# Mensa **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030 "2010-08-12T12:16:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/21 "2010-08-12T16:00:38Z")
I joined recently, last year, and it’s been a disappointment - not for any Mensa is teh suxxor reasons, just my local chapter is useless. I joined because I was in a bit of a rut socially, and thought it would be a good place to meet new people etc. I live in Edinburgh, which is a cosmopolitan, thriving city - the place you’d expect a mensa society to be busy. Turns out the local chapter is really dead, nothing happens or gets organised - there’s a barely sentient mailing list, plus a rather sad newsletter (for the whole of Scotland) that’s continually requesting content. The one time a meet up in the alehouse was organised it was really good tbf, so my one experience (in a year) of Mensa folk is very positive. Just seems my local set-up is lame. I understand that social clubs like Mensa rely on people getting involved for them to work, so maybe I should put more in to get more out. But getting things going from a practical standing start, as a new member, is something I don’t have the time for - I’ll probably let the membership slide. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/22 "2010-08-12T16:14:20Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > > [@Icerigger](#): > > > > So just how big of an IQ do you need to join? > > Top 2% of any generally recognized test. You can get in on your SAT scores, although I’m too lazy to look up what numbers you have to exceed. I know that for SATs, it depends on the year. > > OK - maybe I’m energetic enough to Google a little. The Mensa test score list is at [http://www.mensafoundation.org/Content/AML/NavigationMenu/Join/SubmitTestScores/TestScoresFAQ/TestScoresFAQ.htm](http://www.mensafoundation.org/Content/AML/NavigationMenu/Join/SubmitTestScores/TestScoresFAQ/TestScoresFAQ.htm) > > It’s a page full of links. You can pick a test and click through to find out what score you need on it to qualify. They used to give their own tests as well. Hmm, looks like I would actually qualify, based on my SAT scores from thirty years ago. But I just don’t think it’s worth the bother. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/23 "2010-08-12T16:19:01Z")
I’d actually be kind of surprised if less than half the people on here scored less than 1250 on the SAT. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/24 "2010-08-12T16:26:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’d actually be kind of surprised if less than half the people on here scored less than 1250 on the SAT. I didn’t do an SAT (scheduling issues)… I got 34 on the ACT tho. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/25 "2010-08-12T16:29:31Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Wait, there’s a club for self-aggrandizing pricks? Where do I sign up? You’re already here! ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/26 "2010-08-12T16:31:48Z")
One of my favorite middle school teachers told the class once “You know about Mensa, right? If you’re in the top 2% of intelligence you can join. I tried to join once. Took the test, I qualified, they sent me a packet. You have to pay dues. I said ‘Forget that.’ And now I feel smarter than all those people who are actually paying to be a part of the smart people club.” ---
**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:** [August 12, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/27 "2010-08-12T16:34:47Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > That last sentence - their/there error included\* - is awesome, and very true on so many levels. Applicable to all walks of life. This type of typo can happen even if the writer is fully cognizant of the correct usage. You know the correct word to use, but when you type fast it’s not uncommon that the brain sends the wrong signals to your fingers. Has Mensa stopped administering their own tests? I wonder if the reason is that too many people took the tests and passed, but then declined to join? If you need to puff up your sail, isn’t it just as good to know you _could_ join Mensa if you wanted to, as to actually join? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/28 "2010-08-12T16:40:29Z")
No, there is still a Mensa admission test, but you are not told a score, just if you pass the test. The test is administered by volunteer proctors, who are trained in how to offer the test, but who usually are not licensed psychologists and, in some states, giving a test that results in an IQ score would be considered practicing psychology without a license, even though the proctors do not grade the tests. Each test is graded by a psychologist. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/29 "2010-08-12T16:40:39Z")
I’m with **Sigmagirl**. I have met the very best friends of my life in Mensa, and had some of the absolutely greatest times. I am completely shocked at **Onomatopoeia** ’s account of Snowball (Central New Jersey’s annual regional gathering). It is so at odds with my experience I cannot begin to fathom it. To each his own, I suppose. I’ve been a member over 20 years, have attended events all over the country, and have never, ever, heard people discuss their relative IQ scores. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/30 "2010-08-12T17:18:26Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’d actually be kind of surprised if less than half the people on here scored less than 1250 on the SAT. I scored a 1200. _shrug_ I did a lot better on the GRE, though. Either way, none of my scores qualify for MENSA because they were all too recent, after MENSA decided that these scores are no longer a qualifying factor. This is probably why they have trouble attracting younger people. And, btw, I’m not even all that young - I’m 32. If I wanted to join (and I don’t, not to mention I’m not all that smart in the first place), I’d actually have to take a legitimate IQ test. Hell no. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/31 "2010-08-12T17:19:55Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Has Mensa stopped administering their own tests? I wonder if the reason is that too many people took the tests and passed, but then declined to join? If you need to puff up your sail, isn’t it just as good to know you _could_ join Mensa if you wanted to, as to actually join? I took the exam in 2006. I don’t know if they still administer it, but I haven’t heard otherwise. > [@MLS](#): > > I am completely shocked at **Onomatopoeia** ’s account of Snowball (Central New Jersey’s annual regional gathering). It is so at odds with my experience I cannot begin to fathom it. Really? It seemed the members I met took acting aloof and looking askance at others to a creepily odd level I’d never experienced before. I wasn’t in love. When did you attend? The two I attended were in Iselin. They say Woodbridge, but it’s Iselin. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/32 "2010-08-12T17:32:50Z")
A guy I was interviewing for a job several years ago, was a proud Mensa member. In fact it was his most significant accomplishment. He railed on about the difficulty of the puzzles he solves, etc. etc. Sadly, he couldn’t give many credible examples of how he had used his _superior_ intellect to add value to the company he worked for. He didn’t get the job. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/33 "2010-08-12T17:33:54Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I don’t think I’ll ever understand why that means that Middlebro is now fine about my being able to perform some basic substraction faster than he does, or about my being better than him at jigsaw puzzles, or why it means he’ll ask for (and listen to) my advice in some areas. If how quickly you perform basic arithmetic operations is a measure of intelligence, I’m in deep, deep trouble. ETA: Just read **Wilbo523** ’s post. Putting your Mensa membership on your resume seems kind of pathetic, really. Although I did get a job candidate once who noted that he was the 1985 Louisiana Rubik’s Cube champion, which I thought was kind of whimsical and cool. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/34 "2010-08-12T17:41:33Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > A guy I was interviewing for a job several years ago, was a proud Mensa member. In fact it was his most significant accomplishment. He railed on about the difficulty of the puzzles he solves, etc. etc. Sadly, he couldn’t give many credible examples of how he had used his _superior_ intellect to add value to the company he worked for. He didn’t get the job. Yep. I would never discuss my membership in an interview setting, mention it in an application, or include it on a resume. Why would you willingly subject yourself to a higher level of scrutiny than necessary? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/35 "2010-08-12T17:41:38Z")
I have it on my resume because I have served in a number of capacities on the local board and written some award-winning articles, which is relevant to my field. I’ve belonged to another high-IQ organization in the past (not currently a dues-paying member) but I would never have bothered to use it on my resume when I was a member because I never did anything to represent my qualifications. (Pretty much why I’m not a member any more – there wasn’t anything to do.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/36 "2010-08-12T21:56:28Z")
[Did you know they’ll accept only one of the Woodcock-Johnson tests?](http://www.mensafoundation.org/Content/AML/NavigationMenu/Join/SubmitTestScores/QualifyingTestScores/QualifyingScores.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/37 "2010-08-13T06:55:37Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > If I wanted to join (and I don’t, not to mention I’m not all that smart in the first place), I’d actually have to take a legitimate IQ test. Hell no. I don’t know how does it work in the US; I was pretty shocked to hear the cost of the test in Switzerland (it was about 4x the cost in Spain). In Spain it’s 15€ and any member of Mensa can sponsor one person per year (neither the member nor the candidate pay for the test). Spain’s biggest problem to attract new members is an excess of “science track” people; there have been cases of using a university’s open day to have free testing, the university in question is 80% humanities, yet the people who took the test were 95% science/engineering. We have no idea why the humanities-track people didn’t want to take it. **PoorYorick** , I’m actually pretty slow with arithmetic, Littlebro The Accountant is the fast one. Both Middlebro and myself are engineers and lost our arithmetic somewhere under Calculus Mountain. The calculation in question was just figuring out the best heights at which to place 5 shelves on 95cm-tall sides, I took a little less than Middlebro but it’s not anything I’d try to go to a Math Bee with. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/38 "2010-08-13T08:45:38Z")
I’m not a member and have never taken a test but my father was a member and very active in organising for most of my older childhood and so I saw a lot of meetings and a few social events (because they were at my parents’ house). There were in my opinion a few over-opinionated jerks who were quite remarkably impressed with themselves but they weren’t the majority. Mostly it was just a social club for people who wanted to talk to others who weren’t interested in Australia’s at times overly sports-oriented and anti-intellectual atmosphere, and didn’t want to feel they had to be apologetic about that. Based on my observation I think if you go along and find it uncomfortable because of self-opinionated smartarse jerks who keep arguing with you with a force and effectiveness you aren’t used to facing, you might want to consider standing in front of a mirror and having a conversation with yourself and seeing how it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/39 "2010-08-13T09:04:17Z")
Woodcock-Johnson? Richard W. Woodcock? Oh please someone tell me the W. stands for Willie. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/40 "2010-08-13T09:42:29Z")
> [@](#): > > There were in my opinion a few over-opinionated jerks who were quite remarkably impressed with themselves but they weren’t the majority. Mostly it was just a social club for people who wanted to talk to others who weren’t interested in Australia’s at times overly sports-oriented and anti-intellectual atmosphere, and didn’t want to feel they had to be apologetic about that. This has pretty much been my experience, minus the Australian reference. I go to Mensa meetings because I want to get out and socialize, but I don’t want to talk about sports, and I don’t want to have to pretend that I’m just another good ol’ girl (the good ol’ boy’s female counterpart) who is only interested in cars, TV shows (especially soap operas), and babies. Most Mensans are voracious readers, who like to talk about what they’ve read, so I can talk to just about any member and have a great time. It seems that many people around this area simply don’t read that much, so I have a lot of fun being around a group of avid readers. Also, our meetings take place in a Coors Hospitality room, so we get FREE BEER, plus various other free adult beverages. They don’t have Grolsch (my preferred brew), but how can you complain about free beer? I do rather wish that my local chapter had more interesting monthly speakers. However, I’m not motivated enough about this issue to volunteer to find different speakers. We don’t pay our speakers any fees, so that sort of limits the pool there. I’ve never had anyone ask me what my IQ is, or tell me theirs, in any meeting, and I’ve been in several chapters now. Everyone assumes that if you’re at the meeting, your IQ is high enough to qualify, and we’ve proven whatever we needed to prove. I have been in some chapters that are pretty much dead, or at least stuck in a rut. However, this isn’t the fault of the Mensa organization as a whole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030.md?page=3)