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Oxbridge students and IQ

Opsimathmo

All these threads about IQ tests and Oxbridge are boring and/or *******s in the extreme but I would possibly disagree with you Visesh: there is some real-world relevance in that lots of employers, especially the ones Oxbridge graduates are wont to apply to, are increasingly using IQ tests for the purposes of selection.

Ah, I didn't know that. I guess part of the BMAT I sat to get into medical school was rather IQ-test-like...

Luckily, my (probable) future employer will only care about my final quartile (but not where I actually graduate from... :mad:

), it wont really matter!

Reply 41

Drogue

19

Boolean Julian

There are about fifty different IQ tests and they all have different scales. That's why Mensa goes by percentile rather than score.

But they all have 100 as the average. Different scales have different standard deviations, commonly 15 or 16, but the difference is relatively small until you get to the top 5% or so.

I'm not a fan of using IQ tests to tests at limits though, since the only accurate tests are designed to test near the middle, the only tests that are at all accurate above about 150 (or a little over 99.5% in percentile terms) are inherently subjective. Even the Mensa's test is pretty inaccurate at that level, since it's designed to see if you're in the top 2% or not. It doesn't work particularly well for anything below average, either. There are a few high-IQ tests that are commonly used by very high-IQ societies, but they always seemed pretty subjective to me, and the few I've taken I've got very different results on.

As an aside about Oxbridge, quite a few of people in my school (mainly the sad, geeky ones who liked silly puzzles and such) took the mensa test ~ 7 or 8 years ago. While I scored highly, the other person in my year who went to Oxford scored just above average (I think the lowest of the 6 or 7 of us that took it at the time), and we both came out with 2:1s. Which goes to show that it's certainly not a perfect predictor of Oxbridge potential. Although she did work very hard and got brilliant grades in school, whereas I was a slacker who didn't, both of which, to a lesser extent, carried on at Oxford :redface:

Reply 42

Drogue

19

visesh

Actually, I did the International High IQ Society test, not the High IQ society one. Oops :p:

Actually, they appear to be the same thing. I'm really not living up to the 131 now, am I? :biggrin:

I really don't trust the use of IQ tests to assess anything but the ability to do IQ tests. They have little or no real world relevance.

Actually, on this you're very wrong. Firstly, as has been mentioned, almost every graduate employer I know used some form of aptitude test, either at the assessment centre or before. These are all IQ tests. Moreover, studies have shown students who score highly on the GRE do better at grad school than those who don't - not surprising for a test designed for admissions to US graduate schools. However it's also an valid IQ test, with the combined score relating to a certain IQ. The SAT for undergrad admissions is also an aptitude test.

They're used in business and academia for recruitment, and studies have shown that a high score in these, even taking into account academic achievement, has an impact on future academic achievement. I'd say that's enough real-world relevance.

The major criticism I can see is the lack of specialism. Some people have amazingly high logical and spacial reasoning scores, but do badly on language. Since the test looks overall, someone who's just pretty good at all of them will have a higher score, since the test doesn't give much difference in score to someone with a very good logical reasoning and an exceptional one. Thus as a test of knowledge, it can be somewhat flawed. But as a tool to assess someone's aptitude for a certain job or course, it's very useful.

Reply 43

JackX

Anybody know of more Free and Challenging IQ tests out there, Im really into this whole IQ thing at the moment

Reply 44

earthredalert89

9

I got 136 on this one. But as others have also said, I've had variations from 120-140. Taken with a pinch of salt which doesn't need going into.

Reply 45

Drogue

19

Try this one: http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/titan.html

I warn you, it's a little difficult. Sadly the Mega test has been removed, which was slightly more accessable.

Reply 46

Cexy

Drogue

The major criticism I can see is the lack of specialism. Some people have amazingly high logical and spacial reasoning scores, but do badly on language. Since the test looks overall, someone who's just pretty good at all of them will have a higher score, since the test doesn't give much difference in score to someone with a very good logical reasoning and an exceptional one. Thus as a test of knowledge, it can be somewhat flawed. But as a tool to assess someone's aptitude for a certain job or course, it's very useful.

I don't dispute that there are some people who score very well on some aspects of an IQ test and very poorly on others, but decades of research have shown that scores on different aspects of IQ tests are positively correlated among the general population, with correlations of 0.3 to 0.8. This is one of the main arguments for using a combined general intelligence score (i.e. an IQ) for assessing intelligence in the first place.

See: http://www.lrainc.com/swtaboo/taboos/apa_01.html

Reply 47

Drogue

19

Cexy

I don't dispute that there are some people who score very well on some aspects of an IQ test and very poorly on others, but decades of research have shown that scores on different aspects of IQ tests are positively correlated among the general population, with correlations of 0.3 to 0.8. This is one of the main arguments for using a combined general intelligence score (i.e. an IQ) for assessing intelligence in the first place.
I don't doubt this. My point is when testing among people with high scores. Relationships break down at this stage.

Take the quote from Goodwill Hunting "Only a handful of people in the world can tell the difference between you and me, and I'm one of them". Both the professor and Will would score full marks on any maths test. Let's presume that the professor scores marginally higher on a verbal test. He now seems more intelligent, despite the fact that Will is distinctly superior at maths.

The issue isn't a correlation, but that the tests simply aren't accurate at the top end. They don't give enough credit for being truly exceptional, rather than being simply very bright.

It's the same reason why the QCA always said their rating of universities should not be added up to a score out of 24, it should be used as 6 seperate scores out of 4. Because a fantastic university may get a 3 in one area, but be well above a 4 in others, and it would get scored less, on a combined score, than a simply very good university that scored straight 4s, but only just.

It's good for me, I'm not brilliant at numerical reasoning, but I'm good enough to get 800 on the GRE. Yet I'm pretty reasonable on the analysis and verbal side, meaning I get a higher score than people I know who are vastly better mathematically, got a better degree mark than I did, but who aren't quite as good at the other sides. It means that in percentile terms, my IQ seems much higher than it actually should be, since many of the people who are far brighter don't get picked up, because they're intelligence on one side is off the scale, whereas on the other side it's merely pretty good.

Reply 48

nuodai

17

136 here too, but I agree that it's a crap test :P

FYI: 100 is by definition the average IQ score. Obviously it will differ between tests, but that's a problem with the validity of the results and not with the true average IQ (which is always 100).

Reply 49

Cexy

Ah okay, I didn't realise that you were talking about people at the extremes of the distribution. In that case I agree - most intelligence tests cannot distinguish well between the extremes, in specific areas nor in general.

Edit: I don't really see how this applies to the QCA though? If university A is better than university B (but their scores are 444443 and 444444 respectively), then quoting the scores as 444443 and 444444 implies that B is better than A, just as quoting them as 23 and 24 does.

Reply 50

Oddjob39A

15

Um it's been long established that 'IQ' tests are a redundant enterprise. . .

PLUS

What exactly is intelligence, relative intellinge or objective intelligence and further to the point; is there ever objective intelligence?

Reply 51

Cexy

Oddjob39A

Um it's been long established that 'IQ' tests are a redundant enterprise. . .

Where was this established? It must have passed me by when I spent a good few weeks reading about intelligence testing and IQ distributions.

Reply 52

coldfish

12

JackX

Do you still find it hard to cope with your degree or studies with an above average IQ?

Good grief: Do you really not realise that the thinking measured by IQ tests and the thinking measured by university exams/courses are going to be significantly different?

PS 147. PWNED. Now I just need to get to grips with Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Should be a doddle!

Reply 53

PsychicPotato

Dear PsychicPotato,

Thank you for your interest in the test at IQTest.com.

Your general IQ score is: 141

You may login at http://www.iqtest.com/login.html at any time to view your score, purchase your Complete Personal Intelligence Profile or The Consciousness Exercises, or edit your account settings:

Oxbridge reject here.

Reply 54

nota bene

15

iforgiveuforbeinganemo

http://www.iqtest.com/prep.html

That was somewhat better than a few others I've seen...

Although doing this at 5am when suffering from lack of sleep is not the best idea I got 136, should be able to do it a fair bit quicker if I was concentrated enough.

Reply 55

Turdburger

16

144, normally get 130-150

Reply 56

FadeToBlackout

15

I didn't give my real email address so can't get the result. Oops. I don't want spam...

I don't think that being able to work out if John is the shortest boy, or knowing that when you add an even number of odd numbers together you get an even number as a result, has much to do with History. And I doubt I'll be on any City fast-track programme that involves IT tests at any point soon either.

Reply 57

earthredalert89

9

Social intelligence is an asset a good IQ score simply cannot guarantee, and it's importance is paramount in daily life.

Reply 58

snafle

I don't know why the High IQ Soc test tests factual knowledge/language skills. Seem to be weighted towards people who have completed their studys and are well educated americans (questions about american political system). Memory is tested, here not intelligence.

Reply 59

Zhen Lin

12

I can't be bothered with online IQ tests - but for what it's worth, I scored 180 (s.d. unknown though) on the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices. At age 12/13, admittedly, so the score was adjusted upwards in my favour. Probably adjusted way upwards.

Oxbridge students and IQ

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