<p>I think it might play a role in getting recs. The quiet kid in the back of the classroom might not get as noticed as the kid that’s always raising his hand and participating.</p>
<p>This discussion is very interesting. In reading, I think my son is a quiet extrovert. He loves to be around people and packs his days with social events. However, it is usually a small group of the same friends. He doesn’t see the need to participate in a lot of “discussion” in class, but what he says is usually pertinent and on topic. Where he is weak, I am afraid, is in the chatty chatty small talk that often comes with meeting admissions counselors. “OMG, you used to live in Nashville? We visit there often.” The meaningless connections we make with each other to find common ground.</p>
<p>Hunt, that is a good point. I think of the INTJ who wants to be a member of the US House of Representatives. Sure, he can do it, he can even be President, but it won’t be his natural inclination to campaign. I take these tests with a grain of salt, but do think it is worthwhile for kids to understand their inclinations. </p>
<p>My grandma modified her thinking and behavior to live with us introverts, giving us time to be alone and to recharge. btw I think the opposite situation may be more common: an introvert born to a family of extroverts and him seeming like an alien. </p>
<p>Any MB segment can be creative. Any MB segment can be uncomfortable and come off poorly in an interview, or poised and confident in an interview. These are styles, not abilities. </p>
<p>But there’s nothing stopping an introvert from raising his hand esp in subject matter he enjoys. There’s something stopping a SHY kid. </p>
<p>Very interesting point about INTJ’s in politics, Lizardly. Here is a site that claims that Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy were INTJ’s:
<a href=“INTJ Personality: Characteristics & Cognitive Functions”>http://psychology.about.com/od/trait-theories-personality/a/intj.htm</a>
And in the fictional realm, the site classes Gandalf as INTJ (noooo . . . ) Also Professor Moriarty.</p>
<p>My initial thought was that President Obama is probably INTJ also. But a quick search for the Myers-Briggs type of President Obama turns up ENFJ and ENTP instead, on the first page. Personally, it seems to me that NTJ fits. Possibly NTP, although that does not seem as likely to me. I really cannot offer a suggestion on E vs. I, but Maureen Dowd has certainly described him as stand-offish, both with the Congress and with the press corps. Since an “I” can appear to be an “E” if the interaction time is limited, I think this one is still up in the air.</p>
<p>And see, we INTJs don’t see stand-offish as an insult! </p>
<p>QM, I thought Obama was an INTJ vs INFP as well…</p>
<p>Finding out my MB type(s) has shed some light on the problems I face when dealing with outings. I go out of my way to make sure everyone is comfortable, having a good time, and whatnot, and most often than not I get frustrated from the self centeredness of my company. I wouldn’t understand why when I’m assuring the harmony of the group or attending to ones needs, someone wouldn’t show that same attentiveness back. But now, I’m seeing that it may be me who is just less self centered and others who are “regularly” self centered. </p>
<p>Food for thought for my personal life and how I can deal with interactions with people. </p>
<p>It was quite funny how some descriptions mention how ISFJs can pick up on nonverbal cues and can remember a situation to a T. That’s me. When I meet someone, I remember how they walked in the door, how they say in their chair, and I base how they feel off of that. Details, details, details. And I would wonder why a coworker didn’t notice something whether it was yesterday or a month ago. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>My ISFJ son is like that too. Remembers minute details years later. </p>
<p>I think the distinction between “shy” and “introverted” is an important one. S17 is introverted (needs alone time to recharge) but not shy. He has had lead roles in musicals, does well on interviews, and can be talkative when necessary. Similar story with me. I was shy in elementary school, but now am introverted but not shy. I’ve lead several groups and let myself get talked into being a school board member. I’m not the type of board member who comes prepped with a sentence or two likely to get in the newspaper, but I’m pretty good at asking those INTJ-type analytical questions, I think.</p>
<p>In contrast, S17’s friends who didn’t get into the HS academy program seem “shy”, not just introverted.</p>
<p>They took a MB test in S17’s engineering class, and he was surprised that a majority of the kids were "E"s. I’d guess that’s due to their selection process, which selects for kids who will be good at working on team projects.</p>
<p>I heard Susan Cain speak as a school board convention, and I’d recommend her book about the power of introverts. Interestingly, most of the conferences I’ve been to are either technical writing conferences or school board conferences (not counting sci fi conventions…). In general, the people look very similar at technical writing conferences and school board conferences. But, I’ve been in “raise your hand if you are an extrovert” sessions in both, and tech writers are overwhelmingly introverts while school board folks lean strongly extrovert. Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover…</p>
<p>pizzagirl, my son absolutely speaks up in class. His recommenders all have really enjoyed him in class. His extremely dry wit and ability to reason is a real plus. In his college physics class, he challenged the professor on something and the prof appreciated it as no one else said a thing on the topic. My son came late to the final exam (had forgotten his calculator and had to go back home), and the prof said, “You’ve got b*lls coming late.” My son, who was 16 at the time, said, “I wanted to give all the old geezers a head start.” The prof really laughed at that. My son was probably the top student in the class, as well.</p>
<p><em>That</em> is the kind of humor that the right person can appreciate.</p>
<p>But as was mentioned above, my son has no tolerance for small talk, the stuff that we extroverts are good at, but yes indeed, it might be worth learning if it’s important enough to him. He’s been working on it for years; it’s slow go, but not impossible.</p>
<p>
It is important because they are not the same thing. Interchanging these words is why the stereotypes of introverts are incorrect. </p>
<p>My son is both introverted and shy, then, but has worked hard over the years to overcome his shyness (obviously, it’s not totally overcome, or I wouldn’t be asking these questions). </p>
<p>Right, PG, #66, the term “stand-offish” wasn’t meant as an insult! Not by me, anyway, nor probably by any one of the “I” group. Maureen Dowd might have meant it that way, I admit. I am pretty sure that she is an “E.”</p>
<p>Great story, sbjdorlo! I had to read it twice, because I thought the word was “bills” the first time through. :)</p>
<p>I found that book on introverts surprisingly unhelpful because it did seem to conflate introversion and shyness. I was disappointed in it. </p>
<p>I think the ability to engage in small talk is a highly important life skill and worth cultivating. I know I have to “read” my clients enough to know whether I can just jump to the business at hand which is my preference or whether I need to engage in chitchat about the weekend or the family or the weather. </p>
<p>While extroverts do have an advantage in gaining many high school awards/leadership positions as they do tend to draw out more extroverted people pleasing students, I’m not sure it necessarily translates into more successful outcomes in respectable/elite U admissions.</p>
<p>If that were the case, many HS/college classmates and some well known luminaries would never have been alums of some of those respectable/elite institutions.</p>
<p>In fact, some of the most insightful and intelligent college classmates I’ve conversed with were introverts who hated small talk or speaking/interacting with large groups with them being the center of attention for long periods. </p>
<p>One way I observed this was the strain many of them started showing when they were thrust into such positions in college clubs/political activist groups by others who felt they were the best candidates even though being in such positions was the last thing they wanted. </p>
<p>Speaking for myself, I have tested as an ENTJ on two separate occasions using the full test. Once in college and second at a firm I worked for in the past. Strong on the NTJ side and closer to the middle on the I/E spectrum…though definitely E leaning. </p>
<p>Not sure having the same or similar MBTI classification means one mostly agrees with others. I’ve had strong disagreements with other E/INTJs while getting along greatly with some whose personality types supposedly would clash with my own. </p>
<p>Well, I’m an introvert and in an interview I am either an upbeat introvert (my actual self) or the faked upbeat extrovert (my acted self). Both work.</p>