Well, then let’s do a back of the envelope calculation based on statistics of today’s student bodies. Let’s stipulate that due to affirmative action, students of color are at the bottom of their class.
Harvard Law School’s class body is 40% of students of color. The 25 percentile LSAT score at Harvard Law is 170, and score 170 is 97.5th percentile among people who take the LSAT. So at least (40%-25%)/40% = 37.5% of the students of color at Harvard Law have a 97.5th percentile LSAT. Let’s assume that a black editor of the Harvard Law Review will be among those top students of color, so at least 25% percentile among HLS students. Based on his race, university and editorship, we estimate that Obama has a 97.5th percentile LSAT score or greater.
Compared to Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School relies less on standardized tests and enrolls fewer students of color (25% vs 40% for Harvard Law). George Bush, being white, is in the upper 75% section of the class. I know of no indication to suggest that he was an exceptional student, so I’ll put him in the middle of the white range (62.5 percentile). That corresponds to an GMAT score percentile of about 96 or 97 percent.
No, this is not a rigorous analysis, but it’s an improvement over a simple race prior (which I think is pretty crazy)
Well, then let’s do a back of the envelope calculation based on statistics of today’s student bodies. Let’s stipulate that due to affirmative action, students of color are at the bottom of their class.
Harvard Law School’s class body is 40% of students of color. The 25 percentile LSAT score at Harvard Law is 170, and score 170 is 97.5th percentile among people who take the LSAT. So at least (40%-25%)/40% = 37.5% of the students of color at Harvard Law have a 97.5th percentile LSAT. Let’s assume that a black editor of the Harvard Law Review will be among those top students of color, so at least 25% percentile among HLS students. Based on his race, university and editorship, we estimate that Obama has a 97.5th percentile LSAT score or greater.
Compared to Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School relies less on standardized tests and enrolls fewer students of color (25% vs 40% for Harvard Law). George Bush, being white, is in the upper 75% section of the class. I know of no indication to suggest that he was an exceptional student, so I’ll put him in the middle of the white range (62.5 percentile). That corresponds to an GMAT score percentile of about 96 or 97 percent.
No, this is not a rigorous analysis, but it’s an improvement over a simple race prior (which I think is pretty crazy)