IQ Test for College Students

Is the SAT an IQ test?

Not officially, but the two overlap a lot. In 2004 Meredith Frey and Douglas Detterman compared SAT scores with a general intelligence measure drawn from the ASVAB for more than 900 young people and found a correlation of about 0.82.

That overlap is why American Mensa has accepted SAT scores from tests taken before 1994, when the test was redesigned. The current SAT leans more on taught reading and maths skills, and Mensa does not accept it.

How this test works for college students

Unlike admissions tests, this one uses no words or numbers you would have studied. It measures fluid reasoning, solving new visual problems on the spot, which is closer to the inductive reasoning sections of graduate recruitment tests than to the SAT.

• Twelve minutes, so it fits between classes.
• No sign-up to start and nothing to download.
• Take it sober and rested. Sleep and alcohol both affect timed reasoning.

What scores mean for college students

College students as a group score above the population average of 100, but by how much depends on the institution. Highly selective universities draw from the top of the range, while open-access colleges look much more like the general population. Individual scores overlap enormously.

An SAT percentile compares you with other test takers, who are already a selected group. An IQ percentile compares you with the whole population. So a 90th percentile on each is not the same achievement.

What about the GRE and GMAT?

Graduate admissions tests measure reasoning through taught skills. The GRE, shortened to under two hours in 2023, covers verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. The GMAT Focus Edition, which replaced the classic GMAT in 2024, covers quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning and data insights.

Neither is an IQ test, and neither reports an IQ. Both correlate with general ability, but study and practice can move GRE and GMAT scores more than they move a non-verbal puzzle test like this one.