No, the 2% refers to people who test in the top two percent of the population, not just the top 2% of people who try to join Mensa. For any person taken off the street at random, the odds that they will be able to qualify for Mensa are 1 in 50.
As you note, the 1 in 67,000 figure would be the odds of picking a person off the street at random and finding that they already were a member of Mensa. This is not relevant to the statistical probability that some given individual will qualify for Mensa.
I will not divulge whether I am a member of Mensa or not.
Back in the 80s, I bought a book of Mensa brain teasers/sample test questions. One math problem I found in it I was very proud to be able to figure out the formula:
Postulated is a molecule constructed in layers with a different number of atoms in each layer.
The first layer contains one atom; the second layer contains 1 + 2 atoms; the third layer contains 1 + 2 + 3 atoms; and so on.
Given that the molecule has one million layers, how many atoms does it contain?166,667,166,667,000,000
Today I couldn’t tell you how I figured it out to save my life, but the formula (x[sup]3[/sup] + 3x[sup]2[/sup] + 2x) /6 gives the exact answer. I mean, the (x[sup]2[/sup] + x)/2 is famous and easy, but how the hell did it occur to me to multiply that by (x + 2)/3?
Anyway, interspersed among the puzzles and brain teasers were what I can only describe as testimonials extolling the benefits of Mensa membership, and some stories about how even Mensans can have brain farts (I particularly enjoyed the one about the Mensan who vacuumed up some ants in his kitchen, then decided to gas them to death by blowing out the pilot light on his range, opening the gas tap, and sucking natural gas up into the vacuum cleaner bag). The other anecdote I vividly recall was a Mensan musing about the great times he and his wife would have with all the other Mensans at their get-togethers at a regional park. The only annoying thing from his point of view was that he and his wife (and sometimes a couple of friends) would bring a bottle or two of champagne, and mingle with their intellectual peers as they sipped champagne out of little plastic champagne saucers,* the kind you get at the party supply store. This led to a lot of boorish Mensans hitting them up for a glass of champagne, a problem that they solved by pouring their champagne into empty beer cans.
I couldn’t fault them on etiquette (or practicality) grounds; it just left me feeling that were I to find myself in such a group, I’d probably encounter a lot of behavior that would strike me as “petty.” It was largely on the strength of that reaction that I did not bother to send for the qualifying test, or otherwise pursue membership.
*It was the 80s. It was still possible to find a park where people at a private party could drink some alcohol without landing in jail.
I’ve been toying with the idea of joining for years so I looked up my local chapter. Their only regular activities are scheduled in Milwaukee, and there is nothing at all on their calendar in the next year locally. I woulda thought Madison and not Milwaukee was the intellectual heart of the state, but I guess this shows just how dumb I am. So no Mensa for me.
My pre-1994 SAT score is barely too low to qualify me, and I don’t have any other school records such as the PSAT. I would have put just a little more effort on the SAT math section if I’d known it was a qualifying test for Mensa. I’d like to join Mensa, but I’m afraid that in my middle age, I wouldn’t pass the Mensa test because 1) it’s been years since I’ve been in school, so I’m less adept at taking timed tests and 2) after too many years wasted away outside of academia while watching TV and drinking beer, too many brain cells have died off. Maybe they could start a group for people in the top 5% IQ called Mensa Light, Almost Genius, or Pretty Dang Smart.
Some of the tests American Mensa uses are age-adjusted, so unless your cognitive decline has been worse than expected for a guy your age, that shouldn’t make much of a difference. Whether it’s beer-adjusted, I can’t say;)
BoyoJim, you mentioned a lack of activity in your area - there is an annual meeting (this year’sis in Boston) so if you were able to get away to those, it might be worth it for you to join. Or if you really had the gumption, you could probably organize events in Madison under the umbrella of the Milwaukee chapter. My chapter is located in the largest local city, but we do have events organized in smaller places.
I was a member for a number of years and then quit. If I wanted to rejoin would I have to take a new test - even though I scored very highly first time around? I feel I wouldn’t perform quite as well this time due to university happening in between…
Yes, I see there is a monthly dinner down in Rockford, IL, which is further away from me than Milwaukee, and some other place, also further away, maybe once a quarter. It appears the Rockford event is poaching into the territory that’s under the auspices of the Chicago Mensa.
You must be old … they added a new section for another 800 points for a total of 2400 … although I believe they’ve returned to just the two sections now for a total of 1600 again.
That’s a bit like asking why you’d ask a physician (or PA) to give a medical exam. It’s within their specialty.
I knew a very smart and knowledgeable man who was a Mensa member. I knew him all my life, like a beloved uncle, though didn’t know he was a Mensa member until his funeral. He could win any argument. I remember him nearly convincing me, around 1990, that Nelson Mandela was evil and would ruin South Africa if he got the chance.
All I can say is, it’s a good thing that being smart doesn’t entitle you to make all the decisions.
Does MENSA still accept SAT scores for membership? I got 1600, but that was 51 years ago. Today, I can barely spell SAT. I’m assuming Triple Nine requires a current test, so that’s out.
But anyway, I’ve survived all these years without joining MENSA, and I doubt membership would change anything. But it’d be nice to have something to frame and hang on the wall, to impress the cats.
If TV were accurate, mensa meetings would be a bunch of guys showing each other their inventions and writing equations on a chalkboard. And either there’d be no girls or the girls would be dressed frumpily. Either hijinks or world domination would ensue.
In reality, it’s average-looking people (and even some good-looking people), Dope-like banter, and beer.
…which is good.
Except that nowadays finding free social groups / group activities is very easy, including if you were only interested in intellectual stuff. So I don’t think it’s worth the fees / trouble for most people now.
Well, I know plenty of people that did the test multiple times before they passed and could join. So I’m sure there are far more that took it, failed, and that was that.
However, once you pass, you never need to redo the test. Which is just as well, I do feel I somewhat fluked it.
I used to be a local test proctor, (and held several other local offices as well), and I think your first statement is incorrect. Once you have taken the official proctored test, you cannot re-take it. You could have a psychologist give you a different test, or submit prior evidence, but the practice effect would make a re-test invalid.
However, if you’re at a Mensa event and someone does or says something stupid (it happens), you will often hear the demand “Re-test!”
You are correct that once you’ve been admitted, you’re always eligible, even decades later.
sharing my story, in 2005 I was bored and thought maybe I could join Mensa to meet like-minded people. The nearest test was in Austin, so not a bad drive from San Antonio, the test was filled with logical puzzles where I simply lost interest midway and just not paid attention to the test proctor’s story where you had to pick whatever happened/how many bats the group ate, etc. Years later, I didn’t too much about not being qualified as I found other interests.
One thing I did notice was that I assumed it would be a bunch of older professionals trying to join. the six or seven taking the test with me were as young as me (20s to 30s)