# Poll: what's your IQ score **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 21, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840 "2024-05-21T02:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/21 "2024-05-21T12:48:35Z")
I am curious about what the selection bias is of people actually knowing their IQs? My experience is that real IQ testing is generally nowadays done as part of a more comprehensive neuropsychological profile for kids having some school … issues. Generally with high achieving parents concerned that their child is apparently struggling in some way. Sometimes those kids get labeled with something, be it a learning disability or ADHD or whatever. Sometimes significant giftedness is contributing to their not fitting in, or to having more things to be anxious about. In any case a survey like this is unlikely to reflect any reality. My favorite related joke is about “the newsletter aimed at lower IQ individuals: DENSA. Get it?” ---
**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:** [May 21, 2024, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/22 "2024-05-21T12:52:41Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > How does Mensa word its rejection letter? You made me legitimately curious so I looked. It (at least the example I saw) just says that membership is open to the top 2% and it’s a very narrow band of people and you do not meet the criteria at this time. Then offers an alternate method of joining based on college admission test scores. > [@DSeid](#): > > I am curious about what the selection bias is of people actually knowing their IQs? Yes, I would assume there’s a very large excluded middle where it just never comes up. Especially in regards to professional testing; I’m guessing there’s a bajillion online tests people might take out of boredom or idle curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/23 "2024-05-21T12:55:01Z")
The poll has no option for me. I was tested while in school (high school, IIRC) but the proctors weren’t able to determine my score for some reason; I remember something about the proctors not being able to find my score on their chart because it didn’t go high enough. Whatever my score was, I was offered AP classes practically on the spot. I turned them down because I liked not having to study. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2024, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/24 "2024-05-21T12:56:04Z")
Wouldn’t “the chart didn’t go high enough” fall under the + in 150+? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/25 "2024-05-21T12:57:47Z")
Maybe. I don’t remember what chart they were using. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/26 "2024-05-21T12:59:38Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > You made me legitimately curious so I looked Yeah, right, you had to look it up — sure you did! 😉 ---
**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:** [May 21, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/27 "2024-05-21T13:00:42Z")
Looking in my drawer is still looking! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/28 "2024-05-21T13:09:58Z")
When it became clear a few years ago that my younger son (now 18) was _extremely_, like genius-level intelligent, he found an online IQ test and scored 150. He was very proud of his score and wanted me to take it as well, because he wanted to show up his old man. So I took it. And also scored 150. Son was horrified and immediately declared that the test must be fake, since there was no way I was as smart as him 🙄 The test itself seemed very real to me- I’ve taken IQ style tests before and the questions were on the level; also it was a pretty long, involved test. But for all I know, it gave everybody a score of 150. Nevertheless, it was the last IQ test I took, and the OP said online tests count, so I’m using it… 150+ for me! > [@Humans](#): > > Just for fun, even accepting scores from online tests if you never did a real one ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/29 "2024-05-21T13:15:01Z")
Never tested it, not even online. But judging from my elementary school report card comments (“Bright!”, “Exceptionally social!”, and “Bless his heart!”) I must have been a _ **really** _ smart kid. I don’t know if things change over time, but I’m smart enought to be happy on how things turned out. Tripler Bless my heart. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/30 "2024-05-21T13:41:02Z")
One thing I am proudly confident of is that I was in the lower half of my medical school class and residency program. I am proud of the fact that I could work hard enough and had good enough habits of mind to keep up with people intrinsically smarter than me. Habits of mind matter much more than raw ability to my way of thinking. Success in an academic arena requires a minimal bar of raw ability but much more on those habits and on the effort/tenacity one brings, what popularly gets labeled grit. I am more proud of my kids’ grit than of their smarts. And frankly I am often worried when I am the smartest in the room. Professionally it happened most when I was in “leadership” and it is a very frustrating experience. Give me the joys of being surrounded by people who have to explain things to me! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/31 "2024-05-21T14:25:18Z")
I was explicitly taught how to take the damn test. I was given one at age 12 by a private school I was entering. They then sat me down, told me what answers I got wrong, told me what answers the test wanted, told me why they wanted that answer and not the answer that I gave. Some time later they gave me another one and I did significantly better. I don’t believe the things test for anything other than how well you can learn to do that particular type of test. They appear to line up with school achievement because much of school achievement is judged by similar types of test. I don’t remember what my score was; and if I did remember I wouldn’t post it, because it’s meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/32 "2024-05-21T15:16:30Z")
Don’t be too sure. We took IQ tests in grade school-- 1958, I was 10. I was a teacher’s pet (🤷🏽‍♀️) and had access to the school office where I peeked at my score in the files. For some reason it was forbidden for us to know. I don’t know if parents were told. My parents never said anything. In 1978, I was in a graduate psychology class, and we took various tests, among them the Stanford-Binet. My IQ score came out exactly the same. * * * * * * > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > …because it’s meaningless. I don’t think it’s as significant as people may think. But I question whether an IQ score is _completely_ meaningless. My score accurately (and generally) reflects my experience in school and in groups. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/33 "2024-05-21T15:28:33Z")
I’d rather not say, as I would appear to be bragging, but I will say that my IQ is three digits. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/34 "2024-05-21T15:42:09Z")
I’m of the view that deciding not to pay money to Mensa just to achieve a superficial level of validation was probably a better measure of intelligence than the actual entrance exam. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/35 "2024-05-21T16:18:56Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > One thing I am proudly confident of is that I was in the lower half of my medical school class and residency program. You know what they call the guy last in his med school class? Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/36 "2024-05-21T16:23:30Z")
In what base? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/37 "2024-05-21T16:25:10Z")
Well, I only calculate it to two significant decimal places… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/38 "2024-05-21T16:28:03Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > We took IQ tests in grade school-- 1958, I was 10. I was a teacher’s pet (🤷🏽‍♀️) and had access to the school office where I peeked at my score in the files. For some reason it was forbidden for us to know. I don’t know if parents were told. My parents never said anything. Yeah, I remember that, too. It determined which homeroom you ended up in when you arrived at junior high (7th grade). The homerooms were labeled 7A, 7B, etc., with 7A being the highest scoring. Now, nobody told us this, but it was easy to figure out (at least for those of us in 7A) that the smartest kids were in that room. I don’t know why they did that, as all of our other classes were a mix of everyone from A students to slugs. I inferred from that experience that I had tested at around 130, but I’ve never seen anything official. ---
**Author:** ![Humans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dfb087/32.png) [@Humans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humans)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/39 "2024-05-21T16:28:03Z")
There’s also a self selection bias in clicking a thread with “IQ” in the title. Also there’s some trolling and picking under 80 and 150+ (there’s not that many of you on either of those ranges) But despite all that, I think the quote in the OP describing the board isn’t completely baseless, the numbers are higher than I expected. Also quite surprised at the very low number of 100-119 range… ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840/40 "2024-05-21T16:57:06Z")
A-hem. I refer you to: > Straight Dope Message Board > Your direct line to thousands of the **smartest** , hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks. My bold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-whats-your-iq-score/1001840.md?page=3)