# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/41 "2010-08-13T13:41:10Z")
I took the test on a lark back in the mid-90s and passed. Went to a meeting or two and everyone seemed decent enough but they held their meetings up in Deerfield which is a good hour or more drive from the Chicago southwest suburbs. I just couldn’t justify the haul. A couple years ago, they sent me an invitation to rejoin but they’re _still_ meeting in Deerfield. You’d think a bunch of smart guys could find a more central location. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/42 "2010-08-13T13:57:04Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > 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. Me, too. I apparently get in with my SATs frim 1984 but my GREs from about 10 years later demolish their requirements. I’d only do it for a lark, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/43 "2010-08-13T14:55:48Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I took the test on a lark back in the mid-90s and passed. Went to a meeting or two and everyone seemed decent enough but they held their meetings up in Deerfield which is a good hour or more drive from the Chicago southwest suburbs. I just couldn’t justify the haul. > > A couple years ago, they sent me an invitation to rejoin but they’re _still_ meeting in Deerfield. You’d think a bunch of smart guys could find a more central location. Their web site says their main monthly meeting is in Schaumburg. I guess that’s still a far piece from you. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/44 "2010-08-13T15:42:30Z")
They must have moved it since last time but, yeah, Schaumburg is still over an hour away from me. I’m just surprised they wouldn’t try to have it in the western suburbs or something but I guess all the smart people must live up north. ---
**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, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/45 "2010-08-13T19:51:45Z")
I think that it’s in the bylaws that they won’t pay for a meeting site or for a speaker. Instead, they rely on their members to come up with ways to find sites and speakers. Which is really pretty smart. Most chapters that I’ve been in have meeting sites at members’ houses, with a kitty for the hosts’ expenses. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/46 "2010-08-13T20:01:18Z")
In high school a few people were members, and invited the group who tried out for It’s Academic to attend. (We all would qualify handily.) I never saw any benefit from joining, and I’ve been fortunate enough to go to school and work with plenty of smart people (not to mention being married to one and being the father of two more.) In any case, everyone knows that real geniuses are anti-social. \I’d never join any club that would have me as a member.\ ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/47 "2010-08-13T22:21:00Z")
We have paid for a speaker twice in my memory (which is 20 years) and one was not really a speaker but a music group who came to entertain us. In both cases the group felt that it was an opportunity that they didn’t want to pass up, and the fee was nominal (I’m sure we didn’t pay over $50). We never pay for a meeting site, though I’m sure it’s not in the bylaws. We pass the hat to pay for the speaker’s dinner, though once a year or so the speaker will decline and just have a beverage. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/48 "2010-08-16T17:14:37Z")
A Mensa member friend once suggested that I and another friend should join (obviously he was of the opinion that we wouldn’t have any problems passing the test). We both said no on the grounds that neither of us had enough low self esteem. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Why\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@The\_Why\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Why_Bird)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030/49 "2010-08-16T17:56:56Z")
I was a Mensa member as a child - my parents signed me up for the test out of curiosity more than anything. I didn’t go to any meetings (I was only about 7) and I was so embarrassed I wouldn’t let them tell anyone, so they let the membership lapse. It always left a bad taste in my mouth and I think I definitely felt that it was a club for people who thought they were better than everyone else. I have no idea what gave me that idea because as I said, I attended no social events and didn’t read the magazine. They say that your IQ remains more or less constant throughout your life, but I’m not confident that I could pass a test again. I think in my case I was just precocious, rather than particularly intelligent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mensa/550030.md?page=2)