This is what a Mensa IQ test ACTUALLY looks like (would you get in?)
Mensa — the prestigious “table” society. The organization was especially popular in the 2010s, but it started dynamically gaining popularity once again. Would you qualify to be a part of this selective community? What are the benefits of being a member?
What is Mensa?
Mensa International is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. It is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. In other words, it gathers people with exceptionally high IQ that took the test. Only the top 2% can get in, meaning it’s even more selective than Harvard University! The organization consists of 134000 members, 57000 of whom are located in America.
Mensa national groups
Mensa is active in many countries and has a number of national groups functioning under the “Mensa International” umbrella. There are countries where there’s no such group, therefore their citizens may join Mensa International directly. National groups with the greatest number of members are the American Mensa, British Mensa (over 21000), and the German Mensa (15000).
What are the benefits?
Having a title of a “Mensa member” and the official certificate is nice on its own, however, it’s not the only thing the organization offers.
SIGs
Members can create and join Special Interest Groups on a local, national or international level. Some of them will encourage the sharing of cultural knowledge on a specific field of interest, while others will concentrate on the development of intellectual pursuits. Some examples of SIGs are:
- Chocolate SIG
- Art Lovers
- Dungeons M Dragons
- Bitcoin
- Astronomy
- Gay/Lesbian SIG
- MoneyMasters
- Sherlock Holmes
- Star Trek
- Biochemistry
- Breadmaking
- Winemaking
- Economy
… and many many more, summing up to over 200 in total! You can find a link to the whole list at the end of this article. The SIGs organize different events, actions, and trips in which you can participate. But the best thing is meeting and talking with other members — there is no doubt that the conversations are on a truly “intellectual” level.
Scholarships and funding opportunities
That’s right, there are some scholarships, grants, and other funding available only for the members of the organization from a specific country or around the world. One of the organizations awarding them is the Mensa Foundation, which awards more than $175,000 in assistance every year to college-bound students around the globe.
Publications
There are also some members-only publications that are described as “intellectually stimulating” and “thought-provoking”. An example of this is your national magazine with contributions by Mensans on a wide variety of subjects. There are also some publications open to non-members.
Gatherings
Mensa has many events for members, from the local to the international level. Several countries hold a large event called the Annual Gathering (AG). It is held in a different city every year, with speakers, dances, leadership workshops, children’s events, games, and other activities.
Also, Regional Gatherings (RGs) are being organized, such as (the largest in the United States) in the Chicago area around Halloween, notably featuring a costume party for which many members create pun-based costumes.
In Europe, since 2008 international meetings have been held under the name EMAG and in the Asia-Pacific region, so-called AMAGs are organized each year in different countries.
Other benefits
As a Mensa member, you can also for example join an online Workspace community or a special insurance program. If you want to, you can participate in scientific research representing a group of people with an exceptionally high IQ.
How to join Mensa?
All the benefits seem pretty cool, so why not join right away? Well, it’s not that easy. You have to write a supervised IQ test and score over 130 points — that means you’re in the top 2% having the highest intelligent quotient. You can sign up for the testing session on your national mensa website. The test cost varies depending on the country, but it’s rather affordable, in the US it is 30$.
How does the REAL test look like?
You might have stumbled upon some IQ tests online, but they’re mostly scams. They usually give you very inaccurate results and are nowhere near similar to real Mensa tests. There are also some tests that seem pretty normal and accurate, however, their scoring is off, and may have too many questions of the same type. Mensa does not accept such online tests as proof of your IQ.
There are only a few “official” tests published by the organization. In the results, they don’t state your IQ, but give you an idea of whether you should try yourself in writing the real test. 2 online tests approved by Mensa are:
- Mensa International 30 minute quiz
- Mensa New Zealand 20 minute test
The second one is said to be more accurate and similar to the real test, whereas the International focuses more on your English knowledge. Here is an example from the New Zealand Mensa test:
Make sure to take no more than 20 minutes, you can find the answers and explanations below
Before we get to scoring…
Please acknowledge that IQ is not an indicator of how intelligent, smart, or wise you are. It has been criticized and “debunked” many times. It only measures some of your logical thinking skills and doesn’t determine anything else apart of this narrow section of intelligence. Quoting Albert Einstein:
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
Don’t let the results from this test change how you feel about yourself and how smart you are - it is only one 20 minute test, what can it really tell about you?
Answers and scoring:
To find out your score and the possibility of you getting in, visit http://nzlweb.com/index.php. It is, after all, their test, so getting the results on the official website may feel more “real”.
Can you change your IQ?
The IQ of an individual depends on age and environment. However, if you are an adult, you can’t change it a lot. That doesn’t mean you can’t change your IQ score. Here are some factors that may change your result:
- the test you take (might be slightly more difficult or easy)
- how focused you are
- how stressed or tired you are
- the testing environment
- luck if you were guessing (not recommended)
So as you can see, it is possible for you to score 90 and then 130, which just confirms, that IQ tests don’t tell a lot about your intelligence. Don’t take them too seriously ;).
