Nicole Barr, 12, earned a 162 — a perfect score — on her Mensa IQ test. (Photo: Jim Barr)
A
12-year-old in the U.K. has received a perfect score on her Mensa IQ
test, ranking her two points above both Albert Einstein and Stephen
Hawking in the society’s elite group of members.
Nicole
Barr took the test at the same time as her father did a couple of weeks
ago, and got her results — a score of 162 — on Thursday, easily beating
his score. Her father, Jim Barr, says he had a hunch that Nicole would
be admitted to Mensa, despite the low acceptance rate — the honor is
extended only to those who score in the top 2 percent. “I was expecting
her to do well. I knew she had a quick mind for working out problems and
puzzles,” Jim tells Yahoo Parenting. “I didn’t want to put any pressure
on her, so we went for the fun of it. I had the idea in my mind that
she would get into Mensa, but when I got the results back, I thought,
‘Wow that’s a high score!’ It wasn’t until later that I learned it was
the top score possible on that test.”
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Ann
Clarkson, communications manager for British Mensa, confirmed Nicole’s
score to Yahoo Parenting. “[A score of] 162 puts her in the top one
percent of the population, so it is exceptional by any definition,” she
says.
Barr
says he decided to sign his daughter up for the test because he thought
she’d have fun. “She’s always loved numbers and puzzles, and she’s
always been excellent at math, performing several years ahead of her age
group in school,” he says. “It’s just the type of thing she likes to
do. She likes challenging herself.”
And
throughout the test, Jim could tell that Nicole was having an easy time
of it. “It was split into several sections, each with a time limit, and
she finished each one early,” he says. “In the last section, at the
four-minute warning, I quickly glanced up to see if Nicole was feeling
the pressure, and she already had put her pen down. There were questions
I didn’t finish at all.”
In
the end, Nicole scored significantly higher than her dad. “She was
rubbing my face in it a bit,” Jim says, laughing. “She obviously beat me
by a long way.”
Nicole
has showed an above-average aptitude for problem-solving since she was
very young. “Before she was 2, she was adding numbers up and doing
calculations,” he says. “At 2, she could use a Nintendo DS with absolute
ease — it would amaze family and friends how easily she could work
anything technical.”
And
while Jim says his daughter enjoys reading and solving math problems in
her spare time – even during summer break – he points out that her
interests aren’t all academic. “She likes playing soccer, and she’s
performing in a Shakespeare play coming up,” he says. “She does enjoy
acting, and she loves singing — even if it’s just to herself.”
As
for how Nicole plans to use her superior IQ down the line, her father
says she wants to be a doctor and “maybe invent a new medicine.” It’s a
career path he thinks would suit her. “She often thinks outside of the
box,” Jim explains. “She sees things with a different point of view,
even when many adults might be scratching their heads.”
Jim,
of course, is an exceptionally proud dad, though he says that has
nothing to do with the test. “I was always proud,” he says. “The test
hasn’t changed anything.”
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