# Havge you ever had an IQ Test? Administered by whom? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225 "2005-11-29T17:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/1 "2005-11-29T17:14:49Z")
Please don’t post your IQ here. There are plenty of threads for that. What I’m curious about is what organization administered your test, and why. I’ve got a friend who’s a member of MENSA, and I understand they conduct their own test as a pre-requisite for membership, but other than that I don’t know why anyone would need to get tested. I had the standard High School Vocational Aptitude Test (I qualified to be an Underachiever), and later the US Navy Version of the same thing, but for the sake of the poll, let’s not include Vocational Aptitude Tests. How 'bout it? ~Winston ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/2 "2005-11-29T17:17:02Z")
In kindergarten and first grade I had a few. I think it was for my mom’s ego. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/3 "2005-11-29T17:42:01Z")
I did, administered by a psychologist. Mum still won’t tell me what my score was… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/4 "2005-11-29T17:44:29Z")
Yah - I’ve had quite a few. In elementary and jr high I had tests administered by my schools. I’ve also had a test administered by a charted psychologist - it was the WAIS. I’m not sure which scales were used in elementary and jr high. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/5 "2005-11-29T17:47:29Z")
I joined Mensa for a while a long time ago. They accepted SAT scores (with proof) as an indication of sufficient IQ. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/6 "2005-11-29T17:48:32Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > I’ve got a friend who’s a member of MENSA, and I understand they conduct their own test as a pre-requisite for membership, but other than that I don’t know why anyone would need to get tested. Mensa also accepts SAT and (I believe) ACT scores, among others, for membership purposes; you don’t necessarily have to take their test to qualify. When I was in the first grade, I spent several sessions down the hall from my classroom in a small office with a strange person who asked me all kinds of questions. Turns out they were screening me for my eventual skip to the third grade, but all I “knew” at the time was that there was something wrong with me. (Perhaps that isn’t entirely inaccurate.) IQ testing may have been involved; I really don’t recall much about it. (Hey, I was six!) ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/7 "2005-11-29T17:50:31Z")
Close to a hundred. When I was in grade-middle school, one of the school employees was getting certified and needed to administer (under what would be normal conditions) practice tests. As I was a good student and a teacher’s kid, I got volunteered to be the practice test subject. Once you’ve been volunteered for that task once, every time someone else needs a guinea pig you pop immediately to mind. Over the course of my grade-middle school I took an IQ test approximately twice a month. Got to where I could sway the results based on my whim and mood. After one day when successive tests revealed my IQ to be (as I recall - it’s been some years) 45 and 212 (my personal best), they found some other poor bastard and let me get on with my test-free existence. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/8 "2005-11-29T17:55:16Z")
I was tested in first grade because they thought I was retarded–I had little speech ability and couldn’t write very well, despite the fact that I had taught myself to read at age 4. I remember the test showing 148, but at the time I didn’t know that was a high I.Q. My mother held me back for school and insisted that I was stupid and I just “guessed lucky” on the test. She refused to have me put ahead a year. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/9 "2005-11-29T17:55:45Z")
I’ve taken a few of the ones on the internet. I’m pretty sure they are complete crap. No way I’m that smart. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/10 "2005-11-29T17:58:38Z")
I think I took one pre-school when I went to a speech class at a college. Then I must have taken one in elementary school, since the 7th grade teacher left her book open with everyone’s IQ scores in it, and the kids in the class reported them to all. Never joined Mensa, though I’m qualified, on the principle that I will never join any club that would have me for a member. 🙂 [/groucho] ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/11 "2005-11-29T18:01:47Z")
> [@Aangelica](#): > > Got to where I could sway the results based on my whim and mood. After one day when successive tests revealed my IQ to be (as I recall - it’s been some years) 45 and 212 (my personal best), they found some other poor bastard and let me get on with my test-free existence. My dear friend, that is EXCELLENT. The only interesting story about IQ tests I’ve eve heard. 😛 Me, yes, I was tested 2 or 3 times in 5th grade, by a psychologist, for a multi-age cluster class. I was never given my own report or even told my IQ but I found it report myself a few weeks later and it was thoroughly read. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/12 "2005-11-29T18:15:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I was tested in first grade because they thought I was retarded–I had little speech ability and couldn’t write very well, despite the fact that I had taught myself to read at age 4. I remember the test showing 148, but at the time I didn’t know that was a high I.Q. My situation was similar; I was an early reader but for some reason was performing poorly in school. They arranged an oral exam for me, with the interviewer asking a variety of questions. There were series of numbers I had to repeat backwards, as well as definitions and explanations which I had to give. About all I remember is that I was asked to explain the difference between a tree and a bush. But I don’t remember ever being asked to sit down and work through a ‘classic’ IQ test, with questions about what number comes next or what shape does not belong. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/13 "2005-11-29T18:28:29Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I was tested in first grade because they thought I was retarded–I had little speech ability and couldn’t write very well, despite the fact that I had taught myself to read at age 4. I remember the test showing 148, but at the time I didn’t know that was a high I.Q. > > My mother held me back for school and insisted that I was stupid and I just “guessed lucky” on the test. She refused to have me put ahead a year. She’s riiiggghttt about here Mrs. X-Mas… Is there a Mr. X-Mas? ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/14 "2005-11-29T18:31:25Z")
By my mother. The first time anyway. Actually probably the first few times. When I was a kid my mother was studying for her PhD in psychology. Administering tests was part of her training. I was her practice subject. I also to the Roshach half a dozen times before I was 8. I loved it! Play time with mommy with pictures and blocks! Perhaps this is why I have no test anxiety today. After that twice, at school. Once in 4th grade, once a few years after. The whole class took it. So I assume it was a school board thing, but high IQ or not I didn’t have the brains to figure out the motivation behind it. It got me into the Gifted and Talented program. I guess that was the schools point. I don’t know how wide spread that still is ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/15 "2005-11-29T18:53:31Z")
I had one in first grade, but I have no idea if it was administered by a school counselor, administrator, or a psychologist. I do know that there was talk of letting me skip a grade, so evidently they thought the test at least somewhat valid. (I didn’t skip the grade - not emotionally/socially ready). ---
**Author:** ![VegaBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ee7513/32.png) [@VegaBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegaBean)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/16 "2005-11-29T19:19:47Z")
I had an IQ test done one time. They are proctored by Stannfor-Binet, and it was to get into a boarding school. I never saw the figures, which seemed unfair. I got into Mensa on my college board scores. But once in Mensa there were no meetings close enough to me to be worth the trip, and I never renewed my membership. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/17 "2005-11-29T20:07:35Z")
I had one administered by a psychologist when I was 5 or so; they wanted me to start first grade a year early because I would have been bored in kindergarten. My mom still won’t tell me what the score was, though. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/18 "2005-11-29T20:09:55Z")
Third and fourth grade, when they thought I had learning disabilities. Done by schoolboard-type-folks. Ten years later when the learning disabilities were finally diagnosed as chronic depression, I had to take a bunch of cognitive tests from the state. Over and over and over. I think I took them 7 or 8 times a month for about 3 months. Got to the point in month 2 that I’d start telling them what question was next and what the answer was. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/19 "2005-11-29T20:22:39Z")
I took one from Reader’s Digest once when I was about a junior in High School. Then another one online that someone posted here. Both came with fairly similar scores, so there’s that, but beyond that, “Hey, it’s a RD/Internet score… WOOT!!” IIRC I could theoretically get in MENSA from my SAT/GRE scores, which would place me in their demographic. Both of my kids were required to take IQ tests\* to get into the gifted program when we moved down to Florida. Had to score over 130 on both portions to get in to the APG. I won’t say what their exact scores were, although I’d probably tell them if they ask me when they’re older in case they ever read this. FWIW their school district in Ohio didn’t have the same requirement, just sort of by teacher referral there, I guess. I preferred the teacher referral method, didn’t have to fill out so many bleeding forms. \*It was a Reynold’s Inventory Assessment, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/20 "2005-11-29T20:31:46Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > When I was in the first grade, I spent several sessions down the hall from my classroom in a small office with a strange person who asked me all kinds of questions. Turns out they were screening me … Me too. Also took some administered by my mom, a school psychologist. FWIW, many tests that you think are IQ are not, in fact, IQ - there are lots of psychoeducational tests administered to young’uns and lots of ways to score them. Also I feel it necessary to point out that IQ is, in many educated opinions, about as useful a measure or predictor of intelligence as head shape. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225.md?page=2)