graduated from Columbia without honors per the Wall Street Journal. He's himself said that he was abusing drugs during that time period, so to me, if he cleaned his act up and kicked ass at Harvard, kudos to him.

Yes.....that's exactly what I said. I don't know what Columbia's requirement for graduating with honors is, but at most schools it's in the upper 3s, therefore, your assumption that he was in the 2 range is asinine.

It wasn't my assumption at all, that was the info that was posted on the Wiki I was reading.

 

[jpeyton]

Well a 3.8 GPA at Columbia and graduating with honors from Harvard isn't exactly like graduating 6th from the bottom of your Naval Academy class, or switching schools 6 timesi n 6 years before graduating from the University of Idaho :laugh:

What are you trying to prove? That the GOP nominated village idiots for the third election in a row? :laugh:

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: Farang
As Deeko said you are assuming his grades were much lower than they could have been. He entered Harvard at something like 29 and had done a lot of community service stuff before that, plus he went to one of the top schools in the country and was black. A 3.0-3.5 would probably give him a good shot at getting in with that resume.

Also grades are largely a result of motivation. I have a 2.9 because I was extremely lazy my first year, but now that I get good grades it is because I do the assignments and not because I'm smarter than anyone else. So for him to do better at Harvard years later does not surprise me.

None of his activities would matter. Law schools really only care about undergrad GPA, LSAT score, and if you're a URM. Everything else is just a minor factor.

I'm aware of that but I think when you get to a school like Harvard and everybody is submitting a 4.0 GPA and a 175 LSAT, you've better have done something or you aren't getting in. I mean look at their admission statistics, you could ace everything and still not make it.

They accept URMs with LSATs in the 160s.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Did you get Palin to release her transcripts yet?

Don't throw stones when you live in glass houses :laugh:

She probably had a higher GPA than McCain.

Like I said, I'm not trying to pick a fight. I don't why you have to be a dick when I'm asking an honest question.

Your honest question is fucking stupid. Graduating Harvard Law magna cum laude precludes a need to further examine an academic record if your goal is to determine whether or not the candidate possesses intellectual acumen. It's akin to asking whether a NASCAR champion passed his drivers license exam when he was 17. Go away with your honest questions.

And McCain graduated 894 of 899. Everyone had a higher GPA than he did.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Did you get Palin to release her transcripts yet?

Don't throw stones when you live in glass houses :laugh:

She probably had a higher GPA than McCain.

Like I said, I'm not trying to pick a fight. I don't why you have to be a dick when I'm asking an honest question.

That ain't saying much.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: Farang
As Deeko said you are assuming his grades were much lower than they could have been. He entered Harvard at something like 29 and had done a lot of community service stuff before that, plus he went to one of the top schools in the country and was black. A 3.0-3.5 would probably give him a good shot at getting in with that resume.

Also grades are largely a result of motivation. I have a 2.9 because I was extremely lazy my first year, but now that I get good grades it is because I do the assignments and not because I'm smarter than anyone else. So for him to do better at Harvard years later does not surprise me.

None of his activities would matter. Law schools really only care about undergrad GPA, LSAT score, and if you're a URM. Everything else is just a minor factor.

I'm aware of that but I think when you get to a school like Harvard and everybody is submitting a 4.0 GPA and a 175 LSAT, you've better have done something or you aren't getting in. I mean look at their admission statistics, you could ace everything and still not make it.

They accept URMs with LSATs in the 160s.

I suppose this is a pointless argument because there is no way to prove it but I'm bored, so. . . how many URMs do you think apply with LSATs in the 160s? How many get in? What do you think the deciding factor is? Community organizing or volunteer work or other experience. I know the GPA/LSAT package basically seals your fate I'm just saying with the top schools from what I've read you have to have shown some leadership abilities if you aren't a 4.0/175/URM candidate.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: Evan Lieb

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: Deeko
Ah....isn't graduating with honors something like 3.7 or higher, depending on the school? So why do you assume he had a C average?

If he graduated from Columbia (not exactly a bad school like you make it seem) with a 3.65, and ended up getting into Harvard, I wouldn't be too concerned with his grades....

He graduated from Columbia without honors per the Wall Street Journal. He's himself said that he was abusing drugs during that time period, so to me, if he cleaned his act up and kicked ass at Harvard, kudos to him.

rofl.

Responding with an internet meme to discredit someone's post is brilliant! I must learn these tactics......

 

[thraashman]

Originally posted by: XMan
College transcripts and grades were huge issue in '00 and '04 . . . the media has made a big deal about McCain's poor performance at the Naval Academy - why aren't they being unbiased in this regard?

The only info I was able to find was that he graduated from Columbia without honors, so it was likely his GPA was 2.0-3.0 or so. He did graduate SCL from Harvard . . . but how in the world did he get into Harvard with such a low GPA? (For full disclosure, that was MY GPA when I went to college and I had troubles getting other college opportunities). And how did he get such good grades at Harvard after being a mediocre student at Columbia, which to me should be regarded as an easier school?

I am genuinely being curious here, and not trying to pick a fight.

He could have had a 2.0-3.0 or he could have had a 3.4 even. Unfortunately what represents cum laude or not is not standard from school to school, or even year to year within a school. I know my best friend who's also one of the smartest people I know graduated from UGA without honors and a GPA around a 3.3 (he's on here, he'll correct me if I'm wrong). Also from the Wikipedia "graduating with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991" so he was actually MCL, not SCL.

I personally graduated with a 2.47 and make more than most of my friends who did better than me! So grades aren't all that matters, but in truth I admit to being a complete slacker in college.