I recently took an IQ test and I received a crushingly low score of 87. I can definitely believe this because during my last semester at university, I majored in computer engineering and I completely flunked my first programming class. I was so behind everyone else that it was unreal. Even my professor told me that I should probably drop the course because of my abysmal score on the midterm.

All of the high paying and secure jobs require people to study a major that requires programming, which people like me aren't smart enough to do...so I ask you. Is it even worth it to go to college?

And no, the test was not on the internet.

edited 27th Aug '12 3:40:51 PM by TetrisBlocks

Hehe.

You know if you actually had an IQ of 87 you wouldn't exactly be functioning. :p

At least, that would be if IQ wasn't such a silly thing in the first place.

edited 27th Aug '12 3:34:32 PM by Zersk

Was the IQ test on the Internet? And have you seen a doctor?

First off, an IQ of 87 is not "hardly functioning".

Second, IQ as a measure of how <scare quotes> smart </scare quotes> you are is not reliable. IQ tests are very good at measuring how well you handle certain, very precise types of reasoning — in short, IQ tests are very good at measuring how well you take IQ tests. They aren't much use for anything else.

Third, not all well-paid and secure jobs require that you know programming.

Well, right, but considering 100 is supposed to be average I kinda sorta doubt the results of said test. :o

EDIT: Oh okay, that's within normal range, still. :o My bad. :p

edited 27th Aug '12 3:55:15 PM by Zersk

An IQ of 100 is approximately average. There are about as many people with an IQ of 90 as there are with an IQ of 110; both are equally far from (or close to) the norm, though in different directions.

87 does not mean you are incompetent; not even at the things that an IQ test does measure.

-Shrugs- This IQ stuff is silly. :/

It depends on the test. There are several IQ tests with different measures. 100 is usually "average", but then it changes depending on the test.

True, 87 is far from genius, but it can mean you're just not all that smart, it can be the lower end of average, or it can be the maximum IQ that still qualifies for special ed.

Of course, IQ tests are all a load of bullshit, so it doesn't matter anyway. They only test certain skills, not intelligence itself.

I wouldn't worry too much. I'm probably in the upper part of average (far from genius, but above a portion of people my age. Of course, that's not saying much since people my age are in the target demographic for the Jersey Shore), but I just can't get some math no matter how hard I try (though, I know the basic stuff needed to function in the real world, and that's all that matters). Everyone's different and some people just can't get certain things. I'll just never be a physicist or a mathematician and instead focus on stuff I can do.

And, no, all the good paying jobs don't require programming. Hell, some barely require a brain (such as being a cast member on the Jersey Shore).

edited 27th Aug '12 4:21:07 PM by Malph

I usually do really poorly on most IQ tests, since they're mostly based in math. However, when it comes to standardized testing, I do much better.

The point of university is not to get an education. You can get an education for free by going to a library on the weekends and reading all sorts of stuff, and then going online or to a club regarding the information you've acquired to debate/talk about that stuff with other people. The point of university is to a) demonstrate that you're a hard worker who can focus on a long-term goal, b) demonstrate that you're really serious about the things you like best, which ought to be the focus of your major, and c) hone your social skills and build relationships that will benefit you later in life. There's an entire class of womanhood, shrinking in number but still in existence, that attends university in order to meet a suitable husband.

My advice is to find a non-useless program that still looks really interesting and switch to that, then try to build a reputation among your friends as a reliable guy who's fun to be around but isn't a doormat.

(Disclaimer: This post written by the Canadian equivalent of an Ivy League dropout. She is currently unemployed. Take all of her advice with Lot's wife on the side.)

87??? Good lord. You must be higher than 87 if you managed to turn the damn PC on, surely?

Go for a course that doesn't involve fucking about with computers if it isn't your thing.

I don't know where you got the idea that 'all the high paying or secure jobs require a major that involves programming'.

The high paying jobs are in oil and finance and no jobs are secure these days.

Anyway, if money's what you're after, you'll never get rich working for somebody else.

edited 28th Aug '12 12:03:58 AM by InverurieJones

Forget about IQs.

The question is, what do you want to do with your life? Where are your talents — what are you good at?

For example, you said that you flunked programming. It sucks, and I sympathize. But the really important question is whether you like programming, if that's part of what you'd like to do for the next 50-60 years (give or take). If it is, flunking a class is recoverable: try to identify what you did wrong, try again, and work extra hard. But if it was something that you personally hated and took only because programmers are in-demand (I hear they aren't even that much so nowadays, by the way), then trying again would be a waste of time — even if you pass, you'd have a miserable time and you'd learn a skill that you wouldn't want to use later.

I agree. Putting some effort in this would actually give one a level of general education vastly superior to the one of the average college-goer.

I do not entirely agree on this, however. As I see it, the main point of university is to get the skills required to pursue one specific career, as well as the qualifications to do so. Nothing less, and nothing more.

My cousin (who always loved to drive) demonstrated that he is a hard worker by working night shifts in stores and so on until he could buy himself a taxi license, and then working hard as a taxi driver. He has no need for a college degree, and he wisely decided that it would have been silly to spend an huge amount of money and, what's more important, four years of one's life (that is, about one twentieth of one's average lifespan) for getting a degree he'd have no use for.

He makes far more money than me, my Master's Degree and my soon-to-be doctorate degree will for quite a lot of time, perhaps forever. Not that I begrudge that: he worked hard for that, and furthermore I'm doing what I like and I'd be miserable if I had to do his job. And the opposite is also true, I think.

edited 28th Aug '12 12:36:51 AM by Carciofus

Dam you beat me to starting this thread OP

Anyway Tetris if you have an IQ 87 and can't even make it throught midterm then yes you should just give up. Seriously. You are not college material and never will be. Just quit now and save yourself a lot of time and humiliation.

Now If you are happy and satisfied with answer then you clearly don't want to be there and in which case get out while you can. However if that sounds appalling and outrageous to you, then I think you know what you want to do.

For the record I failed my first year at uni studying art. I literally have the reading and writing skills of a 12 year old. Official tests and everything. I'm not a clever man by any standard. But I want to do this. So I keep on going despite that.

I'm not saying you should continue or quit. I'm saying you should you ask yourself what you want to do and do that.

edited 28th Aug '12 6:26:38 AM by joeyjojo

^IQ means nothing

About half of all people have a double-digit IQ. That's the way the test works. Stop being silly, people.

I've never taken an IQ test.

I'd probably score fairly well.

But that just proves that I'm good at taking tests.

So take the results with a pinch of salt. No test can definitively tell you how able you are.

Find something you like doing and pursue it. You'll be better off than someone who has an in-demand-high-paying-job that they loathe.

69 is when your IQ starts to be low. Most people are in the range of 90-110, which 87 is only just outside. So no, your IQ is not a big deal. If you can't learn to program then maybe your head is just not wired for programming. Likewise, I can't draw for shit and have a very high IQ.

You may think that the best paid jobs all need programming, but in the UK the degree which guarantees you a job for life is horse psychology. Few enough people take the degree that there are always more vacancies than graduates. What are you good at?

Any way let me make that this clear. There Are No Sercure Careers. If you're doing a job important enough to be paid decently you can bet you ass some one in corporate is try to find a way they can get someone in India or a on work visa to replace you. This is doubly true about programming and other IT fields. I've been made redunce twice in the last three years and Australia is one of the better off places. As soon as you kill that false idea of job security the better.

But in a way that's good, you have do something you can enjoy becuase you want to do it. Not becuase of promises of financial security.

edited 28th Aug '12 4:34:44 PM by joeyjojo

^ This is why I didn't claim in my post that university will prepare you well for a specific career. 'Preparing exclusively for one career' is no longer as attractive an option for sensible people as it once was.

@ivy league dropout: ain't that the truth.

Have you taken into account that some people aren't good at taking tests? How you do on a test should not really determine your level of intelligence.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck and hope you are successful in your endeavors.

Too be frank IQ tests are a shit way to determine intelligence, and there are multiple people, studies and essay's refuting the accuracy of them.

edited 29th Aug '12 12:17:21 AM by Vyctorian

Ignore IQ tests, they are meaningless. If you suck at programming, try to find something you are good at. What's that Albert Einstein quote?

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

If I tried to do a programming/math course, I'd fail so hard my ancestors would get retroactively dumber as a result, but that's fine because there are other things I am good at. Find something for yourself, and do that.

edited 29th Aug '12 12:45:23 AM by Talby

While I agree that there are no secure careers, I think that the way to go is not to try to become some sort of jack-of-all-trades, but rather to gradually build oneself a niche. You don't want to — let's say — be generically "a programmer", you want to be the go-to gal or guy for low-energy embedded systems or something like that.

This requires careful planning, and is easier if one goes to college with at least a rough idea of what sort of career one would want.

IQ is, by no means, a reliable way to measure your intelligence. However, it is slightly more credible when it comes to measuring skills, and skills can be trained.