# What is your IQ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561 "2009-10-29T03:51:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [October 29, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/21 "2009-10-29T06:59:31Z")
It’s worth noting that IQ tests are not standardized. According to MENSA, unless two people take exactly the same test their scores can’t be directly compared. I was tested a few times as a kid (presumably just for my parent’s amusement, because I can’t imagine a practical reason for it). On test 2 I scored 20 points lower than test one, but was told that was a better score - it put me in a higher percentile. So a person who claims to have an IQ of 160 might by in the top 4%, and someone who has been tested at 140 might be in the top 0.5% - a much more impressive result. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/22 "2009-10-29T07:09:04Z")
ONE MILLION. Seriously, I’ve never been tested. I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/23 "2009-10-29T07:42:31Z")
Had it tested when I was 11 by a school psychologist, and scored at 145. I have indulged in IQ-eating activities in the 30 years that followed. I took the 16PF Factor B “reasoning ability” test two years ago and scored 95%, but not sure how that relates to IQ. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/24 "2009-10-29T08:28:57Z")
Not a clue. There were all sorts of test done on me, and that I had to perform, throughout my childhood and teens, and I don’t believe I was ever shown a single result. I assume I am a latent genius who has yet to blossom. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/25 "2009-10-29T08:51:32Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > ONE MILLION. > > […] Hey, me too. What are the odds?! And we meet here, of all places! - never tested. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/26 "2009-10-29T08:53:20Z")
I took what I believe was the Stanford-Binet test (red and white blocks, put the picture stories in order) a couple of times when I was in grade school but never got the results; the only firm confirmation I have is the PSATs from 1987 when I scored in the top .5%, and from 1988 when I scored in the top 1%. Where’s that put me on the polling scale? No freakin’ idea. After one particular test I bugged my dad to tell me what the results were and he finally broke down and told me the upper 160s, but twenty years on I’ve come to regard the source as highly unreliable. I know I’m smahtuh than the average bear, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/27 "2009-10-29T09:08:25Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Just how common was IQ testing in schools, anyway? It certainly never came up in any of mine ( born 1968, graduated High School in 1985, attended public schools in CA, NY and Michigan ). About the only group test I can recall was the PSAT.. I don’t know how common IQ testing is in schools. I’m about your age, though - born 1969, educated in public schools in the state of Georgia (USA.) I know that mine was tested by a school-based professional when I was in fifth grade (1979) because I was changing school systems, and was tested for inclusion in the system’s “gifted” program. Based on what I know now, it seems to have been a fairly professional test - oral, not written, and I was given credit for not just my answers, but the way that I arrived at them. (As an example, the only question I recall from this particular test was being asked to define the word “prestidigitation.” I remember breaking down the word into its roots, and providing an answer based on my conclusions about what I thought I knew about the roots “presti-” and “digit.” The teacher - who held a doctorate in psychology - seemed impressed with my answer, even though it was wrong. I think I basically defined the word as “the act of being nimble.” Or “having deformed hands, with too many fingers, kind of like Ann Boleyn.”) After that testing, I was enrolled in advanced classes, and even offered the opportunity to skip a grade. My mom declined skipping a grade, but my brother, sister, and I were all tested several times in the following year or so as part of a university study - apparently something about heredity, environment, etc. as it related to intelligence. We all tested highly, but my mother never revealed exact numbers. She did tell me, years later, what I already suspected: My brother and sister were evaluated with higher IQ scores than mine, and mine was measured a number of times as falling within the high 150s or low 160s. I also took the SAT in seventh grade, as part of a Duke University program, and scored reasonably well; and tested in a high percentile on the PSAT in eleventh grade and SAT in my senior year. I’ve killed a few brain cells since then. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/28 "2009-10-29T09:55:43Z")
They _tried_ to measure mine, but kept coming up with an imaginary number… ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/29 "2009-10-29T10:07:43Z")
I took a MENSA sanctioned test, sometime when I was in my mid-30s (now mid-50s) but I can’t remember which of the standard ones it might be. Reported score 156, so definitely in the top 2%, maybe even 1%. Very gifted on the test, but a holey memory. Ask me the rego number of my first car and I can tell you, but ask me what I had for lunch on Monday and I draw a blank. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/30 "2009-10-29T10:09:19Z")
I was another one of those tested as a child. I remember being taken out of class with about four other kids, and we just seemed to be being taught stuff by a different teacher. Apparently we were being tested. Afterwards the school recommended that I be put in a school for the gifted. However, my parents decided to keep me in the mainstream school so I just skipped a year instead. Was it the right decision? I don’t know. I’m pretty happy with how my life has panned out, but I probably could have made a lot more of myself had I been the right environment. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/31 "2009-10-29T10:10:43Z")
Doesn’t it matter which scale is used? I have tested at 155 on Stanford- Binet, but on a different scale I cannot remmber the name of I was in the 130’s ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/32 "2009-10-29T10:12:23Z")
11.5 183 My standard answer to all such silly questions on the SDMB. Or, IOW, reduce by the appropriate divisor, and you have it. Large enough, but I’ll never tell. ---
**Author:** ![otorophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3ab097/32.png) [@otorophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otorophile)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/33 "2009-10-29T10:12:40Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > I don’t know how common IQ testing is in schools. I’m about your age, though - born 1969, educated in public schools in the state of Georgia (USA.) I know that mine was tested by a school-based professional when I was in fifth grade (1979) because I was changing school systems, and was tested for inclusion in the system’s “gifted” program. Based on what I know now, it seems to have been a fairly professional test - oral, not written, and I was given credit for not just my answers, but the way that I arrived at them. (As an example, the only question I recall from this particular test was being asked to define the word “prestidigitation.” I remember breaking down the word into its roots, and providing an answer based on my conclusions about what I thought I knew about the roots “presti-” and “digit.” The teacher - who held a doctorate in psychology - seemed impressed with my answer, even though it was wrong. I think I basically defined the word as “the act of being nimble.” Or “having deformed hands, with too many fingers, kind of like Ann Boleyn.”) > > After that testing, I was enrolled in advanced classes, and even offered the opportunity to skip a grade. My mom declined skipping a grade, but my brother, sister, and I were all tested several times in the following year or so as part of a university study - apparently something about heredity, environment, etc. as it related to intelligence. We all tested highly, but my mother never revealed exact numbers. She did tell me, years later, what I already suspected: My brother and sister were evaluated with higher IQ scores than mine, and mine was measured a number of times as falling within the high 150s or low 160s. > > I also took the SAT in seventh grade, as part of a Duke University program, and scored reasonably well; and tested in a high percentile on the PSAT in eleventh grade and SAT in my senior year. > > I’ve killed a few brain cells since then. I call bs on 3 kids in the same family with IQs over 160. I didn’t crunch any numbers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was statistically unlikely that _there ever has been._ And PSAT or SAT scores in the top 1% (around 2250 or higher, IIRC) don’t indicate super-genius level intelligence. In a decent high school there are dozens of kids per year with those scores; it’s not that amazing. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2009, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/34 "2009-10-29T10:20:29Z")
134 as measured maybe in junior high or early high school. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/35 "2009-10-29T10:31:38Z")
Aged 17, tested in prison, 170. I was told it was the highest score yet seen, and got mocked by the other inmates for still ending up behind bars. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/36 "2009-10-29T10:48:21Z")
> [@The\_Why\_Bird](#): > > It’s worth noting that IQ tests are not standardized. According to MENSA, unless two people take exactly the same test their scores can’t be directly compared. I was tested a few times as a kid (presumably just for my parent’s amusement, because I can’t imagine a practical reason for it). On test 2 I scored 20 points lower than test one, but was told that was a better score - it put me in a higher percentile. So a person who claims to have an IQ of 160 might by in the top 4%, and someone who has been tested at 140 might be in the top 0.5% - a much more impressive result. Mensa accepts people who score in the top 2% of a standardized IQ test. So, while Mensa doesn’t say that it will accept people who score over, say, 140, if someone has documentation that they’ve scored in the 98th or 99th percentile in one of the standardized IQ tests, they’re eligible for Mensa membership. While a person’s numerical score might vary from one test to another, the percentile score doesn’t vary that much, from what I understand. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/37 "2009-10-29T12:51:24Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > My parents had it measured when I was about the same age as the others in the thread – six or so. Apparently they were having difficulty measuring my IQ but it was ridiculously high. > > _shrug_ It hasn’t helped me much professionally. It’s actually been rather obnoxious: I knew I was smart and I never bothered learning to study until my last few semesters of college. I never needed to in high school, and by the time I realized what I was doing wrong and started to work to put it right I already had abysmal grades. > > I’m a bit afraid to take an IQ test as an adult for fear of being less than brilliant. 😛 God this is so true - it took me so long to realize that intelligence is potential, nothing more. You still have to work for whatever you achieve and results are the only things that matter (“if you’re so smart, how come you aren’t X?”)…strange how having a kid who starts to exhibit the same behaviors helped deepen my appreciation of that 😉 I had my IQ tested when I was a kid; I don’t recall what it was and am not sure it would apply to my grown-up self… ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/38 "2009-10-29T12:56:22Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > They _tried_ to measure mine, but kept coming up with an imaginary number… Really? Mine was irrational. ETA: I lived with someone who was getting a postgraduate counseling degree, so I was a psychometry guinea pig for her and her fellow students. They never did tell me how I did. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/39 "2009-10-29T12:56:45Z")
Wait, is this poll in Base 10 or Octal! ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561/40 "2009-10-29T13:11:37Z")
Nerd alert! 🙂 When are we going to do a poll on SAT scores? :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-iq/515561.md?page=3)