I.Q. is an acronym for an Intelligence Quota which is a stand-in number which one can use to assess where they land on the I.Q. scale (a generally accepted measurement to assess an individual’s intelligence based upon the population average). A typical I.Q. scale reads from 55, at the lower end of the scale, and 145, at the higher end. There are outliers on either side of the scale for extraordinary, or unextraordinary, intelligence.
In this blog, I will be giving you the opportunity to see how your SAT score correlates with an I.Q. score. However, the SAT to I.Q. score correlation may not be correct. I will be fleshing out the potential fallibility of the correlation between the SAT and I.Q. in the next section below.
Does The SAT Measure Intelligence?
There is something to be said about the SAT actually being able to measure intelligence, however, that would be to pigeon-hole whatever “intelligence” means into an array of concepts and ideas only learned in high school. Intelligence goes beyond this to some extent.
It is worth noting that the SAT may be a good intelligence test up to a certain point in an individual’s life, i.e., that period of time where they have just concluded high school and are expected to have certain reasoning and comprehension skills on lock. Thus, if one were to take the SAT after finishing high school, it would serve as a good indicator of where they fall in comparison to other adolescents just out of high school. Proving to be a developmental-milestone mock-I.Q. test, the SAT may not carry much weight when you are forty and have learned a swath of new knowledge and further developed your reasoning to surpass what would be measured on the test.
If we were to read it this way, the SAT would be comparable to its own kind of I.Q. test. Such that you have all highschoolers who wish to seek higher education take the test and, by comparison of all the different scores, one can see where they lie on that spectrum of scores. There would be a bell-curve quite like the I.Q. scale with the lowest scores of the SAT on one side, the average, and the exemplary scores (which we here at SoFlo tutors can help you achieve) on the other.
Though I do not think the correlation between SAT and I.Q. score is accurate, I do think that the SAT can measure a degree of intelligence relevant to a particular developmental period (i.e., fresh out of high school).
SAT To I.Q. Conversion Chart
Yes, the moment that we have all been waiting for—the SAT to I.Q. conversion chart! Below you will find a satisfactory chart which will tell you, presumably, how your SAT score matches up to your “I.Q.”. What I would find to be an interesting experiment that you may do in your free time would be to get an I.Q. test done professionally and then see how the results of your I.Q. test compare to this chart below.
It may end up being the case that your professional I.Q. score tells you that you are a genius but your SAT to I.Q. score tells you that you are not so much. I wouldn’t let that get you down, however, as this chart is only a second-class attempt at doing what the professionals do and it cannot account for external variables like you having been sleepy while taking the SAT and scoring below what your I.Q. would have you typically scoring. There is also the case where you could have amazing luck on the SAT which would, also, undermine your true I.Q. score.
Does The SAT Correlate With I.Q.?
As I alluded to earlier, I lean towards saying, not really. But of course, just to say ‘not really’ doesn’t tell you why you should believe me. Thus, here are some reasons for why you should consider that the scores you received on the SAT may not be reflective of any particular I.Q. score.
- Luck, sleepiness, and other uncontrollable variables while taking the SAT: it is certainly true that sometimes the pattern one selects when Christmas-treeing really does work out for them. So much so that they may get a far better SAT score than what their I.Q. would typically bring about. In a separate case, if someone with a high I.Q. was having a rough go of things for they hadn’t a good night’s sleep the night prior and they scored poorly, then it seems like that score would, too, be unreflective of their actual I.Q.
- Different scores, different times, and the steadfast nature of an I.Q: How incredible would it be if at one go at the SAT you had scored a 1490 and determined your I.Q., then, to be in the 99th percentile, but you weren’t yet satisfied as it wasn’t that 1600 you were hoping for. So you take the SAT again and, uh-oh, you now have a 1010 (this wouldn’t happen if you had a SoFlo tutor by the way) and magically, your I.Q. would be in the 73rd percentile. It would seem as though an I.Q., something which measures a concrete level of intelligence in you, would not change so drastically in such a short time. Do you get the point?
Interesting Facts Pertaining To SAT And I.Q.
Comparing a former Presidential candidate to a former President.
Former President George W. Bush allegedly scored a 566 on the verbal section of the SAT and a 640 on the mathematics. In total he scored a 1206 on the SAT. On the chart above, a 1206 would be, roughly, a 124 I.Q. This score is close to a predicted score that Murray wrote about in The Bell Curve where they said a 1206 would be comparable to a 125 I.Q.
Former Presidential candidate, Al Gore, Bush’s opponent in the year 2000, scored a 1355 on his SAT. If we converted that on the chart we would get a 134 I.Q. Interestingly (and to favor that experiment I so encourage you all to do) the I.Q. from the chart and his actual I.Q. that he was tested for are the exact same.
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About The Author
Dahlia received her B.S. in psychology and philosophy at Florida State University. In her free time she enjoys filmmaking and photography, backpacking, and cycling.
