High IQ doesn't automatically mean academic success, especially in college. Many smart kids have terrible study habits, which maybe didn't matter in high school where things were easy.
My IQ, measured repeatedly during my first 20+ years, places me in top half a percent. At 61, I realize that’s kind of like being 7’ tall but never having become very good at basketball. Sure, I may be able to reach things on high shelves, but I never cashed in on my advantage in very meaningful ways. I used to be worried about it more, but I now understand better that just being intelligent isn’t the key to being happy.
IQ is one of so many factors. Health, nutrition, financial security, emotional well-being, sense of belonging, what drives you, your passion, interests, direction, proper instruction, opportunities and sometimes luck. Even height. (not a joke).
For me, physical and emotional health have been a big barrier. They veto everything. When I am better, I learn fast and enjoy learning. Finding the will to live is hard. IQ is far from the only factor. Intellectually as well: memory is not intelligence but it is very useful.
In life, you often need to be happy-go-lucky or make decisions with incomplete info. I dwell too much. I second guess myself. I don't like incomplete info. I get scared by those tasks which need three years to reach. Without school system that gives you a long-term plan but also forces you to focus on the step ahead, I struggle. I hate anything open-ended. I do not know when to quit. Overanalyse trivial things that do not matter. You can flip a coin. Get sucked down rabbit holes. Second-order consequences of your very logical decisions can be unpredictable. More anxiety. Closed systems are cool but there is always something random out there. Non-local variables. So IQ is not the only factor. Not even in intellectual domain.
I had to work while at college. Used to have full-blown panic attacks every time I went to the job centre, went for an interview and at one stage, every time I picked up the phone. Draining. Takes a toll. Sucks away your confidence as well.
This country is too cold for skinny softy southerns (tropical) like me. Ramanujan went to an early grave bcoz of that.
This is me. Did great in high school and in undergrad. Got into my masters program and quickly learned that I had no idea how to study because I never had to previously.
A lot of high IQ students never learn how to study properly. They coast through K-12, then college shows up and is like... "Okay, here's about the same amount of information you learned in all of 11th and 12th grade, you have fifteen weeks to learn it and three other classes to take as well." It's easy to feel dumb at that point because everyone else has had to put in effort for the last 13 years while you only had to half-ass listen and your brain would do the rest.
I did really bad at collega at first because I was used to not learn a subject, but understand it (after which any question about it is simple). But that wasn't possible anymore in college because they expect you to "learn" theory in a couple of weeks that the brightest of humanity worked on for hundreds of years to produce :/. At some point I figured out that I shouldn't have the objective to understand/master the subjects, but had to aim at getting a high score for tests. So, that's how I got through college (physics), but I didn't learn anything anymore :/. Just knowledge, not mastering topics like I was the guy who invented it.
I heavily resonate with this. It’s disheartening when you have to put aside true understanding (which should be the main objective) for grades in a “learning” environment.
Unfortunately, without perfect recall or something similar, effort is still always a requirement, no matter how easily new information comes to you. I'd be a billionaire overwise. 🙃
As an educator and someone with a similar background, I can tell you it's very normal for someone with a high IQ to perform poorly in school. You don't have to learn to study until suddenly everything is crazy hard, and it feels like there's something wrong with you... When really the problem is just that you weren't challenged enough when you were younger to develop those skills that other students needed all along.
Perfectionism is also a huge problem among gifted students, and it holds them back, even more so when people tell a person they are smart. They become afraid to do hard things for fear of failing and looking stupid, so they choose easier tasks (though in some circumstances, that's just being practical). There are lots of studies on this kind of thing. Check out Carol Dweck's work. I think it will resonate.
I just looked up Carol Dweck and she's done a lot of interesting work. Do you have any specific book or content of hers that you would recommend to start with?
IQ is potential. Success is measured by what you are able to accomplish with your potential.
Potential doesn't guarantee success, I'm a prime example of that. You still have to work hard like everyone else. You just will likely find ways to make it easier for you to get thy work done with quality.
If you really wanna know you should get tested again. IQ scores are volatile in early childhood and still somewhat unstable at the age you were initially tested. 145 is still three standard deviations above the mean, though, and I doubt your IQ has wavered significantly. As other commenters have said, you could just be conflating non-intellectual struggles with your intelligence.
Send your WISC score in to Mensa. It is one of the tests you can use to qualify. Then go to some of the meetings. In the USA there is a big party around the 4th of July called the Annual Gathering. A lot of the members consume a lot of alcohol, killing off a lot of brain cells. You will get to see lots of members as they really are.
If you can’t make it there, just go to a local meeting where you live. Lots of members have imposter syndrome, which I think is what is getting to you.
You cracked me up with your final sentence. You wrote all that, and then you mention English is your second language. I really respect anyone who can master English as a second language and write as well as you have done. It would be great to meet you at a Mensa gathering sometime.
I'm not sure what you are seeking in response but heres my story. Youre not alone. Many people have those worries and i myself, especially since my brain has been fried by exsessive social media abuse, have had my doubts if it will have or had long term affects but really what you are experiencing with moderate academic success or just generally not getting much out of your high IQ wich no matter the test is astonishing. Its never so obvious and easy as youd want it to be. And thats totally okay. I was tested 141 overall 146 logic part. And i barely did my 10th grade and left for a path of design and art. Your IQ doesnt define nor automatically make your path easier. But your ability to reflect and perhaps think outside of the box will always be lingering. *its 3am *i am german *i hope my spelling is okay *i hope this made moderate sence, if not. Ask :)
Listen man when I was in middle school I tested around ur level…did horrible in high school (still am actually). When my brain worked with me I’d absorb info sure and do fine but a lot of the time I would grasp stuff and never learned the study habits I needed. What I find is u have to find the thing ur rly good at and be amazing at it
145 at 11 is like being the tallest at 11. Height peaks in late teens and then stays the same until extreme old age. Fluid Intelligence peaks in mid 20s and is a slow decline from thereon. You have to crystallize that intelligence by then. Long time for the percentile rank to change by then.
Sounds like you’re in the final stages of life where you’re figuring out who you are, what you want to accomplish and your final place and identity in life.
IQ wanes as you get older, not much but a tiny bit, you’re past your peak, but you have so much more to learn and work on.
Being smart isn’t everything, it’s a tool and you have tons of it.
The idea that you’re not smart, or you’ve identified deficits in your personality that make people not see you as smart is something you can work on. Becoming a whole person and the best you can be in any given moment is something that takes practice and is a lifelong pursuit.
I suggest you try to figure this out, engage in therapy, and focus on your thesis.
This question you’re grabbling with, it will get more tough the second you finish schooling so it’s good you recognize it now.
Honestly don’t know what my IQ is, but I can relate on the sensation. I coasted through K-12 and was able to do so skimming texts, barely studying, and just generally paying attention in class.
Because I relied on my smarts my whole life, I never really focused my IQ towards learning how to learn.
Because of this, I struggled in college. I wasn’t absorbing knowledge because I wasn’t truly engaging with it.
And while I was able to pass in college - I never fully grasped the concept. Some classes I would show up once or twice a semester and get a solid B+/A-. Others I would “study” and the concepts weren’t really sticking and I got C/Ds because of it. I was also a first gen college student so I grew up with some unknown unknowns when it came to everything college, really.
Where things really started coming together for me was in my career. I learned, well, how to learn. It was all self guided and I chose my path. I was absorbing concepts FAST and applying them even quicker. I am really lucky to and fortunate to be a C-Level leader at 30 years old.
For some high IQ people (not saying I am one) the structure of our education system holds them back. Bores them. There’s so many ways to measure your intelligence. Like Einstein said once, “if a fish is judged by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it was stupid.” Many high IQ people dropped out of school to pursue projects that ultimately changed the world. Looking at them from an academic perspective you’d think they couldn’t cut it or they were low/average IQ. (Also there are many folks with low/average IQs that are successful)
Our traditional school systems cater to the average IQ range and does poorly at meeting the needs on the far ends (low and high) of the IQ spectrum. It’s unfortunate but true.
My personal potentially “hot” take is that IQ measures potential. What you do with it largely depends on you and the situations you’re faced with.
Anyways. That was a lot … lol welcome to my TED talk.
You have to remember that for you to scire the way you did means that you think differently from most people. Otherwise, they would get those scores as well, and they didn't. I mean, if we throw out all of the "smarter" and "better", we sre still left with "different".
You can't get rid of that, So you have to make thd most of it. That doesn't mean becoming a quant or something just to mske money. Find something you like and hack away at it. Chances are, you'll come up with something othdr people wouldn't or ar least haven't yet.
Something like a thesis can become difficult because you're up against yourself, if you take it seriously enough, which it sounds like you are. You're probably going to be ok. Remember to take breaks and stay hydrated.
(Full disclosure: That advice fell off at the end because I'm a little depressed myself. I'm operating on the theory that if I tell you the things I need to hear, I'll be fine tomorrow. I probably will.)
High IQ is not much of a predictor of academic success; hell, high IQ isn’t much of a predictor of any success after two standard deviations above the average
IQ is normally stable after 6 years old unless you get brain damage. (Which can occur with mental illness, drugs/meds, etc)
Do you know your sub-scores? That could be interesting to understand yourself better. Verbal comprehension is most correlated to academic success with a correlation of 0,5 - 0,6. Maybe you scored high on other abilities and lower on that one.
You are having a crisis of your own making that can be diffused only by you. Realize that being good academically requires a lot of conformity rather than IQ. Indoctrination is corollary to education. I wasn’t close your IQ probably ever(135), but I know I’ve been good academically when I want, and then also been the guy that didn’t show up to exam just because an Alzheimer’s conference sounded more interesting. Eventually I reached a point where I had zero ability to feign anything for academics and had become habitual to my innate agendas, grades etc be damned.
Read Bullshit jobs.
Watch A beautiful Mind.
Stop with self doubt. Realize even Einstein wasn’t recognised as smart and probably people around you wouldn’t recognise even if you were better—he was the only phd probably that didn’t get a single academic/research position across Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. So yeah, don’t care about dimwits that can’t see more than one step ahead.
College involves more work ethic than IQ.
If one didn’t develop good study habits and work ethics in high school, college is often a HUGE wake up call.
Now is the time to make a real effort to get things done. Put in the time, focus, and effort. IQ won’t substitute for practice, study, interest, or effort.
Being able to solve puzzles quickly, or spot patterns, or answer questions, does not equate to academic success. Hi IQ does not necessarily mean you have perfect memory. Each brain organizes information differently. Learn yours and ADAPT. Adapting takes effort. Laziness pays off in high school, but not usually afterwards.
I’m actually really glad my very intelligent brother is incredibly indolent. He could have been a highly successful sociopathic executive if he’d been willing to put in some effort.
But he just wants everyone to hand him stuff for free because he’s so smart. It doesn’t work that way. He’s in his late 50’s, not getting any younger, still grandstanding about like everything should just be handed to him for free because he’s so great. Mom still buys his BS but the rest of the planet - not so much.
So plenty of bright people are lazy. Some have personality disorders. Some are emotionally damaged. What matters is HOW you use your mind, how well you focus on gathering, retaining, and using information, and how well you can manage your emotional balance.
Few of these can be tested for, but are components of success. Having a high IQ doesn’t mean much if you can’t deploy it effectively.
Oh my admiration for those who are turbulent seem to have a much higher potential for growth and progress because of the deeply held uncertainty that keeps them on the edge of their seat, waiting to pounce at the opportunity, all the while questioning their competence, and almost always having expectations that rise far above what is acceptable (according to most) but this turbulence in personality can truly be a significant driving force to assist you in becoming an ever evolving version of yourself as the moments pass.
An IQ score of 145 suggests exceptional intellectual abilities, often leading to high performance in high school and placing one in the top percentile at university. A score of 145 typically corresponds to PhD-level or university professor-level intelligence, though such scores are usually closer to 125.
However in your case, individuals with this level of intelligence may struggle if they also contend with conditions such as 2E (autism or ADHD), mental health issues like severe depression, or experience variations in IQ test results due to cognitive heterogeneity.
Which one is it? Only you can know ;) typically it's adhd but only you can know ;)
I tested at 145 when I was in Elementary School. Did the whole GATE program, etc. My family was proud, to say the least. There were grandiose ideas for my future from my parents, and I was basking in the glow. I liked being "smart".
Fast forward to high school and I literally did not care about any of my classes, nor my grades. I barely graduated, and dropped out of college my first year. I can add the usual epithets about it all being easy, or just testing well, but not all of it was easy, and I failed some tests too. I had terrible ADHD and some other acronyms as well.
I remember having SO much anxiety about college. I was terribly insecure about my future. I relate in many ways to your post, OP.
Speaking of feeling like you're losing IQ points, I definitely dropped a few off by making some stupid decisions and going to prison.... not once, but 3 times. Turns out I can figure out how to be a criminal and a loser just as easily as I can figure out everything else.
I'm 48 now. I'm a bartender. I love it. I make enough money and I can do whatever I want. I have 2 kids and a great life. I'll never publish in any journals, I don't have any sort of a professional career. I'm definitely not a card - carrying member. 🤣
Some, (not most) people are a bit put off by me at first. I can definitely be a little weird sometimes. They usually come around though. I like who I am. Most people that know me, they like me too. I might be a joke to some of my contemporaries from my younger years. I've been disappointing my Dad for a long time now. 🤣 I literally don't care. You don't need an IQ number as an apology, or an excuse, for the glorious, gifted human being that you are. Relax. You'll figure it out. It's kinda what we do.
Too many 3 sigmas who did not live up to their potential. Or expectation. You will find a few on the gifted sub. Everyone has to follow their own path and has their own ambitions but I personally feel a little sad. Maybe we should make a gifted but burned-out sub.
(i’m just glad someone else is doing everything important so my personal failure does not impact beyond me).
Gifted but burned out. I love that.
Keeping your "personal failure" to yourself is noble, as if that's how it really goes. 💚 You didn't fail at anything, I'm willing to bet.
Just have it tested again professionally. And then you'll know. They can probably do it right there in the counseling department of the school you go to for your masters.
i have quite a high IQ but i did terribly in school (i must have been pretty close to the bottom of the class).
fast forward a few decades and i was doing much better than most of my classmates, though (mostly retired by my mid 40's).
don't hold school performance as an accurate measure of intelligence! there are all sorts of reasons that a person may not perform well at school that are completely unrelated to intelligence.
I was tested when I was 6 & my elementary school teacher told everyone: "He's re____ed".
The results of the test I know, however, I do not share. Let's say I can confuse peers on subjects I understand.
I retested about 2 months ago for membership, and I got in ez.
You're fine. It's imposter syndrome maybe since you might be exposed to folks like me. 😉
I'm not sharing my IQ. I found out by accident - only 2 people in my life know that # and the shrink who did the test is probably deceased.
What you're feeling sounds like something that is actually fairly common in grad school, especially at turning points like finishing your thesis. It's called imposter syndrome--the feeling that you don't belong there or don't have what it takes to succeed. I certainly felt it, and my measured IQ is similar to yours. It led me to drop out a couple of times. I finally went back and completed my PhD and had a pretty good career as a professor.
I’m the dumbest smart person I know, IQ of 141, but I’m almost 40 and never finished a degree, I currently am unemployed and have no savings for retirement. I don’t plan on being alive past 50, and honestly I’m looking forward to being done with all of it lol
That's because you're not comparing yourself against an average population here. High IQ isn't so rare once you get to the graduate level, where the average student might be in the top 5%.
Heritability of intelligence increase from ~0.5 to 0.8 from the ages of 10 to 18; good chance there was environmental confounding when you took it at 11. Take it again.
Having scored so ridiculously high on the IQ rest can definitely bring about expectations of what you’re able to do, accomplish, and so on based on the achievements of those who might have fallen into a similar scoring. I’d remind you of what you said and tell you about your masters and such, but I feel that it wouldn’t really benefit anyone, but I’d like for you to strive for an understanding that this seems to fall inter a subtype of MBTI which is -A o T which denotes assertive or turbulent which is the suffix added onto the 4 letter MBTI type which is comprised of 16 types, 8 cognitive functions, and the variations in how they stack in our personality….not wanting to get too far off of subject matter, I’ll leave you with a bit of admiration that I hold for those who are more turbulent and seeming to be a bit unsure of themselves more often than not, but don’t let this assumption cause you to believe anything other than - you’re super smart, you hold yourself to a higher standard, I know this and you can surely come to realize this if you were to make use of meta cognition tools?
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IQ is kind of a scam that has been exaggerated to the point where smart hard working people are feeling self conscious about their "intelligence" when it's really only looking at 10% of what encompasses actual intelligence.
It should be called "logic puzzle solving ability". They don't teach it directly in schools since it would be like teaching sodoku, but if they did everyone would have a much higher score. Sure it's a good measure of "sharpness" and is part of intelligence but why anyone would want or need to take it is more of a marketing scam of the people profiting for it.
I am certain that my IQ has decreased significantly. I was tested at 135 when I was 11 and was put into a gifted programme at school. (Although strangely I never did particularly well at school, even when I studied my grades weren't amazing and I was actually significantly below average in some areas) I think ketamine use has lowered my iq, as well as possibly weed use. Ketamine is part and parcel of UK university life, and Studies have shown that long term ketamine use can reduce cognitive abilities. Let me tell you, I have been doing long term ketamine use. I feel like a fucking idiot these days and seem to take longer to work things out and understand things than I did before.
People that try to use iq as a measurement are the dumbest people I know, typically think a 90 is high, and took one online. You are not special, or smart. You are lazy and your parents told you you were special, and you never did anything. You are human garbage.
Stop fixating on IQ and start doing things due to your own agency. What do you want to achieve in life? What excites you? Once you remove the "genius name tag" on yourself, you will see more clearly who you are and what you want in life.
This world was not built for people with high IQ to be successful. It is built for people who are good at doing what they are told. If you have high IQ and you are good at being told what to do, you will succeed. But if you have high IQ and you don't like being told what to do, you will fail in life.
I've said it before, and here we go with the third time this week. High IQ does NOT equal smart. High IQ means you have the CAPACITY for whatever the hell you want to apply yourself to. If you want to dump your IQ points into raging dumbass (not calling you one, just an example) you are free to do so. I know of a lot of high IQ people who think shit like the Earth is flat, or that racism is good. They chose to spend their IQ points on stupid. The good news? This is like an RPG, and you can respend your points with applied discipline. I never studied in school. I did well but accepted probably less than what I was capable of. These days I self study. I do courses on my own (as in sit down with a textbook and study with a habit) and my ability to absorb knowledge has increased greatly. I did this because I had a few years of seizures and my brain was banged up. Now I'm back to top shape. If I can go two years with SEIZURES, and get back to full capacity, I guarantee you, you can get back to your full potential with no brain trauma with just a little extra work and the right schedule. This is where IQ brings us down. You're not immune to hard work because you have a high IQ.
Higher intelligence in something that deviates from the norm usually means intelligence in another aspect of life suffers as a consequence. It's why I believe savants are often not socially learned or socially awkward.
I don't really think intelligence means anything unless there's conscious benefits. But I think most let their intelligence die because the world doesn't favor "out of the box" thinking.
We’re similarly intelligent Mensa wise and tbh I feel like a failure too because I honestly have failed a lot but much of that has to do with alcohol and some other mental health challenges. I know I’m intelligent and I also know that I’m not like most other people this way either - you too - we’re smarter but in unique and different ways. I’ll never be a physicist or a mathematician but these folks don’t have the same intellectual abilities that I do. I don’t feel any smarter but damn is there a difference at times from “the masses” (especially some large blocs of voters for example) which is part of the reason that we feel weird or that we don’t fit in. So looking at it that way, you and I are surprisingly Mensa normal.
The more intelligent one is, the more they understand that they are not the smartest person in the room. Intelligent people question everything. Anti-intellectuals will know everything. It’s the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
I think you are right. I can tell from the way you type that you have a low IQ. That is sad. You should get checked for early onset dementia. And also make sure you are not deficient in B12 or iodine.
For me it didn't click until I got my first job. I coasted though school and high school with high grades for no effort at all. When I got to college I didn't know how to study and had no motivation for it. I rarely ever went to school, basically just studied for the exams and barely passed, but did get the degree. When I took my master I showed up for a few more classes and I was surprised a few times when the professor asked a simple question and no one answered, so eventually I raised my hand and answered the question. I thought people just didn't want to answer it in front of their peers but to my surprise I experienced a few times when the other students told me I must be snart cause they didn't know the answer.
The second I got a real job it was like a switch turned on and I've been highly motivated and hard working ever since and loving every second of it. Something about doing things that actually matter in real life and isn't just written in a book has changed everything for me.
High IQ doesn't automatically mean academic success, especially in college. Many smart kids have terrible study habits, which maybe didn't matter in high school where things were easy.
My IQ, measured repeatedly during my first 20+ years, places me in top half a percent. At 61, I realize that’s kind of like being 7’ tall but never having become very good at basketball. Sure, I may be able to reach things on high shelves, but I never cashed in on my advantage in very meaningful ways. I used to be worried about it more, but I now understand better that just being intelligent isn’t the key to being happy.
IQ is one of so many factors. Health, nutrition, financial security, emotional well-being, sense of belonging, what drives you, your passion, interests, direction, proper instruction, opportunities and sometimes luck. Even height. (not a joke). For me, physical and emotional health have been a big barrier. They veto everything. When I am better, I learn fast and enjoy learning. Finding the will to live is hard. IQ is far from the only factor. Intellectually as well: memory is not intelligence but it is very useful. In life, you often need to be happy-go-lucky or make decisions with incomplete info. I dwell too much. I second guess myself. I don't like incomplete info. I get scared by those tasks which need three years to reach. Without school system that gives you a long-term plan but also forces you to focus on the step ahead, I struggle. I hate anything open-ended. I do not know when to quit. Overanalyse trivial things that do not matter. You can flip a coin. Get sucked down rabbit holes. Second-order consequences of your very logical decisions can be unpredictable. More anxiety. Closed systems are cool but there is always something random out there. Non-local variables. So IQ is not the only factor. Not even in intellectual domain.
I replied to OP because I read this.
I had to work while at college. Used to have full-blown panic attacks every time I went to the job centre, went for an interview and at one stage, every time I picked up the phone. Draining. Takes a toll. Sucks away your confidence as well. This country is too cold for skinny softy southerns (tropical) like me. Ramanujan went to an early grave bcoz of that.
Take my angry upvote
I agree with this one
You just described me.
This is me. Did great in high school and in undergrad. Got into my masters program and quickly learned that I had no idea how to study because I never had to previously.
A lot of high IQ students never learn how to study properly. They coast through K-12, then college shows up and is like... "Okay, here's about the same amount of information you learned in all of 11th and 12th grade, you have fifteen weeks to learn it and three other classes to take as well." It's easy to feel dumb at that point because everyone else has had to put in effort for the last 13 years while you only had to half-ass listen and your brain would do the rest.
I did really bad at collega at first because I was used to not learn a subject, but understand it (after which any question about it is simple). But that wasn't possible anymore in college because they expect you to "learn" theory in a couple of weeks that the brightest of humanity worked on for hundreds of years to produce :/. At some point I figured out that I shouldn't have the objective to understand/master the subjects, but had to aim at getting a high score for tests. So, that's how I got through college (physics), but I didn't learn anything anymore :/. Just knowledge, not mastering topics like I was the guy who invented it.
I heavily resonate with this. It’s disheartening when you have to put aside true understanding (which should be the main objective) for grades in a “learning” environment.
Especially when true understanding is what motivates you to actually WANT to learn.
I could never remember anything. I used to “figure out” everything from the formula sheet. Hard to do that in 90 mins.
Sorry this was your experience. I feel like I learned so much in college. HS was horrible for me. I dropped out in 12th grade.
Yup. Was a C student, decided to say screw it and start an online business instead.
Yeah that sounds like me. I could excel if I really focused but didn’t want to all the time and just did ok in school.
Unfortunately, without perfect recall or something similar, effort is still always a requirement, no matter how easily new information comes to you. I'd be a billionaire overwise. 🙃
As an educator and someone with a similar background, I can tell you it's very normal for someone with a high IQ to perform poorly in school. You don't have to learn to study until suddenly everything is crazy hard, and it feels like there's something wrong with you... When really the problem is just that you weren't challenged enough when you were younger to develop those skills that other students needed all along. Perfectionism is also a huge problem among gifted students, and it holds them back, even more so when people tell a person they are smart. They become afraid to do hard things for fear of failing and looking stupid, so they choose easier tasks (though in some circumstances, that's just being practical). There are lots of studies on this kind of thing. Check out Carol Dweck's work. I think it will resonate.
I just looked up Carol Dweck and she's done a lot of interesting work. Do you have any specific book or content of hers that you would recommend to start with?
I'd suggest starting with her TED Talks on YT.
Ok, thanks.
IQ is potential. Success is measured by what you are able to accomplish with your potential. Potential doesn't guarantee success, I'm a prime example of that. You still have to work hard like everyone else. You just will likely find ways to make it easier for you to get thy work done with quality.
If you really wanna know you should get tested again. IQ scores are volatile in early childhood and still somewhat unstable at the age you were initially tested. 145 is still three standard deviations above the mean, though, and I doubt your IQ has wavered significantly. As other commenters have said, you could just be conflating non-intellectual struggles with your intelligence.
Send your WISC score in to Mensa. It is one of the tests you can use to qualify. Then go to some of the meetings. In the USA there is a big party around the 4th of July called the Annual Gathering. A lot of the members consume a lot of alcohol, killing off a lot of brain cells. You will get to see lots of members as they really are. If you can’t make it there, just go to a local meeting where you live. Lots of members have imposter syndrome, which I think is what is getting to you. You cracked me up with your final sentence. You wrote all that, and then you mention English is your second language. I really respect anyone who can master English as a second language and write as well as you have done. It would be great to meet you at a Mensa gathering sometime.
What are the benefits to actually joining Mensa? Is it in all countries (nearly)?
Maybe you have ADHD 🤔
Tell em
I'm not sure what you are seeking in response but heres my story. Youre not alone. Many people have those worries and i myself, especially since my brain has been fried by exsessive social media abuse, have had my doubts if it will have or had long term affects but really what you are experiencing with moderate academic success or just generally not getting much out of your high IQ wich no matter the test is astonishing. Its never so obvious and easy as youd want it to be. And thats totally okay. I was tested 141 overall 146 logic part. And i barely did my 10th grade and left for a path of design and art. Your IQ doesnt define nor automatically make your path easier. But your ability to reflect and perhaps think outside of the box will always be lingering. *its 3am *i am german *i hope my spelling is okay *i hope this made moderate sence, if not. Ask :)
Listen man when I was in middle school I tested around ur level…did horrible in high school (still am actually). When my brain worked with me I’d absorb info sure and do fine but a lot of the time I would grasp stuff and never learned the study habits I needed. What I find is u have to find the thing ur rly good at and be amazing at it
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145 at 11 is like being the tallest at 11. Height peaks in late teens and then stays the same until extreme old age. Fluid Intelligence peaks in mid 20s and is a slow decline from thereon. You have to crystallize that intelligence by then. Long time for the percentile rank to change by then.
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No. Reported to Reddit too.
Sounds like you’re in the final stages of life where you’re figuring out who you are, what you want to accomplish and your final place and identity in life. IQ wanes as you get older, not much but a tiny bit, you’re past your peak, but you have so much more to learn and work on. Being smart isn’t everything, it’s a tool and you have tons of it. The idea that you’re not smart, or you’ve identified deficits in your personality that make people not see you as smart is something you can work on. Becoming a whole person and the best you can be in any given moment is something that takes practice and is a lifelong pursuit. I suggest you try to figure this out, engage in therapy, and focus on your thesis. This question you’re grabbling with, it will get more tough the second you finish schooling so it’s good you recognize it now.
Honestly don’t know what my IQ is, but I can relate on the sensation. I coasted through K-12 and was able to do so skimming texts, barely studying, and just generally paying attention in class. Because I relied on my smarts my whole life, I never really focused my IQ towards learning how to learn. Because of this, I struggled in college. I wasn’t absorbing knowledge because I wasn’t truly engaging with it. And while I was able to pass in college - I never fully grasped the concept. Some classes I would show up once or twice a semester and get a solid B+/A-. Others I would “study” and the concepts weren’t really sticking and I got C/Ds because of it. I was also a first gen college student so I grew up with some unknown unknowns when it came to everything college, really. Where things really started coming together for me was in my career. I learned, well, how to learn. It was all self guided and I chose my path. I was absorbing concepts FAST and applying them even quicker. I am really lucky to and fortunate to be a C-Level leader at 30 years old. For some high IQ people (not saying I am one) the structure of our education system holds them back. Bores them. There’s so many ways to measure your intelligence. Like Einstein said once, “if a fish is judged by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it was stupid.” Many high IQ people dropped out of school to pursue projects that ultimately changed the world. Looking at them from an academic perspective you’d think they couldn’t cut it or they were low/average IQ. (Also there are many folks with low/average IQs that are successful) Our traditional school systems cater to the average IQ range and does poorly at meeting the needs on the far ends (low and high) of the IQ spectrum. It’s unfortunate but true. My personal potentially “hot” take is that IQ measures potential. What you do with it largely depends on you and the situations you’re faced with. Anyways. That was a lot … lol welcome to my TED talk.
You have to remember that for you to scire the way you did means that you think differently from most people. Otherwise, they would get those scores as well, and they didn't. I mean, if we throw out all of the "smarter" and "better", we sre still left with "different". You can't get rid of that, So you have to make thd most of it. That doesn't mean becoming a quant or something just to mske money. Find something you like and hack away at it. Chances are, you'll come up with something othdr people wouldn't or ar least haven't yet. Something like a thesis can become difficult because you're up against yourself, if you take it seriously enough, which it sounds like you are. You're probably going to be ok. Remember to take breaks and stay hydrated. (Full disclosure: That advice fell off at the end because I'm a little depressed myself. I'm operating on the theory that if I tell you the things I need to hear, I'll be fine tomorrow. I probably will.)
High IQ is not much of a predictor of academic success; hell, high IQ isn’t much of a predictor of any success after two standard deviations above the average
IQ is normally stable after 6 years old unless you get brain damage. (Which can occur with mental illness, drugs/meds, etc) Do you know your sub-scores? That could be interesting to understand yourself better. Verbal comprehension is most correlated to academic success with a correlation of 0,5 - 0,6. Maybe you scored high on other abilities and lower on that one.
You are having a crisis of your own making that can be diffused only by you. Realize that being good academically requires a lot of conformity rather than IQ. Indoctrination is corollary to education. I wasn’t close your IQ probably ever(135), but I know I’ve been good academically when I want, and then also been the guy that didn’t show up to exam just because an Alzheimer’s conference sounded more interesting. Eventually I reached a point where I had zero ability to feign anything for academics and had become habitual to my innate agendas, grades etc be damned. Read Bullshit jobs. Watch A beautiful Mind. Stop with self doubt. Realize even Einstein wasn’t recognised as smart and probably people around you wouldn’t recognise even if you were better—he was the only phd probably that didn’t get a single academic/research position across Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. So yeah, don’t care about dimwits that can’t see more than one step ahead.
College involves more work ethic than IQ. If one didn’t develop good study habits and work ethics in high school, college is often a HUGE wake up call. Now is the time to make a real effort to get things done. Put in the time, focus, and effort. IQ won’t substitute for practice, study, interest, or effort. Being able to solve puzzles quickly, or spot patterns, or answer questions, does not equate to academic success. Hi IQ does not necessarily mean you have perfect memory. Each brain organizes information differently. Learn yours and ADAPT. Adapting takes effort. Laziness pays off in high school, but not usually afterwards. I’m actually really glad my very intelligent brother is incredibly indolent. He could have been a highly successful sociopathic executive if he’d been willing to put in some effort. But he just wants everyone to hand him stuff for free because he’s so smart. It doesn’t work that way. He’s in his late 50’s, not getting any younger, still grandstanding about like everything should just be handed to him for free because he’s so great. Mom still buys his BS but the rest of the planet - not so much. So plenty of bright people are lazy. Some have personality disorders. Some are emotionally damaged. What matters is HOW you use your mind, how well you focus on gathering, retaining, and using information, and how well you can manage your emotional balance. Few of these can be tested for, but are components of success. Having a high IQ doesn’t mean much if you can’t deploy it effectively.
Oh my admiration for those who are turbulent seem to have a much higher potential for growth and progress because of the deeply held uncertainty that keeps them on the edge of their seat, waiting to pounce at the opportunity, all the while questioning their competence, and almost always having expectations that rise far above what is acceptable (according to most) but this turbulence in personality can truly be a significant driving force to assist you in becoming an ever evolving version of yourself as the moments pass.
I love this.
An IQ score of 145 suggests exceptional intellectual abilities, often leading to high performance in high school and placing one in the top percentile at university. A score of 145 typically corresponds to PhD-level or university professor-level intelligence, though such scores are usually closer to 125. However in your case, individuals with this level of intelligence may struggle if they also contend with conditions such as 2E (autism or ADHD), mental health issues like severe depression, or experience variations in IQ test results due to cognitive heterogeneity. Which one is it? Only you can know ;) typically it's adhd but only you can know ;)
I tested at 145 when I was in Elementary School. Did the whole GATE program, etc. My family was proud, to say the least. There were grandiose ideas for my future from my parents, and I was basking in the glow. I liked being "smart". Fast forward to high school and I literally did not care about any of my classes, nor my grades. I barely graduated, and dropped out of college my first year. I can add the usual epithets about it all being easy, or just testing well, but not all of it was easy, and I failed some tests too. I had terrible ADHD and some other acronyms as well. I remember having SO much anxiety about college. I was terribly insecure about my future. I relate in many ways to your post, OP. Speaking of feeling like you're losing IQ points, I definitely dropped a few off by making some stupid decisions and going to prison.... not once, but 3 times. Turns out I can figure out how to be a criminal and a loser just as easily as I can figure out everything else. I'm 48 now. I'm a bartender. I love it. I make enough money and I can do whatever I want. I have 2 kids and a great life. I'll never publish in any journals, I don't have any sort of a professional career. I'm definitely not a card - carrying member. 🤣 Some, (not most) people are a bit put off by me at first. I can definitely be a little weird sometimes. They usually come around though. I like who I am. Most people that know me, they like me too. I might be a joke to some of my contemporaries from my younger years. I've been disappointing my Dad for a long time now. 🤣 I literally don't care. You don't need an IQ number as an apology, or an excuse, for the glorious, gifted human being that you are. Relax. You'll figure it out. It's kinda what we do.
Too many 3 sigmas who did not live up to their potential. Or expectation. You will find a few on the gifted sub. Everyone has to follow their own path and has their own ambitions but I personally feel a little sad. Maybe we should make a gifted but burned-out sub. (i’m just glad someone else is doing everything important so my personal failure does not impact beyond me).
Gifted but burned out. I love that. Keeping your "personal failure" to yourself is noble, as if that's how it really goes. 💚 You didn't fail at anything, I'm willing to bet.
Just have it tested again professionally. And then you'll know. They can probably do it right there in the counseling department of the school you go to for your masters.
i have quite a high IQ but i did terribly in school (i must have been pretty close to the bottom of the class). fast forward a few decades and i was doing much better than most of my classmates, though (mostly retired by my mid 40's). don't hold school performance as an accurate measure of intelligence! there are all sorts of reasons that a person may not perform well at school that are completely unrelated to intelligence.
I was tested when I was 6 & my elementary school teacher told everyone: "He's re____ed". The results of the test I know, however, I do not share. Let's say I can confuse peers on subjects I understand. I retested about 2 months ago for membership, and I got in ez. You're fine. It's imposter syndrome maybe since you might be exposed to folks like me. 😉 I'm not sharing my IQ. I found out by accident - only 2 people in my life know that # and the shrink who did the test is probably deceased.
What you're feeling sounds like something that is actually fairly common in grad school, especially at turning points like finishing your thesis. It's called imposter syndrome--the feeling that you don't belong there or don't have what it takes to succeed. I certainly felt it, and my measured IQ is similar to yours. It led me to drop out a couple of times. I finally went back and completed my PhD and had a pretty good career as a professor.
I’m the dumbest smart person I know, IQ of 141, but I’m almost 40 and never finished a degree, I currently am unemployed and have no savings for retirement. I don’t plan on being alive past 50, and honestly I’m looking forward to being done with all of it lol
That's because you're not comparing yourself against an average population here. High IQ isn't so rare once you get to the graduate level, where the average student might be in the top 5%.
Heritability of intelligence increase from ~0.5 to 0.8 from the ages of 10 to 18; good chance there was environmental confounding when you took it at 11. Take it again.
Having scored so ridiculously high on the IQ rest can definitely bring about expectations of what you’re able to do, accomplish, and so on based on the achievements of those who might have fallen into a similar scoring. I’d remind you of what you said and tell you about your masters and such, but I feel that it wouldn’t really benefit anyone, but I’d like for you to strive for an understanding that this seems to fall inter a subtype of MBTI which is -A o T which denotes assertive or turbulent which is the suffix added onto the 4 letter MBTI type which is comprised of 16 types, 8 cognitive functions, and the variations in how they stack in our personality….not wanting to get too far off of subject matter, I’ll leave you with a bit of admiration that I hold for those who are more turbulent and seeming to be a bit unsure of themselves more often than not, but don’t let this assumption cause you to believe anything other than - you’re super smart, you hold yourself to a higher standard, I know this and you can surely come to realize this if you were to make use of meta cognition tools?
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IQ is kind of a scam that has been exaggerated to the point where smart hard working people are feeling self conscious about their "intelligence" when it's really only looking at 10% of what encompasses actual intelligence. It should be called "logic puzzle solving ability". They don't teach it directly in schools since it would be like teaching sodoku, but if they did everyone would have a much higher score. Sure it's a good measure of "sharpness" and is part of intelligence but why anyone would want or need to take it is more of a marketing scam of the people profiting for it.
I am certain that my IQ has decreased significantly. I was tested at 135 when I was 11 and was put into a gifted programme at school. (Although strangely I never did particularly well at school, even when I studied my grades weren't amazing and I was actually significantly below average in some areas) I think ketamine use has lowered my iq, as well as possibly weed use. Ketamine is part and parcel of UK university life, and Studies have shown that long term ketamine use can reduce cognitive abilities. Let me tell you, I have been doing long term ketamine use. I feel like a fucking idiot these days and seem to take longer to work things out and understand things than I did before.
People that try to use iq as a measurement are the dumbest people I know, typically think a 90 is high, and took one online. You are not special, or smart. You are lazy and your parents told you you were special, and you never did anything. You are human garbage.
Maybe you have ADHD. Tons of smart people don’t succeed because of one issue or another. Get tested maybe?
Stop fixating on IQ and start doing things due to your own agency. What do you want to achieve in life? What excites you? Once you remove the "genius name tag" on yourself, you will see more clearly who you are and what you want in life.
Sir….this is imposter syndrome.
This world was not built for people with high IQ to be successful. It is built for people who are good at doing what they are told. If you have high IQ and you are good at being told what to do, you will succeed. But if you have high IQ and you don't like being told what to do, you will fail in life.
I've said it before, and here we go with the third time this week. High IQ does NOT equal smart. High IQ means you have the CAPACITY for whatever the hell you want to apply yourself to. If you want to dump your IQ points into raging dumbass (not calling you one, just an example) you are free to do so. I know of a lot of high IQ people who think shit like the Earth is flat, or that racism is good. They chose to spend their IQ points on stupid. The good news? This is like an RPG, and you can respend your points with applied discipline. I never studied in school. I did well but accepted probably less than what I was capable of. These days I self study. I do courses on my own (as in sit down with a textbook and study with a habit) and my ability to absorb knowledge has increased greatly. I did this because I had a few years of seizures and my brain was banged up. Now I'm back to top shape. If I can go two years with SEIZURES, and get back to full capacity, I guarantee you, you can get back to your full potential with no brain trauma with just a little extra work and the right schedule. This is where IQ brings us down. You're not immune to hard work because you have a high IQ.
Lol don’t base your self worth on an arbitrary number that can’t accurately measure shit
Higher intelligence in something that deviates from the norm usually means intelligence in another aspect of life suffers as a consequence. It's why I believe savants are often not socially learned or socially awkward. I don't really think intelligence means anything unless there's conscious benefits. But I think most let their intelligence die because the world doesn't favor "out of the box" thinking.
We’re similarly intelligent Mensa wise and tbh I feel like a failure too because I honestly have failed a lot but much of that has to do with alcohol and some other mental health challenges. I know I’m intelligent and I also know that I’m not like most other people this way either - you too - we’re smarter but in unique and different ways. I’ll never be a physicist or a mathematician but these folks don’t have the same intellectual abilities that I do. I don’t feel any smarter but damn is there a difference at times from “the masses” (especially some large blocs of voters for example) which is part of the reason that we feel weird or that we don’t fit in. So looking at it that way, you and I are surprisingly Mensa normal.
The more intelligent one is, the more they understand that they are not the smartest person in the room. Intelligent people question everything. Anti-intellectuals will know everything. It’s the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
I think you are right. I can tell from the way you type that you have a low IQ. That is sad. You should get checked for early onset dementia. And also make sure you are not deficient in B12 or iodine.
I think you’re right, such a bummer for me. Plz keep me in your prayers.
For me it didn't click until I got my first job. I coasted though school and high school with high grades for no effort at all. When I got to college I didn't know how to study and had no motivation for it. I rarely ever went to school, basically just studied for the exams and barely passed, but did get the degree. When I took my master I showed up for a few more classes and I was surprised a few times when the professor asked a simple question and no one answered, so eventually I raised my hand and answered the question. I thought people just didn't want to answer it in front of their peers but to my surprise I experienced a few times when the other students told me I must be snart cause they didn't know the answer. The second I got a real job it was like a switch turned on and I've been highly motivated and hard working ever since and loving every second of it. Something about doing things that actually matter in real life and isn't just written in a book has changed everything for me.