The median IQ of this board has got to be at least 130, right?

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flatearth22

flatearth22

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It's widely accepted that the average IQ for a college graduate is 115. Now consider that only above average college students carry out their aspirations to become physicians by taking the premed prereqs, the MCAT, and jumping through the hoops by acquiring leadership, volunteering, research, clinical experience, etc....so we'll set the average for this group, conservatively, at 120. Then only above average med school aspirants take the time to actually research med schools and would possibly stumble upon a forum such as this, so let's say that the new average is 125. It's hardly a stretch to say that among the few who stay (ie - aren't intimidated or discouraged by the other high achievers on this board), the average IQ is 5 points higher, or 130.
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flatearth22 said:
It's widely accepted that the average IQ for a college graduate is 115. Now consider that only above average college students carry out their aspirations to become physicians by taking the premed prereqs, the MCAT, and jumping through the hoops by acquiring leadership, volunteering, research, clinical experience, etc....so we'll set the average for this group, conservatively, at 120. Then only above average med school aspirants take the time to actually research med schools and would possibly stumble upon a forum such as this, so let's say that the new average is 125. It's hardly a stretch to say that among the few who stay (ie - aren't intimidated or discouraged by the other high achievers on this board), the average IQ is 5 points higher, or 130.
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Whatever my IQ is, it's lower after having read this, I think.
 
Lol, I think hardworkingness would be more correlated to this board than IQ.
 
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flatearth22 said:
It's widely accepted that the average IQ for a college graduate is 115. Now consider that only above average college students carry out their aspirations to become physicians by taking the premed prereqs, the MCAT, and jumping through the hoops by acquiring leadership, volunteering, research, clinical experience, etc....so we'll set the average for this group, conservatively, at 120. Then only above average med school aspirants take the time to actually research med schools and would possibly stumble upon a forum such as this, so let's say that the new average is 125. It's hardly a stretch to say that among the few who stay (ie - aren't intimidated or discouraged by the other high achievers on this board), the average IQ is 5 points higher, or 130.
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ya i no cuz wer all lyke rly smrr n stuf 4 med skool lol1
 
flatearth22 said:
It's widely accepted that the average IQ for a college graduate is 115. Now consider that only above average college students carry out their aspirations to become physicians by taking the premed prereqs, the MCAT, and jumping through the hoops by acquiring leadership, volunteering, research, clinical experience, etc....so we'll set the average for this group, conservatively, at 120. Then only above average med school aspirants take the time to actually research med schools and would possibly stumble upon a forum such as this, so let's say that the new average is 125. It's hardly a stretch to say that among the few who stay (ie - aren't intimidated or discouraged by the other high achievers on this board), the average IQ is 5 points higher, or 130.
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I never understood how the average college graduate has an IQ of 115. Most college graduates don't strike me as that smart, so either this statistic is off or the average person (i.e. iq ~ 100) is really unintelligent.

Edit : 115 was the average IQ in the 60s. It's now a lot lower. One source gave 105 as the new mean for college grads.
 
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flodhi1 said:
+1
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Don't insult the OP, he has a valid theory.. of sorts. IQ is a highly debated statistic that doesn't mean much but it is important to note that SDN members are typically made up of the high echelon of premedical students throughout the U.S. Your "average" premed isn't half as active or informed as the typical SDN user. But does that mean SDN makes you smarter? No i don't think so, it simply acts as a negative reinforcement mechanism. When you hear about people getting 35's on the MCAT or 3.9 GPAs on here, most people get the feeling that they need to work harder. Which in turn makes them better students...typically
 
wanderer said:
I never understood how the average college graduate has an IQ of 115. Most college graduates don't strike me as that smart, so either this statistic is off or the average person (i.e. iq ~ 100) is really unintelligent.

Edit : 115 was the average IQ in the 60s. It's now a lot lower. One source gave 105 as the new mean for college grads.
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Mods, please don't mark this as offensive; it is rather meant to be a social commentary upon the phenomenon described:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8fm3Z7jgWM&ob=av2e

Weep for your children. :scared:

EDIT: How does one embed? Oh the Irony....weep for me, too.
 
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An IQ of 130 is basically in the 98th percentile, the average user here does not fit that. According to this the average physician's IQ is around 121, or the 92nd percentile.

http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/Occupations.aspx
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/98-07.pdf

edit*

It would be worth noting that maybe the average IQ for college grads was 115, but now that everyone goes to college, schools rely on multiple choice exams over written ones, most classes have curves, and there is lots of grade inflation making it easy to get a passing grade, I really doubt that it's still 115.
 
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flatearth22 said:
It's widely accepted that the average IQ for a college graduate is 115. Now consider that only above average college students carry out their aspirations to become physicians by taking the premed prereqs, the MCAT, and jumping through the hoops by acquiring leadership, volunteering, research, clinical experience, etc....so we'll set the average for this group, conservatively, at 120. Then only above average med school aspirants take the time to actually research med schools and would possibly stumble upon a forum such as this, so let's say that the new average is 125. It's hardly a stretch to say that among the few who stay (ie - aren't intimidated or discouraged by the other high achievers on this board), the average IQ is 5 points higher, or 130.
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I failed to lolz at this.
 
idiocracy%20(Small).jpg
 
wanderer said:
I never understood how the average college graduate has an IQ of 115. Most college graduates don't strike me as that smart, so either this statistic is off or the average person (i.e. iq ~ 100) is really unintelligent.

Edit : 115 was the average IQ in the 60s. It's now a lot lower. One source gave 105 as the new mean for college grads.
Click to expand...

does this include community colleges and for profit institutions? higher level education has become a necessity, rather than something people do to extend their intellectual capacity, with a bachelor's degree pretty much replacing a high school diploma.
 
81
 
Could be worse

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABzMAuI1vj0[/YOUTUBE]
 
flatearth always has a way of bringing people together...even if it's just opposition. I really do have to appreciate the persistence though. 😀
 
wanderer said:
I never understood how the average college graduate has an IQ of 115. Most college graduates don't strike me as that smart, so either this statistic is off or the average person (i.e. iq ~ 100) is really unintelligent.

Edit : 115 was the average IQ in the 60s. It's now a lot lower. One source gave 105 as the new mean for college grads.
Click to expand...

Troof.

Not everyone in med school is smart, either. Take me for example, pulling down the average IQ annually.
 
synthmonsterjax said:
An average of 130 would mean a large majority of the people browsing this forum would be capable of succeeding at a mid-tier hard science or mathematics PhD. A lot of people throw around 130 very casually, but it's a very high number. I wouldn't guess higher than 110-115. An example of a group with an average IQ of 130 would be a research conference in theoretical physics. A minority within those groups can perhaps be classified as geniuses and so on.
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It would be a very high average, yes, but 130 is far from genius (though admittedly that is a nebulous term.)
 
There's a sampling people like to often cite from what I guess was gathered in the '70's that states MD's have the highest mean IQ. I personally am a bit skeptical, considering the genius people in fields of mathematics, physicists, research scientists, etc.

It would be interesting to find out how that sampling was conducted.
 
synthmonsterjax said:
Yes, that's why I said geniuses are again 1-2+ SD higher than their 130 IQ physicist cohorts. These are people like Ed Witten.

Someone with 130 would be a standout student at all colleges except Caltech and a few others. You would expect them to have numerous accolades, etc., such as Goldwater. Most strong contenders for top medical schools are probably in this range. In other words, srs bzns. You can't just stack on IQ points because you think certain behaviors deserve a huge 5- or 10-point increase.
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It's ironic to me that you ascribe achievements to this hypothetical person in response to a high IQ but you're unwilling to do the reverse. I think you're being way too generous with what a 130 is and I think you're assuming way too much about "smart" people. So a person is extremely intelligent, does that mean we can assume he/she will be a "stand-out student" beyond good grades/test scores? Of course not, and it doesn't even mean we can expect them to perform well academically (though in general, intelligence does facilitate academic success.)

Accolades don't come with intelligence, they come with hard work. Intelligence is only part of what makes one successful.
sliceofbread136 said:
I want patrick back...
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He'll be back!
 
If Iq mattered, we would factor it into LizzyM scores.

With that being said, I seriously doubt that the average Iq for these forums is 130.

With respect to the OP's argument, google "slippery slope" and feel enlightened. The connections between the premise and conclusion are pretty weak.
 
RandomHero117 said:
If Iq mattered, we would factor it into LizzyM scores.

With that being said, I seriously doubt that the average Iq for these forums is 130.

With respect to the OP's argument, google "slippery slope" and feel enlightened. The connections between the premise and conclusion are pretty weak.
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Why shouldn't jobs (like medicine and law making) that oversee the making of major decisions require a certain cutoff IQ score?
 
gettheleadout said:
It would be a very high average, yes, but 130 is far from genius (though admittedly that is a nebulous term.)
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Last I checked, 130 wasn't exactly "far" from "genius" in terms of definition:

http://wilderdom.com/intelligence/IQWhatScoresMean.html said:
  • 115-124 - Above average (e.g., university students)
  • 125-134 - Gifted (e.g., post-graduate students)
  • 135-144 - Highly gifted (e.g., intellectuals)
  • 145-154 - Genius (e.g., professors)
  • 155-164 - Genius (e.g., Nobel Prize winners)
  • 165-179 - High genius
  • 180-200 - Highest genius
  • >200 - "Unmeasurable genius"
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http://onemansblog.com/2007/11/08/the-massive-list-of-genius-people-with-the-highest-iq/ said:
140 + (~.25%) Genius or near genius 130 – 139 Gifted 120 – 129 Very Superior Intelligence 110 – 119 Superior Intelligence 90 – 109 Average/Normal 80 – 89 Dullness 70 – 79 Borderline deficiency 50 – 70 Mild mental ******ation 35-50 Moderate mental ******ation 20 – 35 Severe mental ******ation < 20 Profound mental ******ation (1%)
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...So basically "genius" is in the 140-145+ range. 130 is &#8804;1 SD below that. It is generally considered gifted (beyond "superior intelligence"). To say that most SDNers are in the 120s and 130s for their IQ scores would seem to be absurd based on the things I see here at times.
 
Double Trouble said:
Why shouldn't jobs (like medicine and law making) that oversee the making of major decisions require a certain cutoff IQ score?
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For the same reason a certain cutoff MCAT score wouldn't work well. There is more to it than a test score; further, IQ measures one aspect of a person's ability. There are simply too many other factors at play.
 
music2doc said:
155-164 - Genius (e.g., Nobel Prize winners)

...
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"Winning a Nobel Prize is no big deal, but winning it with an IQ of 124 is really something." -- Feynman, referring to his tested IQ

That shows that this is just an idle discussion.
Just try to be engaged in what you are really interested, and make your hobby your profession.
 
synthmonsterjax said:
An average of 130 would mean a large majority of the people browsing this forum would be capable of succeeding at a mid-tier hard science or mathematics PhD. A lot of people throw around 130 very casually, but it's a very high number. I wouldn't guess higher than 110-115. An example of a group with an average IQ of 130 would be a research conference in theoretical physics. A minority within those groups can perhaps be classified as geniuses and so on.
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I agree with this, which is why I tend to think that the Physics Forum would have an average of IQ of that amount or higher. Definitely not SDN.
 
music2doc said:
Last I checked, 130 wasn't exactly "far" from "genius" in terms of definition:
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I think we'll have to take into account that they have 5 different levels of genius...I hardly think that, when most of us say "genius", we are referring to the lowest group (145).
 
music2doc said:
Last I checked, 130 wasn't exactly "far" from "genius" in terms of definition:






...So basically "genius" is in the 140-145+ range. 130 is &le;1 SD below that. It is generally considered gifted (beyond "superior intelligence"). To say that most SDNers are in the 120s and 130s for their IQ scores would seem to be absurd based on the things I see here at times.
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Those definitions are totally arbitrary and aren't even commonly used. Ask 100 people to define genius and you'll get all sorts of answers.
 
Slightly on topic, how does one get his IQ tested? Not a cheezy online score from a advertisement, but the real deal.
 
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