Greater Los Angeles Area Mensa

I biked to Caltech in Pasadena. I paid $ 40. I took the test. I failed!
The classroom included about twelve or thirteen people from all walks of life, but mostly younger people, followed by trickles of people as old as 80 years old.
The intelligence test includes a section on math, a section on patterns and a section on memory. The key is you have ten minutes to finish 40 questions for each section. The pattern section is like:
{/​o} }o|{ {|o} … which comes next?
or:
:-* ~_​^ =D :-[ … which is least like the other?
The math section is like:
What is the square root of four divided by three cubed?
The memory section is an audio you listen to at the beginning of the test. Ours was about details of an ancient ritual in Greece. They then ask a question an hour later, which god (s) were they worshiping?
Even though I failed, it was a lot of fun. Upon receiving my results, the admissions person seemed eager to have the failing test taker submit any other proof that he or she can join Mensa, including SAT and GRE scores that she would assess for free. (I believe normally showing proof of other scores in the 98 percentile would be a $ 40 assessment fee.)
Mensans knows that people use this stuff on their resumes. You can tick this option on their application for why you wish to join. What I learned from not being smart enough is that people are as happy to hear I failed the Mensa test as they would be to hear I got in. It seems to make a good anecdote.
From the looks of a monthly booklet, a Mensan doesn’t collectively use his or her brainpower to save the world, but more to play challenging puzzles with each other during their weekly meetup.
I sadly will not be playing any complicated puzzles.

Mensa… just say it out loud and depending on the crowd around you… you’ll always get a response. –Say it in a Spanish speaking crowd and wait to see which idiota gets enojada. It’s a weird group bound only by a weird bunch of test questions & answers.
There are tests 1x per month at Cal Tech in Pasadena. The test consists of non verbal reasoning (ex– which goes best with the Bird man wearing a hat– a pipe? Shoes? a sandwich? Birdseed?), comprehension (recall a story that you heard at the beginning of class that made Pearl S. Buck seem like less of a root canal) & patterns /​puzzles. –Not sure what it is, but I learned Mensans love them some board games, puzzles & patterns. If you aren’t bananas for bananagrams… keep moving.
Ok, you take the test… you walk out dazed and contemplating your own intelligence. That’s how they measure intelligence?! Couldn’t they have just quizzed me on Kling-​on past imperfect tense verbs? Wth was that?
A few weeks later… I get a letter. I’m in. Ok. Let’s meet «the others»…
Sigh…
I do like that there are all different kinds of people with interesting backgrounds… I just felt there was an odd common denominator… Older, cheap & overweight. I am cheap, but not ‘all you can eat’ cheap… if you know what I mean. Like any group there are really great, interesting people… and then there are those that truly need the social validation.

I didn’t know what Mensa was until I was 28. I’m 60 now. I’m a Mensan. I think intelligence is over rated.
When I was 32ish I was going through a period of tremendous personal growth and (unfortunately, I didn’t get any taller) a friend and I took the Mensa test. We passed. I figured I’d get laid more often and make lots of money. She wanted a sperm donor so she could raise genius kids. She met a guy in Mensa who was tall, hot, blond, blue eyes. She had his baby and then kicked him to the curb.
I went to the Mensa singles parties and found that most of the people were über nerds. The women ranged from gorgeous to homely, most poorly dressed and often lacking in personal hygiene and lacking personality. The guys were bad too, most shooting their mouths off to show everybody how smart they were. At the first party, a woman introduced herself to me and asked what my problem was. It was a clue that maybe a lot of people joined not just because they are smart, but because they felt lost. Idiots! You join a club that only lets you in because your smart and then you spend energy obnoxiously trying to show these smarties how smart you are. If you pass a test that proved you are smart, why expend energy to show others how smart you are when they already know that you’re smart. I still don’t get it.
Even though I was single and looking for action rather than a relationship, I only attended a few Mensa functions. Though it helped me finally accept that I was smart, it is where I concluded that intelligence is over rated, just like six pack abs, BMW’s, Tatts, piercings, Clove cigarettes and cigars.
A friend of mine who is my age is in the same boat. He says that having a real high IQ can be a curse. Some get to where their mind operates with such complexity that they often speak in a bizarre and unintelligible manner such that most people can’t understand them. Kind of like a wacky professor.
Lot’s of the people in Mensa like it and are active in it. They have discussion groups, play chess and do stuff that they have in common, which is no different than clubs, etc. found in the general population, except that you have to have a «high IQ» to participate. In my view, the most successful smart folks are the ones who can relate to everyone, without projecting an air of superiority.
I have my Mensa membership on my resume and I think it helps. To qualify you need to score above the 98^th percentile on one of many tests. In English, that means that 1 in 50 people qualify. My wife often tells people that I’m in Mensa. It usually embarrasses me.

Alright people, Mensa is not that hard to get into. I concluded this because somehow I got in. They have a test day once a month. I’ve heard that about 50% of the people who take the test pass it. I assume that’s because people who don’t think they are fairly intelligent don’t try to to take the test.
I’m not a big fan of all the Mensa events. Some are fun — like the International dinners once a month or the Hollywood Bowl concert in the summer. The average age of Mensans who are active in the chapter seems really high. It’s hard to find people my age (under 30) who are fun to hang out with.
I can say being in Mensa has helped me in life. I’m convinced that it’s how my resume stood out over other applicants. Thanks to Mensa, I am employed.

Mensa as you may know means «table»; where like minded people can gather to talk and exchange thoughts. For some it validated that they were normal if slightly different like talented athletes or musicians. It would seem if you were one you already know it as you have stood out at school, etc. There is no standard test for membership a variety will do check out their web site. Lot’s of fun activities to participate in if you like.