*I am not trying to show off or be obsessive about my IQ, I just want to know the facts because the last couple years of school for me have been really confusing because of an undiagnosed disorder of ADHD, and I really need to know what my strengths and weaknesses are, because ADHD is a disorder that causes weaknesses in many academic areas (especially staying focused when reading and writing essays...aghh), and it's important for me to compensate for these weaknesses and also, know what my strengths are and use them to my advantage. I've done lots of personal research into this area.
Things that I know: I am gifted, I qualified for the gifted and talent program in my elementary school starting 4th grade. Even among that highly intelligent group, people felt as did I that I was at the top or near the top of that 30 some person class. When focused, I am able to learn at an extremely high rate, can understand the essence of an argument, and follow lectures on subjects such as economics and physics with little to no difficulty...I'm also a curious person and learn through immersion on many topics including anthropology, finance, astronomy, psychology, etc. In a given situation, I am able to ask important questions that will enable me to get a grasp of what the situation demands and then learn about the system (for example business). I see connections between different fields and can make conclusions often through intuition, etc.
I received a SAT score of 1570 on the "new" SAT (only counting the CR/Math portions). Furthermore, I didn't do any formal test prep because I couldn't afford it; I only took practice tests, and I didn't get extra time/special accommodations for the SAT because I didn't know I had ADHD when I took the test. My 1570 score (CR: 770, Math: 800) was equivalent to an IQ of 150 according to this chart: http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/SATIQ.as... However, the "old" (before 1995) SAT had a much higher ceiling, and experts in psychometrics seem to conclude that the old SAT discriminates well even in the 1500+ score range, which is essentially a 155+ IQ (1510 = 155 IQ, 1560 = 160 IQ, SD: 15). I have concluded, through extensive personal research that the "old" SAT seems to be essentially a really high ceiling IQ test that has been given to a sample size of millions - and proven to be reliable and valid and correlates to IQ/g better than most tests that psychologists use (like the WAIS, stanford-binet).
I just recently discovered that I have ADHD (currently a college freshman at UCLA, I'm getting counseling/starting stimulant medication), which went undiagnosed and unidentified all through my childhood (really struggled the last two years, and most important two years of high school and beginning of freshman year). Previously I had been a straight A/A+ student (also national level science competitions, math olympiad highest indiv. score, national scripss spelling bee, I was an academic superstar for much of my first 16 years).
My verbal IQ on the WISC-III was 142, and my performance IQ was 125, full scale 137. A greater than 15 point difference between verbal and performance IQ + impaired performance in school (which certainly happened in the last 2 years of high school) is considered a learning disability (which is probably ADHD). However, the WISC-III isn't a good test for people with IQs above the 99th percentile because of ceiling effects. My average score on practice tests on the SAT was in the range of 2330-2370, so I strongly believe that my IQ is higher than what the WISC-III is saying. (2330-2370 is roughly equivalent to 1570-1590 equivalent to a 150-151 IQ). However, I struggled heavily with the writing section on the actual test...
Furthermore, I have noticed that my reading comprehension scores have always been extremely variable; for example, in standardized test scores throughout school (from elementary school ---> high school), I would receive scores that above average, but not great: for example 76th percentile, 82th percentile, 85th, 94th percentile. I had NEVER done well in a reading comprehension test, but on the SAT after some practice I managed to score in the 99+th percentile (CR: 770). I believe that going from the ~85th to the 99+th percentile is a score variance that cannot be explained without another cause, which I believe to be my undiagnosed ADHD.
If I improved my reading comp. scores from the 75th-95th percentile to the 99+th, I think it's possible that my verbal ability could be in any range above the 99th percentile, it could be 99.0th, 99.5th, or 99.995th...I don't know exactly how high it is...or how low for that matter. I believe the old SAT could really tell me where my true abilities lie, is there anywhere I can get copies of old exams (official exams, not practice books by Princeton Review, Kaplan, etc)? I'd say that there's a reasonable chance that I can score in the low 1500s (1500-1550) (IQ 155-160) and a tiny tiny chanc continued...question got cut off...
tiny tiny chance I could score 1560+ (IQ 160+).
Thanks for taking the time to read through the question. Hopefully you don't think I'm an elitist, self-absorbed prick, unfortunately the nature of discussions on intelligence often cause that to happen. I just want to know what my strengths and weaknesses are so I can fulfill my potential and help others overcome their difficulties and fulfill their unique potential/contribute something meaningful to our world.
Thanks again!!
Brady Hoagies gifted site just has a lot of info you can find on ADHD, both the commonness in gifted kids as well as misdiagnosis in gifted kids who just have a lot of energy, many interests and get bored easily! I know you already think you have it, and maybe you do. I say, at your age, just work with it, instead of drugging yourself. Just my bias.
As far as the SAT goes, Collegeboard is the SAT site. I say look in their "contact us" section and fire someone off an email on this. Since you already have a diagnosis as a exceptionally to profoundly gifted kid (educational options site I gave), what are you looking for in testing yourself more?
You sound like you have enough energy and smarts and creativity to be an entrepreneur, big time. You really do need a lot of energy and it sounds like you have it. Maybe Bill Gates was also ADHD... Have you been officially tested for ADHD? And if you have, and you were not diagnosed, I would say that you probably do not have it. It is very difficult to do as well as you do with ADHD. You make your own potential. That may not sound smart because I didn't put it into numbers or whatnot, but nobody has a "limited" potential. Everything depends on your surroundings, how your week went, how your last hour went. That is the only limit to your potential. The first time I took the SAT, my critical reading score was very high, my math score higher than I thought it would be, but I was disappointed with my writing score. When I took it a second time, my reading score and my math score dropped, while my writing score increased dramatically. The first time I had slept well the night before, not under a lot of pressure, etc. The second time, my boyfriend had just broken up with me the night before, etc. The reason that you had increased scores was because you may have started reading more, maybe you had a moment of clarity on the SAT exam, etc. There are so many causes. The SAT is different from your standardized testing. You may have felt the SAT was more important - etc. Don't blame it on your undiagnosed ADHD, there are so many other factors that are involved on how a person does on a test on a particular day. In statistics, when we pinpoint the chance of something happening to any one person, it drops dramatically (in comparison to the chance of it happening to an array of people). The chance of exactly one thing happening to exactly one person, is 0. So with those very small chances of you making a certain score on a test, that means there is a good chance that they will vary uncertainly and often.
There is a decent chance that you could score 1560+. If you are looking for old tests, go to your teachers and see if they have any. Also, try e-mailing or mailing the College Board Foundation (the people who make the SAT) to see if they have any that they can give you.
Keep in mind though, the difficulty of the SATs usually increase. |
