2016 elections - because it's never too early

[DGuller]

Kaisich sounds the least crazy of the Republican candidates, true.  However, one has to be careful to not let one's calibration of sanity be affected by the average sanity level of the debate stage.  If you put only Hitler, Stalin, and Mao on the debate stage, then Stalin may come off looking reasonable.  Another thing is that your downsides start featuring prominently only if you ever appear to be a threat, which Kaisich hasn't managed so far.  Until then, only Ohio residents may have a truly informed opinion.

[LaCroix]

Obama is smarter than Rubio because he went to Ivy league schools instead of UF and Miami?

no, obama is smarter than rubio because obama graduated magna cum laude from harvard law school. by all accounts, he was a freaking rock star. not to mention the fact that some black, weed smoking hawaiian with little experience became the president of the united states at 47 years old.

this isn't simply ivy league v. state school. you could maybe make that argument if this were undergrad. but this is law school. the difference in the caliber of students between harvard law school and miami school of law is, on average, insane. I don't know how canadian law schools grade their students, but in the US it's on a curve -- everyone knows the material; getting to the top means outperforming everyone around you.

now, you can't just say "harvard law graduate is better than miami law graduate." there are exceptions, such as the occasional brilliant student who attends a lower ranked school for personal reasons, but rubio easily wasn't that type of student -- he graduated cum laude. so, say what you will about obama's presidency, but he's brilliant. that's why I would have no problem voting for cruz. from the very little that I know about cruz, he doesn't have weird personality traits (fiorina's painting or trump's 19th century imperialistic view of how the world works). while the social conservatism he preaches are outdated, I don't see how he could change anything in the US with those views (if he actually has them).

[Malthus]

Obama is smarter than Rubio because he went to Ivy league schools instead of UF and Miami?

no, obama is smarter than rubio because obama graduated magna cum laude from harvard law school. by all accounts, he was a freaking rock star. not to mention the fact that some black, weed smoking hawaiian with little experience became the president of the united states at 47 years old.

this isn't simply ivy league v. state school. you could maybe make that argument if this were undergrad. but this is law school. the difference in the caliber of students between harvard law school and miami school of law is, on average, insane. I don't know how canadian law schools grade their students, but in the US it's on a curve -- everyone knows the material; getting to the top means outperforming everyone around you.

now, you can't just say "harvard law graduate is better than miami law graduate." there are exceptions, such as the occasional brilliant student who attends a lower ranked school for personal reasons, but rubio easily wasn't that type of student -- he graduated cum laude. so, say what you will about obama's presidency, but he's brilliant. that's why I would have no problem voting for cruz. from the very little that I know about cruz, he doesn't have weird personality traits (fiorina's painting or trump's 19th century imperialistic view of how the world works). while the social conservatism he preaches are outdated, I don't see how he could change anything in the US with those views (if he actually has them).

Canada doesn't really have rock star law schools where the difference in student caliber is "insane" between the top ranked school and the average. Most of them are pretty well on a level.*

*Except, of course, for U of M. That one is for dunces. 

[Eddie Teach]

*Except, of course, for U of M. That one is for dunces. 

Only the really mediocre firms will consider their grads?

[LaCroix]

Canada doesn't really have rock star law schools where the difference in student caliber is "insane" between the top ranked school and the average. Most of them are pretty well on a level.*

*Except, of course, for U of M. That one is for dunces. 

yeah, I think I remember seeing that when I looked up canadian law school reqs (to figure out why so many canadians enrolled at my school). all your law schools (except for like one or two iirc?) have pretty massive LSAT/GPA requirements compared to a ton of US law schools, including mine. I couldn't have gotten into a canadian law school because my LSAT score was hilariously low.

(edit) http://www.oxfordseminars.ca/LSAT/lsat_profiles.php

LSAT isn't as high as I remembered, but those average GPAs... (except for Sask ). UND's was 3.3~ GPA and 150~ LSAT iirc when I got accepted.

[Admiral Yi]

Only the really mediocre firms will consider their grads?

Judo chop!

[Legbiter]

Oh, crap, I forgot about the debate last night.  How did it go?

I only watched a few minutes between commercial breaks on other stations. Reports this morning say Rubio and Bush did well, Rubio especially. Cruz reportedly didn't do so well.

So Rubio dents Cruz after the debate by siphoning off his supporters, giving Trump a comfortable win in Iowa before he runs the table? 

[Barrister]

*Except, of course, for U of M. That one is for dunces. 

Only the really mediocre firms will consider their grads?

I had a couple of other responses, but none better than this.

[Eddie Teach]

So Rubio dents Cruz after the debate by siphoning off his supporters, giving Trump a comfortable win in Iowa before he runs the table? 

I think we'll have basically a two-man race after 4 or 5 primaries. Whether it's Rubio or Cruz that's still in it is the question.

Trump isn't gonna get the thing handed to him, though he may win anyway.

[Malthus]

*Except, of course, for U of M. That one is for dunces. 

Only the really mediocre firms will consider their grads?

Firms in Calgary had to take what they could get. All the really smart people in Alberta were pumping oil back then, not law-talking.   

[Admiral Yi]

LSAT isn't as high as I remembered, but those average GPAs... (except for Sask ). UND's was 3.3~ GPA and 150~ LSAT iirc when I got accepted.

Do you know how the new hipster LSAT scores relate to old school LSAT scores?

[Malthus]

Canada doesn't really have rock star law schools where the difference in student caliber is "insane" between the top ranked school and the average. Most of them are pretty well on a level.*

*Except, of course, for U of M. That one is for dunces. 

yeah, I think I remember seeing that when I looked up canadian law school reqs (to figure out why so many canadians enrolled at my school). all your law schools (except for like one or two iirc?) have pretty massive LSAT/GPA requirements compared to a ton of US law schools, including mine. I couldn't have gotten into a canadian law school because my LSAT score was hilariously low.

(edit) http://www.oxfordseminars.ca/LSAT/lsat_profiles.php

LSAT isn't as high as I remembered, but those average GPAs... (except for Sask ). UND's was 3.3~ GPA and 150~ LSAT iirc when I got accepted.

It is interesting that the average LSAT and GPAs for Canuck law school admissions are pretty similar.* But woah, has tuition at U of T ever increased! When I went, I could pay it by working part-time.

*Even U of M. 

[LaCroix]

Do you know how the new hipster LSAT scores relate to old school LSAT scores?

I'm not sure what this means... is it a play on the "UND's was"? law school admission standards have dropped all across the board (except for the best schools) because enrollment numbers have significantly decreased.

But woah, has tuition at U of T ever increased! When I went, I could pay it by working part-time.

now it's on par with an average american law school. do you know what canadian biglaw pays its first-year associates?

[Admiral Yi]

I'm not sure what this means

When I took the LSAT it was on a 48 point scale.

[LaCroix]

When I took the LSAT it was on a 48 point scale.

OH

no idea. 120 minimum, 180 max. you just get a number and a percentile