1 July 2003

Mensa holds successful testing session in Oakwood

     Mensa Philippines – the local chapter of the international high-IQ society Mensa – has recently conducted a well-attended testing session at the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center.

     “We are very encouraged by the turnout of examinees,” said Mensa President Dodie Navarro. “About 91 persons took the qualifying test last June 21. We hope many more will try out the test in our next test sessions so that we can increase membership and perhaps embark on other projects in the future.”

     Navarro added that the goal to increase membership reflects the desire of the organization to provide a forum for social and intellectual exchange for more of the country’s intellectually-gifted people.

     Mensa Philippines is an emerging national Mensa under the auspices of Mensa International Ltd. The society has over 100,000 members in over 100 countries worldwide.  Actress / Archer Geena Davis, comedian John Cleese, author Jean Auel, and science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov are some of the more prominent Mensa members. Mensa’s aims are to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity; to encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence; and to promote stimulating and social opportunities for its members.

     The sole criterion for membership in this society is to score within the top 2% (98^th percentile and up) in a recognized and properly supervised qualifying test. The test is culture-fair and is of the type often referred to as "abstract reasoning".  It does not test for math or language skills. While there is no strict time limit, most people will finish in an hour or two.

     Right now, Mensa Philippines is a relatively small group and thus classified as an emerging Mensa under the supervision of Mensa International. The Mensas in other developed countries have thousands of members, with American Mensa and British Mensa leading the pack with some 40,000 and 20,000 members, respectively.

     With the recent success of the June 21 testing session, Mensa Philippines has decided to hold another testing session on July 26, 2003 (Saturday), from 9 am to 3 pm, at the Private Room, Oakwood Premier Ayala Center, 6^th Floor, Glorietta 4, Ayala Center, Makati City, Metro Manila.

     Exam takers may register and start the test anytime between 9 am and 3 pm. They need only to bring a valid ID and the test fee of P400.  Undergraduate students with valid student IDs may avail of a discounted rate of P150.  Payments will only be accepted at the testing venue itself.

     More information about the test is available at the website: http://ph.mensa.org/qualify.html. Interested parties may pre-register for the Mensa exam by providing their name and contact info beforehand to the e-mail address testing@ph.mensa.org (subject: July 26 testing). For over-the-phone pre-registration or questions, call Patrick Ocampo at 524-4611 loc. 450.  Or simply visit the main Mensa website at http://www.mensa.org.

Mensa will be holding several more qualifying tests in the coming months.