First off, why on earth would I write a total humble-braggy article about being accepted into a club presumably full of…
Multiple reasons. The first one is to annoy the life out of a friend of mine (I use that term loosely). Let’s just say there is someone in my life that always stuffs their accomplishments in my face, and I know this would be the one thing they couldn’t do. So now they will notice and have to text me a congratulations full of shame and embarrassment, which I will gladly devour with a side of gravy and not feel an ounce of guilt.
Insert hand wave emoji, fire emoji, skull emoji here. #savage
The second, we recently had Jimmy Vesey on the #MSGHockeyShow and he talked about his time at Harvard. Even if you’re one of the best athletes in the world, you still have to be super smart to even get a sniff at an Ivy League school. On top of that, he’s fluent in Mandarin. And, most importantly, he’s roommates with Brady Skjei. That last part actually has nothing to do with this article, but it’s part of our interview.
At the start of this NHL season, there were 11 players who went to Ivy League schools, including Vesey and Ben Lovejoy of the Devils (Dartmouth).
Also, I’m a big fan of life hacks and clear paths to achievement. This article will hopefully give you all the clarity you need if you’ve ever been curious about how to get into the world’s oldest and largest high IQ society.
But mostly, I wanted to actually keep my New Year’s resolutions this year. According to Statistic Brain, only 9.2% of people feel like they have completed what was on their resolutions list.
In past several years, 100% of me was NOT in that 9.2%.
Let me give you a brief history of my resolutions:
- 2016: Get a six pack (Failed miserably. Thanks beer)
- 2015: Learn a new language (Never happened)
- 2014: Save more money (Once again, thanks beer)
- 2013: Get a six pack (Crying Jordan meme)
For 2017, I made two personal ones: Achieve a physical feat & achieve a mental feat. The first one I’m still working on (but progressing well, shockingly!) The latter brings us to Mensa.
Let me begin this breakdown by addressing a huge misconception: Joining Mensa does not make you more attractive. It actually subtracts points, according to my girlfriend, who thinks I’m a giant nerd and actually wants me less. You’ve been warned.
Now that we have that out of the way:
The way to get accepted into Mensa is to take one of the official Mensa tests and score in the 98th percentile. This doesn’t mean score a 98% grade on the test. It means score among the top 2% of test scores. This chart breaks it down well for the official tests that Mensa administers.
There’s also a list of non-official tests that Mensa will accept for qualification. One of these tests you’ll notice is a Wonderlic test, which is familiar to football fans: That’s the aptitude test that college players take when at the NFL combine. Check out some past scores or take a sample Wonderlic test (take the 50 question one if you have the time).
Let’s say you took a test on that list when you were younger, and you can find a copy of the test result, you can totally submit that to Mensa and they will qualify you. It doesn’t matter how old you were, as long as the test is accepted by Mensa.
I took an official Mensa test by signing up online. Someone from my local branch then reached out to me and booked a space at the local library. We went there one morning and I took three tests; it took about an hour and cost $30 (regularly $40, but there was a discount when I booked online). Even if I scored in the 98th percentile in only one of those tests I took, that would have been enough to qualify.
Some tests work different parts of your brain, so it’s a good idea to take different tests.
Mensa has in the neighborhood of 60,000 members, with just over 2,000 in the NYC area. Celebrity Mensans include Geena Davis, Quentin Tarantino, James Wood and Steve Martin, among others. Also some really really young kids, including Emmelyn Roettger.
There are a couple of monetary benefits to joining Mensa, like a few discounts on stuff like car insurance. There’s also a regular publication and networking events. For you single peeps, there’s also a “Mensa Match” service that works with match.com, so you can find that special (smart) someone.
Now that you know how it’s done, take the practice test and see if you want to keep at it. Crush it!