Rodrigo de la Jara Mensa Proctor for Northern Alberta, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
I've heard that some people have some confusion as to what proctor means. It simply means a person who administers exams. Don't worry. It has nothing to do with proctology. ;-)
The testing dates will be:
The testing sessions are held Saturdays at 10:45 am at the Downtown Edmonton Public Library. The testing fee of $90 (which includes GST (and free membership for the remainder of the year once you qualify)) will be due at that time. Verified full-time students pay $70. You will do one test and need to pass at the 98th percentile level to be admitted into Mensa. The testing should last less than one hour, including instructions and paperwork. The testing fee is payable by cheque, credit card, or cash at the testing session. Cheque or credit card is preferred, but if you must bring cash, please bring the exact amount as I will not be expecting to make change.
The testing sessions are held in
Room 7, 6th Floor Downtown (Stanley A. Milner) Library 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square Edmonton, Alberta
Street map: http://www.epl.ca/EPLBranchesDetail.cfm?id=downtown You may need to ask a security guard to let you use the elevator to get to the 6th floor.
Please tell me your: 1) Name 2) Telephone number (where you can best be contacted -- your cell phone number is ideal) 3) Age and if you are a student 4) Testing date requested
I will give email reminders of upcoming testing sessions unless you ask me not to.
Pencils and scrap paper will be made available. Calculators or other aids are not allowed. Smoking, noise, or disturbances (e.g. pencil, finger tapping) are not allowed.
Testing is restricted to candidates 14 years of age or older.
If you feel you are at a disadvantage because your first language is not English, an alternative test can be used.
You will receive your results in about 6 weeks. If you do not get into Mensa the first time, you can rewrite once and only once after a one-year waiting period. However, you will not write the same tests and you will have to pay again.
Results are confidential. Only the testing department and I will ever know that you have been tested. Officers and members of the society are never privy to test information. You are the only one to receive the results. I am never notified about your results. The Local Secretary is advised when a candidate becomes eligible and again when a candidate joins. You will be given a score whether you qualify for Mensa or not.
First, relax. Look at the following graph:
As you can see, getting stressed is counterproductive. A quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerkes-Dodson_law: "... different tasks may require different levels of arousal. For example, difficult or intellectually demanding tasks may require a lower level of arousal for optimal performance to facilitate concentration..."
It is better to get to the exam location a bit early and relax while waiting for me to show up than to show up late since being late will be stressful. If you are going to be a bit late, call my cell phone and it will be no problem to wait for you. If you are going to be quite late, then call me to cancel your testing session. You will have my cell phone number in the email I will send you once you sign up for the testing session.
Second, get plenty of sleep. Sleep deprivation has a large effect on intelligence. If you are chronically sleep deprived, as many people are, you should try to correct that as soon as possible in advance of the test date. Of course, get plenty of sleep the night before the test.
The chronically sleep deprived get 'used to it' and think they are functioning normally. The following can indicate if you are sleep deprived:
I recommend books by James Maas to learn how to deal with sleeping.
I've scheduled the exam at a late morning hour so that you can get extra sleep and be more alert for the exam.
Third, most intelligence tests are speed tests. Therefore, go as fast as you can, up to the threshold of recklessness. Even if you get a few questions wrong, it is usually better than not finishing. Do not second guess yourself or check your answers as you go, even if you feel shaky about a question. Relax, put in your best guess, and write down the question number on your scrap paper to go back to it at the end of that section. Naturally, you should skip questions that seem too hard and try them at the end, before checking over the questions you weren't sure about.
On Mensa: http://www.canada.mensa.org/
Sample test questions (The test format given to you may be different): http://www.canada.mensa.org/sampletesten.htm
Mensa Edmonton: http://mensaedmonton.ca/
On intelligence (a page on my own website): http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/IQBasics.aspx
Questions / sign-up: email Rodrigo de la Jara at .
Good luck!