So, I have some free time and the idea of joining Mensa just popped into my head for no particular reason. It has been a long time since I’ve had my IQ formally tested, but I recall it being somewhere around 140. Is there a way (preferably free) that I can test it myself at home to see if taking the Mensa application test would be worth my time? Also, if my IQ really is 140, what is the probability that I’ll get a score high enough to be admitted?
On a related note, are there any Mensa members here? If so, what was the test like?
Edit: Whoops, meant to put this in GQ, can a mod please move this?
IIRC IQ is evenly distributed around the mean, so with Mensa accepting the top 2% of scorers, your overall probability of getting in would be 1/50. If your IQ really is 140, I would think your probability of getting in is 1/1.
Mensa tests are basically Sesame Street “one thing is not like the other”. That is the majority of the test. Then there are some math questions. (I failed word problems completely, but got the money questions right). Then there is a comprehension test on a paragraph they read first before the test, which they want you to remember till the end, at which point they give you that part of the test.
I passed. I got in the top 1%. And got in Mensa. Did it for a year and then quit.
I’m actually not supposed to tell anyone that according to them.
So it turns out that the American Mensa web page has a practice test online that can be taken for 18 bucks. I just took it and here is what they said.
Congratulations!
You scored a 75 on the Mensa Home Test.
Scores between 73 and 80 are above the 98th percentile and indicate an approximate IQ range between 132 and 151. This high score indicates a strong possibility that you may qualify for membership in Mensa!
It looks like I may stand a shot! I realize that a 30 minute self administered test might not be the holy grail of evaluations, but I guess its enough for me to sink 40 bucks on an admission test.
@needscoffee - I may or may not be in the top 2% for intelligence, but you certainly aren’t in the top 2% for common decency and respect. That was totally uncalled for.
Sir, you can actually use certain old “officially administered” IQ tests to get you into Mensa; I sent them official school documents. My WISC-III score is 143, Stanford Binet is 138, in comparison your number sounds like a pretty good bet for Mensa membership. Using an old test might be a way to save you some money and trouble, too. Funny, these numbers.
I quit after a year too and actually never went to a meeting. I got the newsletter and saw that everyone at the meeting was at least 50 and I was in my late 20s. I didn’t mind their age, but I had only taken the test to see if I could get in and saw no reason to show up being the new guy and youngest. There are other benefits to being a member, but after I got in I didn’t see much that I was interested in so didn’t re-up my membership.
My test way just like Sister Vigilante described except our “paragraph” was a short story that, IIRC, was a page or two long. IIRC again, it was played from a tape or CD instead of by a person.
That was the only hard part of the test for me because I remembered all the wrong things. I knew perfectly well that Emily rode the older horse on Monday after she had a sandwich for lunch and before going for a swim at 3pm that afternoon, but they wanted to know if Jake or Joe was the older horse.
I joined Mensa a while back. The person giving the exam mentioned that more than half the people that test do pass. He said just by walking in the door you’ve eliminated most people from the group.
Sorry! I meant it as a joke. It seemed funny to ask us to figure out a probability problem about your odds of being smart enough for Mensa. I didn’t mean to insult you. I guess I should have used a smiley, except I hate them. Or just not have posted.
If your IQ’s been tested at 140, then you’ve already shown you do well on the types of tests that measure your smarts such as Mensa would use. Let us know if/when you get in.
According to my local chapter of MENSA, they were willing to accept an LSAT score of 163 or higher as proof of my genius. I got a 162, which I think means that I am a high functioning retard.
Of course, I know people who increased their test scores 5-10 points by taking an exam prep for it, which apparently shows that you are more intelligent than before the 20 hour weekend course you took on pointless logic problems. That’s right, you can study for a general aptitude test, so that you might be generally more apt!
But speaking as a dumb dumb, I fail to see the appeal. So they give you what, a diploma that says you’re smart, coddle your ego like only your parents could otherwise, and then you pay them a yearly membership fee for a card, and a newsletter you’ll never read? That seems to remind me of an episode of King of the Hill where Peggy was included in the “100 smartest people in Texas” anthology, and then shelled out $900 for a do-it-yourself PhD.
How do you go about tracking down old records? At one college admission interview, the dean mentioned that he had my scores for all three of the IQ tests I had taken (elementary, middle, and high school), and that they were all within one point of each other. I hadn’t even remembered taking the first two, and the high school hadn’t given me results of the third. I graduated in 1976. Would the high school still have those?
What exactly can you do at a Mensa meeting that you couldn’t just do at home or at the local chess club? You take your intelligence with you wherever you go, after all.
Drink beer & shoot the breeze with other smarty-pants.
As one of our local mambers put it, “Mensa is a support organization for people who score on the fringes of one particular psychological test.” Depending on life circumstances a high IQ individual may have either a lot or almost no chance to interact with other high IQ folks. It’s the latter crowd that really get value from Mensa.
