February 2012 Waiting Thread (NEW POLL!!!1!) Forum

[noleknight16]

I'm drizzunk. Wheres my score damnittttt

[bernaldiaz]

Not sure where the warrant for the assumption that everyone is going to look at it on a resume in an "asshole" light comes from but uh O.K. The people I know are all from H/Y/P.

What are your thoughts on honor societies?

Yeah to me honors societies are different. I know it seems contradictory, but I think there is a subtle difference. To join Mensa you have to go out of your way to prove how smart you are, where as honors societies are typically honors that are given to you without you applying for it or whatever. Does that make sense?

Also, I'm not saying that I'm right that anyone who is reading a resume would think that a person who put down mensa is pretentious, but if I were the resume reader it would be a turn off.

[Jsa725]

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[FinallyGoing]

Not sure where the warrant for the assumption that everyone is going to look at it on a resume in an "asshole" light comes from but uh O.K. The people I know are all from H/Y/P.

What are your thoughts on honor societies?

Yeah to me honors societies are different. I know it seems contradictory, but I think there is a subtle difference. To join Mensa you have to go out of your way to prove how smart you are, where as honors societies are typically honors that are given to you without you applying for it or whatever. Does that make sense?

Also, I'm not saying that I'm right that anyone who is reading a resume would think that a person who put down mensa is pretentious, but if I were the resume reader it would be a turn off.

Hmm...in this context I don't really see how applying for Mensa membership constitutes going out of one's way in a substantively more burdensome sense than it would to apply to an honor society.

Hey it's not for everyone, I get that. The stigma attached to Mensa and it's members is very real and has existed for quite sometime..I've just never been able to pinpoint a rational basis for the stigma. Where I come from touting your accomplishments is a good thing. I mean I know its not very "99%er" of me ala participation trophy, but to ding a person based upon them putting Mensa on their resume not only seems like an overreaction to me but also more of an indication about YOU than the Mensaite.

:p

[FinallyGoing]

Not sure where the warrant for the assumption that everyone is going to look at it on a resume in an "asshole" light comes from but uh O.K. The people I know are all from H/Y/P.

What are your thoughts on honor societies?

Yeah to me honors societies are different. I know it seems contradictory, but I think there is a subtle difference. To join Mensa you have to go out of your way to prove how smart you are, where as honors societies are typically honors that are given to you without you applying for it or whatever. Does that make sense?

Also, I'm not saying that I'm right that anyone who is reading a resume would think that a person who put down mensa is pretentious, but if I were the resume reader it would be a turn off.

I think people put "order of the coif" on resumes if their law school has a chapter.

Indeed they do, I would posit that the process (if eligible) to become a member of The Order of the Coif is no more laborious than the process (if eligible) to become a member of Mensa.

[Jsa725]

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[bernaldiaz]

Not sure where the warrant for the assumption that everyone is going to look at it on a resume in an "asshole" light comes from but uh O.K. The people I know are all from H/Y/P.

What are your thoughts on honor societies?

Yeah to me honors societies are different. I know it seems contradictory, but I think there is a subtle difference. To join Mensa you have to go out of your way to prove how smart you are, where as honors societies are typically honors that are given to you without you applying for it or whatever. Does that make sense?

Also, I'm not saying that I'm right that anyone who is reading a resume would think that a person who put down mensa is pretentious, but if I were the resume reader it would be a turn off.

I think people put "order of the coif" on resumes if their law school has a chapter.

Indeed they do, I would posit that the process (if eligible) to become a member of The Order of the Coif is no more laborious than the process (if eligible) to become a member of Mensa.

Yeah so like the reason I was saying before in combination with this is why I probably wouldnt personally do the mensa on my resume thing. The benefit of people seeing you are in mensa (since it isn't that hard to get into and really doesn't mean much) isn't as large as the risk of alienating your interviewer or whatever because of any stigma attached.

I could go sign up for Mensa tomorrow because of my SAT scores. Would putting Mensa on my resume be any less douchey than putting my SAT scores?

[FinallyGoing]

Hmm...trick question because I don't think it is douchey at all

Maybe this sounds douchey but I wouldn't want to work for someone who evaluates their candidates in such a fashion.

I'll tell you what I do want though: A 173!!!!!!!

[Kit Cloudkicker]

--ImageRemoved--

You're probably going to get banned for posting these.

What? Why? I was already banned for talking too specifically about an LSAT question while others who spoke of questions more specifically than I did - they wrote the asnwers and everything- didn't get banned. If I get banned for this, then this site is stupid.

If RodionRaskolnikov is banned for this.... Then noleknight16 should def be banned for the "oh lawd" pic back on page 38. Way more offensive.

[mehereuthere101787]

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[barrotmartin]

Neither cartoon is against affirmative action.

[Fyo'Couch]

--ImageRemoved--

You're probably going to get banned for posting these.

Hopefully.

Back to Mensa..

I am not suggesting that being a member of Mensa is the same as being a Marshall Scholar for example; however in the context in which we are discussing it, I think you could consider them relatively the same insofar as it's only going to resonate with the people who are familiar with it and that is going to already be a limited amount of people.

G-d willing, I'll be using my LSAT score for Mensa eligibility purposes. I see no down side and it could certainly make for an interest conversation piece and certainly wouldn't harm a resume.

What? If he gets banned for this that's pretty lame. The person before him posted a cartoon that was essentially for affirmative action. This one is against it. Not everything pertaining to race is racist.

I think you misunderstood the cartoon...

[maru]

Dear LSAC,

Please do not send me emails unrelated to my score just days prior to their scheduled release. I'm sure you feel your survey is very important, but seeing your name in my inbox is not so great for my nerves. :/

Thanks,

Maru

[Jsa725]

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[XxMVPxX]

The person before him posted a cartoon that was essentially for affirmative action. This one is against it.

[noleknight16]

Let's be honest. Race, sex, age, sexual orientation and nationality shouldn't ever be on an application (for a government funded university).

[maru]

Jesus, did they really send you a survey today? I would have had a heart attack!

Yep, it was a bit of a surprise, haha. I kind of stared at it dumbly for a second before I read the preview...

[Mr. Pancakes]

Let's be honest. Race, sex, age, sexual orientation and nationality shouldn't ever be on an application (for a government funded university).

preach.

[Jsa725]

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[Betharl]

Hmm...trick question because I don't think it is douchey at all

Eh... I agree with Bernaldiaz. I think putting Mensa on your resume is more likely to do harm than good. It is different than honors societies, many of which you do not even apply to but are just accepted/granted admission for xyz academic accomplishment. College recruiters also expect to see that kind of stuff on your resume.

Having Mensa on your resume shows me you sought out and paid to join an organization that exists solely to recognize and celebrate the accomplishment of having scored well on some random standardized test (I think Mensa's website said there were 200 qualifying tests). How can you not see that this is somewhat douchey, particularly if it is already fairly obvious you would be qualified to be a member due to your academic background.

I really doubt it would be an auto-ding, but I don't see how it would help you. If your interviewer actually cares about standardized tests scores (and some of my interviewers out of UG actually did), it is usually stated in the job posting, in which case just put your score on your resume. I could also see it as being awkward if your interviewer did not know what Mensa was and asked you about it, and then, like me, didn't really get why you'd bother to join an organization like that.

PS: Not trying to call you out personally or say you're a douche or pretentious for considering putting Mensa on your resume. Just voicing my opinion that I think it is a bad idea.

[bernaldiaz]

Neither cartoon is against affirmative action.

Never said they were against it. They were just totally fucking random and since affirmative action is sort of a no-go on this site, posting those cartoons totally unsolicited and entirely off-topic could be seen as affirmative action trolling, or just trying to get an argument going.

Seriously though, look at the context of when he posted them, they literally had nothing to do with the converstation. We had never brought up AA ITT.

[noleknight16]

I'm still surprised that the LSATs administered page hasn't been updated yet...

Same.

[RodionRaskolnikov]

Let's be honest. Race, sex, age, sexual orientation and nationality shouldn't ever be on an application (for a government funded university).

Agree. Instead, we should all have to put family income. Those with low income should be given affirmitive action/heads up over those with a high income.

[FinallyGoing]

Hmm...trick question because I don't think it is douchey at all

Eh... I agree with Bernaldiaz. I think putting Mensa on your resume is more likely to do harm than good. It is different than honors societies, many of which you do not even apply to but are just accepted/granted admission for xyz academic accomplishment. College recruiters also expect to see that kind of stuff on your resume.

Having Mensa on your resume shows me you sought out and paid to join an organization that exists solely to recognize and celebrate the accomplishment of having scored well on some random standardized test (I think Mensa's website said there were 200 qualifying tests). How can you not see that this is somewhat douchey, particularly if it is already fairly obvious you would be qualified to be a member due to your academic background.

I really doubt it would be an auto-ding, but I don't see how it would help you. If your interviewer actually cares about standardized tests scores (and some of my interviewers out of UG actually did), it is usually stated in the job posting, in which case just put your score on your resume. I could also see it as being awkward if your interviewer did not know what Mensa was and asked you about it, and then, like me, didn't really get why you'd bother to join an organization like that.

PS: Not trying to call you out personally or say you're a douche or pretentious for considering putting Mensa on your resume. Just voicing my opinion that I think it is a bad idea.

I think this warrants a meaningful discussion.

You describe Mensa as "an organization that exists solely to recognize and celebrate the accomplishment of having scored well on some random standardized test."

This is patently false. I don't doubt that its your perception of Mensa; however your perception is simply not reflective of reality in this case.

Mensa is engaged in various philanthropic endeavors such as multiple scholarship programs, k-12 outreach (I was in GATE throughout grade school and my class had 2 "Mensa Mentors" who visited with the class once a week, providing free tutoring and coaching), the publication of several journals and support for local chapters. Local chapters themselves engage in various activities that benefit not only their members but the community as a whole.

So now that we've cleared that up there are still numerous problems with your contentions..

1. Why do you believe interviewers are aware of Mensa membership requirements?
2. You don't "get" why someone would join Mensa because you have an absurd perception as to what it actually is.
3. AFAIK most reputable honor societies do require an application process that more often than not entails paying some sort of fee.

It seems to me that the bulk of the disdain for Mensa stems from a mis-perception of what it and its members actually do. To be sure, there are of course people who join strictly for the card and what they believe to be bragging rights; however I don't know why that image has proliferated and I remain confused as to why a person would ever go beyond simply OVERLOOKING something like Mensa to the point of considering an applicant in a bad light because of it.

Who knows, maybe there is a strong correlation between gunners and Mensa members

[RodionRaskolnikov]

The person before him posted a cartoon that was essentially for affirmative action. This one is against it.

I think I posted both, the one where applicants were lined up and the one with two people climbing the mountain or whatever. Both were FOR affirmitive action. The first defended affirmitive action against a misconception that minorities are the only ones displacing well qualified applicants and the second showed how some (illogical) people already start at the top of the mountain but complain about a little boost that was given to those who started way down at the bottom.