<p>Having a high IQ generally means remembering those silly things needed to do well in math problems without needing to review them. Family wealth can be overcome by great public schools- I was fortunate to be in HS at a time when funds were plenty and Wisconsin also put its tax dollars into education. You need to differentiate between the SAT and the subject tests- the latter is based on knowledge, the former reasoning type skills.</p>
<p>I’m sure there is a correlation of IQ with SAT test results. Those who study hard can raise their IQ and those who don’t need to study often get the perfect scores. Consider the gifted talent searches- they sponsor middle school kids taking the ACT and SAT. Some of those students do extremely well without having had the HS courses and extra years of learning.</p>
<p>I am always amazed at how hard some students (and their parents) work on getting a good SAT score with prep courses et al instead of just following a lifestyle geared to maxing out the education available in public schools. They wouldn’t need to “cram” for the tests if the students had consistently studied for their courses from elementary school onwards. I doubt the very top student scores come from those who are not already in the top percentiles on IQ tests, nor do the top scores come from those who have “bright” level IQ’s and study. </p>
<p>Will the students who cram for the SAT change their habits and do well in their dream college? Or will the social life of college take precedence over academics? Maybe the best students should be thankful for those students to be there to get the lower grades…</p>
<p>btw- intelligence is not the same as education- SAT tests for both. How many of you can tell a person’s intelligence by how they approach everyday problem solving? The person in a lower level job who just does it well because they figure out the best way versus the person who does what they’re taught without thinking how to make the job easier. All levels- the trash pickup people to the office worker to the teacher to the college professor… The neighbor who easily does things. Of course at various levels one may be differentiating different IQ levels. </p>
<p>Think of past generations of housewives- in the era when women generally did not go to college, unless their parents had money. My own mother flunked out of college because she wasn’t encouraged to do the math and engineering and had lousy study habits (taking breaks every time some others did instead of studying for example) but she could easily change a sweater knitting pattern for the neighbor who needed step by step instructions. </p>
<p>I appreciate intelligent tradesmen who can look at the problem and easily solve it using thinking skills as well as hands on skills. Some could have done well in college but prefer action to books. Which reminds me of learning disabilities- ease of reading versus high IQ…</p>
<p>"I do think some kids are hardwired to be voraciously hungry to learn and think. They have no cognitive off switch. They are not going to need to prep to score high. Their brains are just hungry and very fast at thinking because they have been thinking really hard all their lives . . . because they think it’s fun. "</p>
<p>This is an interesting observation, sewhappy. Why do you think that some people are like this?</p>
<p>“Thinking skills” are pretty much “analytical skills” which also depend on background a lot. Specifically, if math is taught correctly (which is NOT the case in k - 12), then it develops analytical skills, which is priamary purpose of math, not as much as memorizing certain formulas. And again, not sure about IQ but in many (actually in most) cases, those with great analytical skills lack greatly in memory department. there are very few people out there who are exceptionally good at both as memory is more god given talent and analytical skills could be developed. IQ is very much mistery to me, I do not believe much in it, none of my family were ever measured, we might be very stupid or we might be brilliant, so far hard work has been determinning our future. And that is how my S. is raising his own kids, very happy to witness that.</p>
<p>sewhappy, undoubtedly carelessness did my son in - twice! But there was plenty of other evidence of his math ability. (Junior year BC Calc score, AMC, AIM scores etc.) His SAT math score was fine, just not an 800. Do high IQ people do better on the SAT in general? Sure? But you a motivated student can also study for it and improve their score by hundreds of points.</p>
<p>I actually do believe in sewhappy’s hardwired theory. My older son was like that - even when he was a newborn you could see him observing things and he couldn’t stand not knowing how things worked - he was an amazing observer and considered everything a puzzle. He hated secrets. Written language was a code he started trying to crack when he was two years old. He knew more about the many different ways a toilet could work than I had ever imagined. My younger son was completely different. He never cared about things, but from the time he could talk he was observing how people behaved and making observations about that. One became a computer scientist the other is in International Relations.</p>
<p>IQ can only get you so far. Common sense, hard work and intuition can carry over the potholes. My oldest has been tested at 160+ IQ., that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have challenges. My youngest hasn’t tested as high, but while she can struggle with lower level processing, her higher order thinking skills are amazing, and I wouldn’t trade her compassion and intuition to be able to rattle off times tables.</p>
<p>I note that OP is fascinated with this topic judging by her other threads, is she thinking of becoming an educational psych?</p>
<p>^Well, natural is one thing and it plays role, but learning, working hard at learning is also a huge factor and this actually includes social skills and recognizing that people have a different approaches to solving the problems and it is a plus to have various personalities on the team, not a minus. Intuition might be much bigger factor in somebody’s decision making than cold calculations and these people might be making correct decisions based on their intuition. Others might have to stay intensely focused and then a third group needs to be away, have breaks which makes them more effective. Cannot judge one group or another, just have to find your own way and stick to it. Knowing what works for you is also a skill and it might be the most valuable skill. Some people quit to be successful and we all know thier names, they are known just for that, for their great success. They might be the ones with very high IQs, but we do not know, they might be just pursuing their passions with much greater passions than the rest of us, I mean they might be driven to spend much more time on what they love…</p>
<p>I’m glad Mathmom and a few others here have seen the sort of hardwired hunger to learn in their own kids, too. It’s sensitive to describe to others because the whole topic of “IQ” is so charged with emotion and defensiveness and insecurity. </p>
<p>My younger kid is quite smart and is vastly more gracefully socially than her older sibling, the hardwired voracious mind kid. I consider them to have different constellations of abilities. Not one more “gifted” than the other, just different. </p>
<p>I actually wish we’d just move on from the whole concept of IQ. I truly don’t see the purpose.</p>