Posted on 07/17/2008 7:16:27 PM PDT by Jo Nuvark
OK, let’s give this a try...I am Mensa qualified (143) and scored a 48 out of 50 on the old LSAT (the one Barack actually took), which was in the 97th percentile. Now that I have crowed about my credentials, since we applied to Law School the same year, I know something of the processes back then. Harvard still accepted the LSAT back then (though shortly thereafter it became optional). I don’t think the LSAT translates to IQ score or Mensa well.
Given all that, the tell tale evidence on Barack’s raw skills lies in the acceptance and matriculation to Occidental Collge in Los Angeles. Punahou is Hawaii’s best high school. The era was the height of affirmative action. If he had the goods back then, he could have easily done better than Occidental which is ranked by US News & World Reports on the much smaller Liberal Arts list at number 36 (list does not include the majors or the ivys). My guess is an IQ in the low 120s and an SAT between 1100-1200 (largely on the strength of the verbal) and an LSAT score between 39 and 41 (old test). That is where my smart, African American friends back in law school fell. One was a Princeton grad who may have actually been there with Michelle Obama (early to mid 80’s). It’d be interesting to see how close I am to pegging this.
OK, let’s give this a try...I am Mensa qualified (143) and scored a 48 out of 50 on the old LSAT (the one Barack actually took), which was in the 97th percentile. Now that I have crowed about my credentials, since we applied to Law School the same year, I know something of the processes back then. Harvard still accepted the LSAT back then (though shortly thereafter it became optional). I don’t think the LSAT translates to IQ score or Mensa well.
Given all that, the tell tale evidence on Barack’s raw skills lies in the acceptance and matriculation to Occidental Collge in Los Angeles. Punahou is Hawaii’s best high school. The era was the height of affirmative action. If he had the goods back then, he could have easily done better than Occidental which is ranked by US News & World Reports on the much smaller Liberal Arts list at number 36 (list does not include the majors or the ivys). My guess is an IQ in the low 120s and an SAT between 1100-1200 (largely on the strength of the verbal) and an LSAT score between 39 and 41 (old test). That is where my smart, African American friends back in law school fell. One was a Princeton grad who may have actually been there with Michelle Obama (early to mid 80’s). It’d be interesting to see how close I am to pegging this.
You lose 3 points for triple posting!
It’s not good to know your own IQ. I once learned mine and since then have felt like an underachiever.
However, I agree with the point that MENSA is raw intelligence only. Some (or many) of MENSA members are dumb as ditch water when it comes to real-world functioning. (Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.)
Congressman Billybob
First four in the series, "American Government: The Owner's Manual" are here, and also on FR
I’m teasing of course, but why do you mensa folks post your messages three times? ;-)
I enjoyed your post. I share your interest in knowing more about Obama’s credentials.
Sailer doesn't offer a number for Obama, but the commenters discuss it. One comment, taking issue with another's estimate of 120, remarked:
Law school grades are incredibly correlated with IQ. It's nothing like grades in college classes. It would be incredibly difficult for someone with a 120 IQ to be Magna at HLS as Obama was.Don't have the numbers for Obama's class, but Harvard has always been an elite law school. The most recent LSAT data reports a 25th/75th percentile split of 169-175. A 169 is 97.55 and a 175 is 99.67. Those are percentiles of people who take the LSAT; ie, college graduates planning on going to law school. Law school grades are strictly curved and based on hihgly g-loaded blindly graded "issue spotting" exams. I really cannot emphasize enough how different this is from simply getting As as a political science undergrad.
Obama was in the top quarter of his class at ruthlessly competitive Harvard Law School. It's impossible to argue he's not very bright. He's not just eloquent or charismatic.
[... Woodrow Wilson’s IQ was possibly the highest of any President, and he
gave us the income tax, the Fed, US entry into WWI, the League of Nations ...]
And more...
UNION THUGGERY ... Clayton Anti-Trust Act allowed important labor tools like strikes, pickets, and boycotts (1914)
PROHIBITION ... Eighteenth Amendment ratified prohibiting alcoholic beverages (1919)
UNION THUGGERY ... Nineteenth Amendment ratified giving women the right to vote (1920)
I saw the Steve Sailer blog as well.
I’m just sayin’... if he has an IQ
score, why not just report it?
I am generally unimpressed with Obama’s scholarship. As best I can determine, there is not a whole lot of there there. Whenever Bambi talks about a subject I know well, it becomes evident that he does not know what he is talking about.
The punditocracy is confusing his gift of gab and ability to read off a teleprompter with high-level intelligence. FGS, Al Sharpton has a gift of gab. I would not count on either one to solve any problem involving public safety.
I would guess Bambi’s IQ to be in the 120-130 range.
I have read Michelle’s thesis. Why anyone considers her brilliant is lost on me. Besides, she has said one dumb thing after another on the campaign trail.
If Harvard has the same requirements for AA's as Princeton does, it's 3.5 gpa or a mid B. I took Mensa's test and it said I could "probably" join with a 140. (I doubt it, I have very little secondary education).
Affirmative Action might get him in a good school, but it doesn't make him smart.
“My husband and son qualify for Mensa. Qualifying for Mensa doesn’t mean much. You can be smart and be a terrible leader and have terrible stances on issues.”
Uh-oh. I detect a bit of a family conflict here. OK, we won’t saying anything bad about your LIBERAL husband.
I don’t know my IQ Score either.
My parents decided it wasn’t important.
I find myself over compensating - just
in case I’m not very smart.
I am not sure the LSAT data tell you much. Bambi was probably a legacy admit. (His father was a Harvard alum).
Sorry about that, computer glitch!!!
Lose 10 more if you wear hat with the visor on back!
“If Harvard has the same requirements for AA’s as Princeton does, it’s 3.5 gpa or a mid B. I took Mensa’s test and it said I could “probably” join with a 140. (I doubt it, I have very little secondary education).
Affirmative Action might get him in a good school, but it doesn’t make him smart.”
I agree!
“I am not sure the LSAT data tell you much. Bambi was probably a legacy admit. (His father was a Harvard alum).”
-great point that has been overlooked thusfar.
Love Krauthammer too.
Commissioner Price is a nitwit.
I understand the compelling
relationship between the LSAT
and IQ. However, Affirmative
Action changes everything.
There are a lot of phenomenal
imposters prancing around out
there with toilet paper sticking
out of their trousers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.