IQ tests don’t test for what most people think it does. My son who is in 7th grade has the exact same IQ score as I do. It doesn’t mean he knows as much as I do. An IQ tests measures your reasoning abilities, your ability to solve a problem. It’s not how smart you are per se. They say that your IQ test never changes and I have found that to be true. My son has taken 2 IQ tests. One at 9 years of age and the last one at age 12. His IQ score has never changed. Same was true for me. (I took IQ tests at the same time just for fun.) Your IQ score is just a number. It doesn’t mean you can’t succeed at what you want. Don’t read too much into an IQ score. My son was placed in a class for high IQ students, without being tested first. He was in the class all year long, and got A’s and B’s. Then the school checked his records and realized his last IQ test was in 4th grade, and it needed to be done more recently. So they tested him again, and his IQ didn’t qualify him for the class, even though the year before he took it and succeeded with flying colors. I talked to his teacher and her explanation was that he must have worked harder to suceed. So I think that you believe in yourself and you can accomplish anything. Don’t worry about not doing as well as you wanted in an exam. Just do your best.

I think some folks excel at the puzzle type questions you would typically see on an IQ test. The more of these you take, the better IQ the test reports. But is that really a measure of base intelligence, or is it just a measure of the ability to solve that kind of problem?

If you want to do better at on exam, spend more time studying. The best time to go over new concepts from class (notes, homework, reading, etc) is right after the class, or at least the same day. Waiting to learn something new until right before the exam is really hard to do. It takes some self discipline to do better in school, but don’t just decide you weren’t born with the ability to do it and give up.

Yes, surely it can improved. Start reading and make your imagination work a lot. Being intelligent for me is a result of how you value/ practice what you learn. It is true that some people were born with skills, talent or “IT” but always remember that “practice makes perfect”. Appreciate every new thing you learn and be more creative and analytic with things coming along the way. Always think of different approach or have options before making a decision. You may know from the beginning the best answer but allowing yourself to explore and see things in different angles helps you to be what you want to be. This is one way of enriching what you already have and helps you develop strengths from weakness. Be comfortable in doing this so that it will just come out naturally. There’s nothing to worry you already have it you just have to let it out.

I don’t think so. What you’ve got is what you’ve got. But what CAN be improved is your education — whether formally or informally. Very few people, no matter what their IQ, live up to their educational potential.

The more you are around something, the more man hours put in preparing, the more comfortable with the tests, I would think.

Absolutely. Just don’t watch television.