Are you smart enough to get into Mensa? The questions you'll have to answer to get invited
Getting into the elite society is notoriously difficult, a privilege reserved for those who score in the top 2% in its IQ test
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Mensa is one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.
The IQ society was founded in 1946 in Oxford, England, by Roland Berrill and Lancelot Lionel Ware. Its mission is to "identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity," according to the official website.
Getting into the elite society is notoriously difficult and is a privilege reserved for those who score in the top 2% in its famous IQ test.
According to an 11-year-old Londoner who earned a perfect score on the test, it's "written in a way that any person can do it."
To get an idea of how likely you are to get into Mensa, the organisation sent Business Insider some sample questions. The answers are at the bottom of the article.
The questions are similar in style to those which are likely to be included in an accredited IQ test. Although answering the mini test will not show an accurate IQ score, it can give a rough indicator of how well you may do if you attempted a Mensa IQ Test.
The organisation is named after the Latin word for table, denoting a round table where all members are equal.
Members of Mensa are invited to exclusive lectures and seminars and can attend local meetings and networking events.
The test gets progressively harder as the questions go on.
You have to be at least 10 and a half years old to take the supervised test, younger applicants need to be assessed by an educational psychologist.
It's a mix of language and number-based puzzles. Admittedly, this one made no sense to us.
The first test, Cattell III B, has 158 questions. The second paper, Cattell Culture Fair III A, has 50 questions and is mostly diagram-based.
The youngest member of Mensa was invited to join when he was just two years and four months old. The oldest member is 104.
There are 120,000 Mensans in 100 countries. Just 1,500 of them are under 18.
The answers are below. How did you do?
Read more:
• The tech behind bitcoin could solve a big problem
• Bankers are not happy with their massive bonuses
• January was an amazing month for millennials
Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2015. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments