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Mensa qualifying score checker
Updated
The short answer
American Mensa's qualifying scores sit two standard deviations above average on each test's own scale: 130 on the Wechsler Full Scale IQ, the Stanford-Binet 5 and the RIAS, 132 on the older Stanford-Binet, the CogAT and the OLSAT, and 148 on the Cattell. Only a properly supervised test counts; online tests are not accepted.
Below the listed cutoff
4 points short of 132
American Mensa lists Composite SAS 132 on the CogAT as a qualifying score. Read as two standard deviations above 100, that cutoff implies an SD of 16, which matches the published scale. On that scale 128 sits at percentile 96, the same standing as 126 on an SD 15 scale.
| Test | Cutoff | Implied SD |
|---|---|---|
| 130 | 15 | |
| 130 | 15 | |
| 130 | 15 | |
| 132 | 16 | |
| 132 | 16 | |
| 132 | 16 | |
| 132 | 16 | |
| 132 | 16 | |
| 148 | 24 |
Not ready for a supervised test? Get a free estimate first: 25 puzzles, about 12 minutes.
Why the numbers differ by test
The cutoffs are one standing printed on different scales. To join, you must score in the upper 2 percent of the general population on a Mensa-approved test that was properly administered and supervised (Mensa International). American Mensa then lists the score that marks that point on each test: IQ 130 on the Stanford-Binet 5, Full Scale IQ 130 on the Wechsler, 132 on the older Stanford-Binet, a Composite SAS of 132 on the CogAT, a Total SAI of 132 on the OLSAT and IQ 148 on the Cattell (American Mensa: qualifying scores).
Read as two standard deviations above 100, those cutoffs imply spreads of 15, 16 and 24. Two are documented elsewhere: the 1960 Stanford-Binet used SD 16 (Roid, 2004) and the CogAT SAS uses SD 16 (Riverside: CogAT score descriptions). The Cattell's 24 is inferred from the cutoff alone. The checker shows which is which.
The rules that matter more than the number
- The test must be supervised. Unsupervised and Internet-based tests are not accepted (American Mensa: qualifying scores).
- Wechsler tests must be given in full, so that a Full Scale IQ is obtained (American Mensa: qualifying scores).
- American Mensa's own admission test takes one to two hours, is not offered to anyone under 14, and can be taken once every eight weeks (American Mensa: testing). It does not give you an IQ score or a percentile rank (American Mensa: testing page).
- British Mensa's online route is two remotely proctored adaptive tests; a 98th percentile score on either qualifies (British Mensa: online IQ test).
The method
The checker compares your score with the listed cutoff for the test you pick. It then places the score on the scale the cutoff implies (cutoff = 100 + 2 × SD) and reports its percentile and the same standing on an SD 15 scale. It cannot tell you whether a particular report will be accepted; only Mensa decides that.
To move a score between scales without the Mensa framing, use the IQ scale converter. For what the top 2% looks like on the curve, see the top 2 percent.
Sources
- American Mensa. Qualifying test scores. www.us.mensa.org/join/testscores/qualifying-test-scores/
- American Mensa. Admission testing. www.us.mensa.org/join/testing/
- American Mensa. Testing (results policy). www.us.mensa.org/testing
- Mensa International. Home page (membership and eligibility). www.mensa.org/
- British Mensa. Mensa online IQ test. mensa.org.uk/mensa-online-iq-test/
- Roid, G. H. (2004). Essentials of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB5) Assessment. Wiley. Chapter 1, Overview of the SB5 and its history (publisher excerpt). catalogimages.wiley.com/images/db/pdf/0471224049.excerpt.pdf
- Riverside Insights DataManager help. CogAT score descriptions. info.riversideinsights.com/datamanager-onlinehelp/cogat-score-descriptions