Old Dominion Heather Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 My mom wants to have my boys join. I am just wondering whether it is worth it. She is going to pay, but I hate to have her waste her money... I am not a joiner, but she is, very much so. She is always joining anything she can. I really don't see much benefit in doing the MENSA thing, but if you all have had a wonderful experience with it, I am willing to change my mind.:cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claire Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 My dh and I met at a Mensa meeting! I have no experience with the younger Mensa groups, but I expect they would offer some interesting opportunities for projects and activities in addition to socialization. Since your mother is willing to foot the bill, I would recommend having them join up and see what happens. They may have scholarship opportunities for younger members that could come in handy later. Also, your children might gain some leadership and organizational skills from participating in Mensa activities that would look very good on college applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claire Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Just wanted to add, after seeing your post about your gifted teen girl, that Mensa could help her with socialization too. My dh has always managed well socially, but I have found it much easier to socialize with other Mensa members than the general public. It's sort of a relief to be talking with others who are on your level -- easier to banter appropriately, so many intangibles...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseballmom Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 What are the qualifications needed to join Mensa? We use the Mensa for kids website for fun. But I always wondered how you become an official member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dominion Heather Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hmmm... I don't have a teen girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dominion Heather Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 You have to have testing done and the cut offs are different depending on the test, but it translates into about the 98th precentile, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dominion Heather Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 That is a good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claire Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hmmm... I don't have a teen girl. Oh, my, and I can't find the other post now. :eek: I must have misread the name on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWSJ Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 No, but we qualify. Around here I've heard it's a wine and cheese club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cin Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I was for awhile. It was a great boost to my self-esteem, which, at the time, I needed alot. My dd does not qualify, I think. I was shocked that I did! There weren't any SIGs near me that I was interested in, but I enjoyed just 'being' a member. I will have to check the website for kids and see if there is anything good for the girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 No. I could have joined based on my test results in ps, but never got around to it when they still existed. I thought of joining a few years ago, but all my old tests had been destroyed and I didn't want to join badly enough to retest. I have mixed feelings on Mensa. On the one hand, it would make it easier to find people with common interests, but on the other hand I've never been much on clubs and, whether rightly or wrongly, I think of it kind of like a club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freethinkermom Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 We are not joiners. Well ds6 is more social than the rest of us, but for the most part we do not do groups. Dh and I were both members in college but we went to one meeting and then remembered we hate that sort of thing. Ds10 qualifies and I am sure ds6 would if he were tested, but there are no groups near us and we would not go if there were. Boy...I make us sound completely anti-social! I do wish there was a group where the kids could hang out with other kids interested in academics. They don't even need to be gifted kids, just kids that don't think reading is weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorna in the boonies Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I qualified, but my mother (who probably didn't want to have to drive me around any more than necessary!) talked me out of joining. I haven't looked into it since -- that was many moons ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I'm not a member. I think I briefly considered it when much younger, but never pursued it. I'm curious as to what it would be like for children. Can you visit a meeting a see what it is like first? Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielle Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 In our area (Chicago area) it's a big club. That said, I have yet to go to a meeting. The local has a gigantic Halloween party (costumes apparently based on puns) that we've heard so much about it caused dh to take the test (and pass, thank heavens!--imagine what it would be like to be in a house with me and dd qualified). Dd qualifies but lost the application with the check. Apparently smart has little relationship to organized! I joined intending to go to meetings and take dd for games nights, which I know she'd enjoy. MENSA is very much member driven, so if you want something out of it, you are welcome to organize it. It abounds in SIGs, so you can find many ways to pursue even strange interests. What I most enjoy about MENSA is the magazine--the letter column really lets it rip on any issue. Generally the mag is themed, but the letters in the next issue are usually way more interesting than the original article. Also, in the endless need for resume credentials, MENSA membership is a shorthand for really smart in most interviewers's minds. Actually, the test scores don't have to be THAT high, but people think they do. I was able to retrieve my old GRE scores (still had the copy in my files from 30 years ago!) and they accepted that. Danielle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I've not actually looked into it very far, but the little I've heard hasn't been tempting. It probably varies from group to group, but what I've heard about the ones around here sounds like a social club with a bit of intellectual snobbishness... which wouldn't be my cup of tea at all! The way I understand it, my entire high school (gifted magnet) would qualify, and while it was an excellent thing in high school to be surrounded by kids who mostly took their studies seriously, especially compared to the situation I would have been in at the regular neighborhood school, I'm actually more impressed with the serious attitude of the kids in our very diverse homeschool group... so I don't feel like we need to seek out another bunch to hang out with iykwim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I apparently qualify based on my ACT and/or SAT scores, but I'm cheap. If I found that there was something worthwhile to joining, I might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzdiva Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I've not actually looked into it very far, but the little I've heard hasn't been tempting. It probably varies from group to group, but what I've heard about the ones around here sounds like a social club with a bit of intellectual snobbishness... which wouldn't be my cup of tea at all! The way I understand it, my entire high school (gifted magnet) would qualify, and while it was an excellent thing in high school to be surrounded by kids who mostly took their studies seriously, especially compared to the situation I would have been in at the regular neighborhood school, I'm actually more impressed with the serious attitude of the kids in our very diverse homeschool group... so I don't feel like we need to seek out another bunch to hang out with iykwim. My husband and I went to the same high school for the gifted where stratospheric IQs were par for the course. I was average there myself and felt rather stupid in math (couldn't go past calculus, LOL). In college (when husband was a gauche 15 and I an equally clueless 17) we took the Mensa qualifying test on a lark. We both passed, but only my husband actually joined the club. Having our names plastered as Mensa qualifiers on the walls of the uni, quite close to the frat and sorority houses, killed most of our social life, I think. :lol: Now, we never tell anyone we're Mensa qualifiers. People, even mature ones outisde the university, tend to have two stock reactions to your Mensa-ness: 1. Awe, then avoidance, and 2. Awe, then denigration (to the lines of "You know what, IQ doesn't really measure your true intelligence/spirituality/humanity/creativity/etc." and "Mensa is just a group of social retards/losers/nerds/criminals/etc. who have nothing to show for themselves except their IQ yada-yada-yada") I have no extreme emotions or value judgements about Mensa or IQ testing. Mensa could be a fun club to join, and IQ tests could either be fun diversions or invaluable psychometric tools to those who really need them. It really depends on the individual. :chillpill: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krista in LA Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 and I would probably still be one if I lived somewhere with a bigger group that did more things. The group here is a bit on the older side, not huge, and they just have one lunch and one dinner each month the last I knew. I went to a few of them and really did enjoy it. It was so nice to have real conversations with people. If they had some children in the group here, I would sign my dd up but there weren't any when I went. The main reason I quit was because I didn't think I was getting my money's worth with it. I might start paying again when the kids are older and I have more time on my hands. I have my certificate hanging on the wall and have a Mensa license plate frame on my car. It's kind of fun to be able to say I was in it and nobody has ever given me any grief about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaid Dad Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I've considered it off and on over the years, usually after I meet a member who asks me why I haven't joined. ;) Most recently I thought about it for dd since she is very social and would probably benefit from being around other kids with similar intellectual intensity. But we don't test otherwise and the cost seemed high for our budget, so we let the idea go for now. I also don't know what the culture of the local group is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 My aunt lives in an area in which it is hard to find friends who are intellectual equals. For her, MENSA was a lifesaver. She always urged us to join, but we live in an entirely different area of the country, one where we are definately on the brighter end of things, but where all in all we are pretty normal, since we are just brightish, not brilliant. We had a brilliant friend for whom it might have been very nice. He had trouble finding friends. MENSA might have helped him to find a few who were closer to his level. Personally, since my children don't have any trouble finding friends in our area, we're not likely to join. I don't really need anything else feeding my youngest's dislike and disrespect of the general population. I would jump at the chance if my children didn't have lots of other adults to have intelligent conversations with, ones who answer those questions about the nature of peace or current events (middle one) or the nature of time or electricity (youngest). Around here, there are many self-educated adult, too, who are generous with their time and willing to stop and explain to an interested child exactly how shoeing a horse works or why they are replacing the electrical system in their car. If my children were shy, I'd jump at the chance, too, probably, but mine, for some unfathomable reason, are perfectly willing to walk up to a strange adult and ask them what they are doing. I suspect my father, with whom my children have spent considerable time, has taught them to do that. And around here, once an adult realizes that a child is homeschooled, they assume that the child needs them to help with their education. They immediately begin telling my children all the things they wish someone had told them at that age. I assumed that homeschooling would make my children's education a more private affair, but I was totally wrong; it somehow made my children public property LOL. If I didn't see that happening so much, I'd give MENSA a try, I think, but I would be sad that it didn't include all those mentors who have less education/intelligence and more know-how. We're obviously lucky to live where we do. -Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 Even though our IQ's more than qualify us, I still just see us as 'average'. I think I already gravitate to intelligent, sensitive friends. So I don't feel the need to join a group like Mensa-I guess we're just not joiners. Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 . . . my son's best friend is active with the local Young Mensans group. His family has found it worthwhile, and the boy has made some friends through the group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 My mom wants to have my boys join. I am just wondering whether it is worth it. She is going to pay, but I hate to have her waste her money... I am not a joiner, but she is, very much so. She is always joining anything she can. I really don't see much benefit in doing the MENSA thing, but if you all have had a wonderful experience with it, I am willing to change my mind.:cool: I've heavily resisted joining because it's open to the top 2%, or moderately gifted and higher. I've had THE worst problems with jealousy and nastiness from MG people, in high school and later, so I'm still steering clear. There are other societies, like the 999 Society, but you start running against population thresholds there. I'd probably have problems, anyway, because I my definition of "intelligent" and that of most people's, including MENSA, is noticeably different, and there's noting that annoys me like arrogant stupidity, and when people try to throw around their intellectual weight in a snobbish way and just make idiots of themselves, it brings out the very worst in *me.* Then *I* start being a snob, and I don't like that. *g* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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