<p>Will joining MENSA help in the college admissions process? </p>
<p>It is obviously not politically correct to base admissions off of IQ.</p>
<p>It is, however, also unfair to base admissions off of extracurriculars that require substansial amounts of financial support from parents, such as piano or violin (tuition and entering "tournaments" where everyone gets a trophy with plenty of glamour and glitz), volunteer trips to Africa (living at the Hilton and eating buffet every meal), robotics clubs (many tend to hire professionals at atrocious costs), and others. Colleges count such activities as solid extracurriculars anyways. </p>
<p>So will joining MENSA help?</p>
<p>No, it would not help. It would only make you seem obsessed about your IQ.</p>
<p>Probably virtually all students and faculty at top colleges qualify for Mensa as do probably the majority of applicants to such colleges. Consequently, having a high IQ is a given and won't impress adcoms. The admissions officers care about what you do with your IQ: leadership, extracurriculars, grades, etc. </p>
<p>Even at lower ranked colleges, adcoms won't care. They will care, however, about your gpa and test scores.</p>
<p>Also top colleges are NOT impressed by things like expensive trips that students got to take only because they had wealthy parents. (There's a thread in Parent's cafe on exactly this subject).</p>
<p>Colleges also are far more impressed by students who work jobs to support their families, aren't able to do ECs because of having to do things like care for younger sibs, start service or other EC activities in areas that lacked them -- than colleges are impressed by students who basically just took advantage of things that were available due to their family's wealth or connections.</p>
<p>I agree. If you qualify for Mensa (like most applicants to top colleges) you'll probably have high SAT/ACT. That's enough.</p>
<p>lol, I tested into the International High IQ Society but didn't join. I don't think colleges care if someone's in Mensa or any other IQ group.</p>
<p>One of my teachers got like an 85 on his IQ test yet he aced his SATs and he is really intelligent.</p>
<p>I don't think it will hurt you, but it doesn't necessarily add anything to your app, unless you are really involved with the society (as in participating in their program to restore libraries and other activities)</p>
<p>"One of my teachers got like an 85 on his IQ test yet he aced his SATs and he is really intelligent."
did he skip a page or something?</p>
<p>sai:</p>
<p>Many ECs don't require any money at all. Each of my daughters performed over 200 hours of community service (in their own communities - not Africa) at no expense and ended up actually winning a number of scholarships as a result (although that wasn't the reason the did it). Another byproduct is that you actually help the community and benefit people in more need than yourself. Also, sports in school, clubs in school, etc. also have little to no cost.</p>
<p>Naturally, I do not plan on going outside my community for extracurriculars and what I do (just normal volunteering at the library and community center) is quite fun. </p>
<p>I am merely curious if MENSA would count as an "activity" since so many people are using activities like National Youth Leadership Conference, Who's Who, "Volunteer trips" to Africa and India, donating money that was transfered to your account from your parents, and other costly activites as "extracurriculars". </p>
<p>I am also not part of MENSA. And to the guy that "tested" into the International High IQ Society, I think that society is a bit of a scam since the test isn't that hard and they ask for a $50 membership fee after you have taken the test.</p>
<p>Nah, their tests used to be harder. Then people complained that they should make them easier so more people could join, and they did. It's the second-largest IQ organization after Mensa. </p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_High_IQ_Society%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_High_IQ_Society</a></p>
<p>I'm a Mensan, and Mensa requires a membership fee just like the fee for the International High IQ Society. In fact, it costs more to be a Mensan, so you can't say the International High IQ Society is a scam just because it costs money</p>
<p>Sure, you can put it down as an activity, but for the very top colleges, it will impress adcoms as much as the National Youth leadership conference and expensive trips abroad: Not much.</p>
<p>If you're applying to top colleges and Mensa won't impress adcoms, why bother putting it on your application? Use the space for something that they may care about.</p>
<p>I used to be a member of Mensa - I took the tests for the fun of it and joined it for a year, but I never did any of the activities. An EC implies you're doing some real activity and not just a member of a club. Mensa does have some activities depending on the local people but it's more of a social club than anything else.</p>
<p>"Who's who" is also not an activity. It's just a publisher who accepts your maoney to put your name in a book that only fellow Who's who members would buy. This is a moneymaking scheme for the publisher - that's all it is. </p>
<p>While volunteering in Africa, Latin America, and other third world nations is fine, there are also many opportunities locally. Admissions staff realize that not everyone has the funds to travel halfway around the world to volunteer. </p>
<p>You need to get this idea of "expensive" ECs out of your head since it's not expected and by far not the norm. The majority of perfectly valid and acceptable ECs cost nothing.</p>
<p>Putting MENSA on your application will put you at a disadvantage because admissions officers will expect more out of you.</p>
<p>sai2004 </p>
<p>i would guess you know somebody who is trying to buy their admission. (i know somebody also). Unfortunately, that is how the game is played. At first I was a little frustrated by it, but there is really nothing you can do about it. But it all evens out. Colleges also treat economically-disadvantaged people better than students who have parents that work.</p>
<p>Not one in particular. Several.</p>
<p>yes...but can you blame them?</p>
<p>Reminds me of this last year of "The Apprentice". They had this guy Tarik that was a member of Mensa and they kept mentioning it throughout the show like it was some big deal. My guess is that something like 98% of all applicants to the Ivies qualify for Mensa and could pass the test if they cared.</p>
<p>At the end of the show they last two finalists came down to the guy who won, Sean (who was like 33 years old) and a 24 year old named Lee who went through Cornell with a 4.0 GPA (much more impressive than any Mensa membership).</p>
<p>Quite true. Not trying to belittle MENSA, but the "top 2 percent" qualify for MENSA. Cornell is indeed a much bigger achievement.</p>