Think You're So Smart? Prove It
Prospective Mensa members take test to see if they have brain power to get in.
Oct. 20, 2007 — -- For the most part, they looked relieved as they streamed out of the classroom -- about 20 people, mostly young men with a couple of women mixed into the group. They had just finished the Mensa admission test, a two-hour exam meant to separate the truly smart from those who just think they are.
Anyone who scores in the top two percent of the general population will be invited to join Mensa, an organization with only one qualification for membership -- extremely high intelligence.
Today is the group's version of a membership drive -- National Mensa Testing Day. About 2,000 people around the country were expected to take the entrance exam this weekend, and more than half will score high enough to qualify for Mensa membership.
"It's a very self-selecting group," said Hilary Moore, marketing coordinator for American Mensa. "The people who come take the test believe that they are smart enough to qualify for Mensa."
At the testing site in New York, there is little modesty when it comes to brainpower.
"I'm a smart guy, so it wasn't that hard," said Greg Barasia, an 18-year-old student at New York University who admitted that getting up early on a Saturday morning to take an IQ test is an odd thing for a college student to do.
"I guess I wanted to see if I was smart enough," Barasia added. "To be honest, it's an ego thing."
"A lot of people who pass the test don't even join, but they need it as some type of validation to prove that they're smart," said Linda Spadafina, a Mensa member who also serves as proctor for the admission test. "Some people just like being card-carrying smart asses."
Others are looking for the respect that comes with Mensa membership.
"I'm new to the United States, and it's a way to prove my credentials," said 24-year-old Adithya Lanka, who recently moved to New York from India.
But being a Mensan, as members are known, is not all about proving your smarts. Moore said one of the most common misconceptions about members is that they all "sit around talking about their IQs."
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