iwriterng:


Test isn’t a TRUE measure of intelligence.

Let me give you an exam; I wrote the GRE twice.

First time; I travelled to Abuja by road, sat for 8hours in a bus and took the test the next day; sitting for another 4hours. I did poorly. That’s not a true test of my ability to ace the test.

Second time; I took it in Lagos, slept well the night before, and did well on the second attempt. Hopefully that gives you an idea of why standardized test is not a TRUE test of intelligence. It’s just a 4hours run, people with long attention span will do well, that doesn’t mean those with short attention span are not smart.

Gerrard59:


Tests are racists! Cancel tests! Tests perpetuate racial discrimination.

Although schools are waiving the GRE, good luck to aspiring students to get funding in a hyper competitive department without test scores. Worse still citizens from the poorest continent and country with the highest number of poor people in the world.

sexylassie2:


I still do not understand from the examples you gave why standardized test are not true measure of intelligence.

So what is true measure of intelligence?

sexylassie2:
Lets be sincere, do you think most Nigerians will be able to score high in an IQ test?

Can Most Nigerians solve a Rubik cube?

sexylassie2:
Lets be sincere, do you think most Nigerians will be able to score high in an IQ test?

Can Most Nigerians solve a Rubik cube?

sexylassie2:


I still do not understand from the examples you gave why standardized test are not true measure of intelligence.

So what is true measure of intelligence?

iwriterng:


Test isn’t a TRUE measure of intelligence.

Let me give you an exam; I wrote the GRE twice.

First time; I travelled to Abuja by road, sat for 8hours in a bus and took the test the next day; sitting for another 4hours. I did poorly. That’s not a true test of my ability to ace the test.

Second time; I took it in Lagos, slept well the night before, and did well on the second attempt. Hopefully that gives you an idea of why standardized test is not a TRUE test of intelligence. It’s just a 4hours run, people with long attention span will do well, that doesn’t mean those with short attention span are not smart.

Gerrard59:


I had to login and quote this. Well done, you did well.

iwriterng:


Test isn’t a TRUE measure of intelligence.

Let me give you an exam; I wrote the GRE twice.

First time; I travelled to Abuja by road, sat for 8hours in a bus and took the test the next day; sitting for another 4hours. I did poorly. That’s not a true test of my ability to ace the test.

Second time; I took it in Lagos, slept well the night before, and did well on the second attempt. Hopefully that gives you an idea of why standardized test is not a TRUE test of intelligence. It’s just a 4hours run, people with long attention span will do well, that doesn’t mean those with short attention span are not smart.

Sefa2018:



...And u think only Nigerians drive/journey hours to write standardized tests? Its same all over the world. In my field here in the states, you might even need to fly hours to write certain board exams. The GRE is a 4 hour exam, not a big deal. Wait until you write an 8-10 hour exam back to back within 2 days.

Like someone suggested above, time for us Blacks to stop all these excuses and work hard. We can do it!

iwriterng:


If you read my response clearly, you'd see that the crux of the matter is not the hours spent driving to the test center. And I'm certainly not making excuses for failure, but it's sheer ignorance for anybody to conclude that Nigerians are not intelligent because they don't get 320+ on GRE. It's just a 4 hours exam, it justifies nothing but your ability to master the MATERIAL and apply the rules when taking the exam.

Sefa2018:


But the ability to master the material thoroughly and apply the rules to any game or exam scenario suggests your intelligence right? It really does. You contradicting yourself here.

Same way we all get tested at all levels of our education so the system can determine who is fit/qualifies for medicine, engineer or not even fit for university.
Standardized exams do test your intelligence....we can't deny that. You all provided with same material to study from..no magic questions from anywhere.

If you earn a 160 on GRE quant and I obtain a 140 score, It's fair to say to you are smarter than me in math. Simple, no excuses.

iwriterng:


I’m not necessarily smarter than you. Your pet could have died a day before the test. If you’re a woman; the test day might be the day you had your worst menstrual cramp. You might even be having a bad day for any reason you can think of; maybe a boil on your left butt cheek.

Point is; a 4hrs exam is not a TRUE test of your intellectual capability.

Sefa2018:



Go tell that to your LSAT, MCAT, GRE, Dental, nursing or medicine board examiners that you had a worst menstrual cramp or your pet died and they will smile at you lol.. Come on man!! This is real life we talking about. How do you think all those kids get to Harvard and co..no excuses whatsoever. Overcoming adversity and excelling is even a test by itself..

iwriterng:


You clearly missed the point, but it’s ok. People fail MCAT, LSAT, GRE, board licensing exams all the time. They retake it until they’re deemed qualified to progress, that does not mean they’re not intelligent. And don’t drag Harvard into the conversation; if test score is the key to getting into Harvard; almost everybody will be in Harvard.

I’ll let this rest now. But I hope the people that need to understand my point will read and understand it.

Stay safe!

iwriterng:


You clearly missed the point, but it’s ok. People fail MCAT, LSAT, GRE, board licensing exams all the time. They retake it until they’re deemed qualified to progress, that does not mean they’re not intelligent. And don’t drag Harvard into the conversation; if test score is the key to getting into Harvard; almost everybody will be in Harvard.

I’ll let this rest now. But I hope the people that need to understand my point will read and understand it.

Stay safe!

Mayflowa:


You and Sefa2018 have points in your argument. GRE and SAT, basically any standardized exams including WAEC and licensing exam are levelers that must be taken into account. How else can you measure intelligence and performance if you don't do this when considering different people from different backgrounds? The way the GRE is constructed gives an insight into the logical reasoning of the candidates. The exam is one of the greatest consideration for admission officers in the USA! The test always reveals the smartest students. But being smart does not make you change your world. Some very slow-learning people are not able to do well in a test but can engage in breakthrough research. That is why admission committees consider holistic assessment, including past experiences, strong recommendations, and extra-curricular activities, including leadership and services. If you have done something to change lives and organize extramural reading classes to children in your community or have a youtube video to discuss mathematics or your country's economy, you could earn your admission with funding. The University wants to have a diverse class to boast their academic, social, and leadership records, but the test shows the ability to cope with the class rigor.

iwriterng:
Sadly, most responses on this issue are geared towards justifying intelligence based on GRE score; a four (4) hours exams that can be mastered; given enough time and resources. The admission committee understands this better than anyone else, and this is why they make you submit your transcript (4 or 5 years effort), they ask for a statement of purpose, which is meant to ascertain your intention, as well as recommendation letter from people you've worked with.

The sole purpose of a standardized test like GRE is to filter applicants out; what that means is that; all you need is the minimum in other for your application to be considered. Once you get past the filter, the score is USELESS. Nobody cares about it anymore, if the minimum requirement is 300, that's really all you need; getting 320 won't put you ahead of others with 300, especially if the GRE score is the only strong aspect of your application, because the committee would spend more time reviewing your transcript, SOP and recommendation letter, and in some cases, they would arrange an interview to make sure you're as good as you claim on paper.

All of that points to the fact that; GRE isn't a TRUE test of your intellectual capability. NO record agrees with the assumption that those who ace GRE do well in graduate school.

It's important to do your absolute best, and ace it, in fact, score 340 if possible, but if you don't fall in the 320 leagues, don't let anybody make you feel inadequate, by flashing some random statistics jargons. There are people with average score on full funding in great schools; what they lack in standardized test scores, they make up for it in other aspects that matter.

Gerrard59:


Verbal reasoning can be forgiven because English is not the official language of most countries meanwhile math is a universal subject. Besides and hilarious enough, these Asian nations had higher verbal scores than African countries where English is the lingua franca. For instance, Japan had a higher score than Nigeria in verbal reasoning. That said, nothing stops predominantly black countries to improve in math.

Sefa2018:


But the ability to master the material thoroughly and apply the rules to any game or exam scenario suggests your intelligence right? It really does. You contradicting yourself here.

Same way we all get tested at all levels of our education so the system can determine who is fit/qualifies for medicine, engineer or not even fit for university.
Standardized exams do test your intelligence....we can't deny that. You all provided with same material to study from..no magic questions from anywhere.

If you earn a 160 on GRE quant and I obtain a 140 score, It's fair to say to you are smarter than me in math. Simple, no excuses.

hotboss:



Thanks. What is your deficit for Lamar.

Mosminic:

What if you two take the test again and you 160 this time and he gets just below 160, is he still smarter than you? Or you're smarter now?
Some graduate schools are already phasing out the GRE and it's known as not a true test of one's actual abilities. Let's take the AWA as a case study, I can watch a Gregmat video 2 days to my test and still get a 4.0 or 4.5 but someone who has adequately prepared for it might score less but in actuality he is a better writer just probably encountered a glitch that day.
Another factor as mentioned above is emotional distress on the day of the test. I scored a 312 when I wrote it. This score was because I wasn't in the right frame of mind throughout the test. I knew I could've scored a lot higher. I know people who retake the test just within 3 weeks and still score better marks just because they're now more emotional prepared.

Cocao:
It's okay everyone. Some of us are really tense while waiting for the embassy to re-open and this thread is one of the ways we can keep tabs.

Spamming it would do no good please. It's okay.

sexylassie2:


I will just say this

rewriting a test 2 times is bad, i can tell you categorically, that if you fail a test in the first sitting, in the second sitting you wont score higher mark even if you get 90% of the questions in some exams.

no matter the preparation, as long there is a grading, if you write a test and someone score higher than you, according to the grading system, he is smarter than you.

All test have grading systems and they use the grading systems to judge a student performance in an exam.

sexylassie2:


I will just say this

rewriting a test 2 times is bad, i can tell you categorically, that if you fail a test in the first sitting, in the second sitting you wont score higher mark even if you get 90% of the questions in some exams.

no matter the preparation, as long there is a grading, if you write a test and someone score higher than you, according to the grading system, he is smarter than you.

All test have grading systems and they use the grading systems to judge a student performance in an exam.