Formal education levels of ATS readers and posters

I made it through the eighth grade, dropped out in the middle of my first year of high school.
I joined Mensa not for bragging rights but because one of their come-ons just hit home with me. It was the one about "imagine talking to people who got your jokes?"

reply to post by hikix

My IQ is considered to be 'borderline retarded' ... does that count for anything?

Only if you decide to run for Congress. Then you would be overqualified. I'm sure you are much more intelligent than the sum total of IQ's of all 535 members of Congress. Why not run for President?

reply to post by SuperSecretSquirrel


I have an AA degree in paralegal and a BS in Criminal Justice. I am over 50 and I drive a cab because I just can't seem to break into the field anywhere. Age discrimination?

HS grad
Eagle Scout (I do consider this an education on life)
Respected University Art School:bd
Military: Intel (Dam Neck,VA) EYESWIDESHUT, I see you have also been to NMITC. Its so nice to have Virgina Beach next door.

I find that most people don’t understand the purpose of schooling, especially what’s called higher education. It has nothing to do with intelligence or making you more intelligent. School is about giving you the tools needed to accomplish your goals.

Most degrees offered by universities are a joke and are around only to get peoples money. There are only 2 reasons why you would NEED to go to school:

1. You want to teach/research in your field of passion
2. You want to get into higher end fields like engineering, medicine and such where knowing the tools is important.

A diploma is just an easy and succinct way for employers to know that you should have the tools needed to succeed in your chosen field.

That being said I find this whole N.A. idea that you have to go to College/University to be anything complete rubbish. My train of though is find something you love and do whatever you need to in order to be successful in it. If that means just an apprenticeship or even just being a stay-at-home parent it doesn’t matter as long as you’re happy.

In my case I have a Bachelors of Engineering, in Energy Systems (think Nuclear to solar) and am currently working on a Masters of Engineering in Aerospace, specializing in Spacecrafts and satellites. That’s my passion, I’ve been in love with space since I was a little kid, and I wouldn’t go into another field even if I was offered millions of $$$.

Oh and ya I’m a member of ATS….just kinda misplaced my account info and I’m too lazy and tired to look for it. Not like it would have made me more credible anyway.

Undergraduate university degree in nuclear engineering.

reply to post by SuperSecretSquirrel


You should have also asked how many of us tend to go to sleep after 1am even before we found this site. Seriously, has that ever been polled before?

BFA with concentration in medical/scientifc illustration, might as well have a minor in biology

reply to post by SuperSecretSquirrel


Hiya everyone! I am a high School dropout, stopped going in the 10th grade(which was 27 years ago![damn!!!] but didn't get out of 9th grade classes. i have since gotten an equivalency certificate, That in itself isn't really saying anything because those kinds of standardized tests are really just testing your ability to take a test and not really what you know. But my last I.Q. test showed me with an I.Q. of 121,(and it was an actual test of intelligence, you know like putting shapes in order, or which shape would come next in a series, or the one I liked the best was the one where you have to figure out where the dot goes, they give 4 patterns, and 3 of them have a dot in a certain spot and you have to figure out where the dot goes in the last one, loved that one. And these are all timed so it's a combination of things in the scoring), which I realize isn't superior, but not to shabby either. I am 41 and right now (and for quite some time now) I have been going to classes at the local Community College, not for any degree but because it was something I wanted to learn. Also most of my free time is spent with researching things online, or reading actual BOOKS! Books of fiction and nonfiction which , if you would have told me I was going to thoroughly enjoy 20 or 30 years ago I would have laughed in your face.
I have come to the conclusion that formal schooling tries much to hard to force things onto younger students that they have no interest at all while totally ignoring the things that do interest them. I am fairly certain that that was the problem with my education. Because I went to a parochial school, (read ; Catholic) for the first 8 years and then went into public high school at the 9th grade and the thing they were teaching there I had already learned in the 5th or 6th grade. This I think was also a large part of the problem, I wasn't really challenged, and I grew bored, and I thought how much more fun it would be to go to work.
Well I guess this is turning into a biography, and that's not what you wanted, I don't think. but thank you all for reading.

~College dropout ^^
~ Average intelligence I think

I am about to get my Accounting degree in 2 weeks! Then next semester I begin the MBA program.

High school
Computer Engineering Technology for a year in College, then dropped out because it was really boring and I wasn't interested in what I was learning.

edit: SP

[edit on 7-12-2008 by lawlb0t]

High School Graduate
MIT Drop Out (went for 3 weeks and decided I was sick of school)
Not that it matters but IQ 156 and have been a MENSA member since I was a child.
Have been considering going back to school for awhile now. I have always wanted to follow my Pops and work at the NRL.

I have a 130-ish IQ but only a high school diploma here. Don't have the time for higher but would like to go back to college to get an advanced degree. But is it required for critical thinking? Too many have succeeded in business without degrees to think so. Judging someone by their degree is like judging someone by their hairstyle. Einstein anyone?

reply to post by SuperSecretSquirrel


im dumber than a box of rocks

i have a city and guilds cert in engineering (basic)

left school at 15 to work as a specialist machinic.(militery ATV)
I left that job and went on to work in the electronics industry as a drone .
I left that in 1988 to work for a box plant and was a machine operator there for 15 years.
until one day the sys admin guy left suddenly so they promoted me to the position (you know about computers dont you)I am now the senior anlyist for 3 plants in the uk and ireland supporting 500 users.

so all this proves is that i am very lucky to have a good job without an education
stay in school get your education

best of luck !!

A college education is only relevant for that little piece of paper you get after four years and pay tens of thousands of dollars for. Beyond the fact that this magic piece of paper can "help" you get a job it's not worth much. Currently being in college I have to say that there is nothing special or overly beneficial to sitting in class rooms for hours on end to listen to professors recite a textbook or have a guided discussion on a man who died thousands of years ago. College is little more than a guided tutorial in a given field and is not in itself significant.

I am a college dropout. Took 1 1/2 years at a 4 year college.

I educate myself through a huge quantity of reading. [grin]

BA Sciences in Criminal Justice from a state university.......

but in retrospect all I did was do a load of research papers all the while skipping class because everything was out of a book for the most part. There was no point in going to class because it was simple regurgitation of what we read, watched, or heard. There were maybe 2 professors I had that encouraged any sort of critical thinking, and I regularly attended their classes and lectures. My degree doesn't mean much to me really, and I'm in debt 20 grand for it, kind of wish I learned a trade or something instead.

Originally posted by Amaterasu
I am a college dropout. Took 1 1/2 years at a 4 year college.

I educate myself through a huge quantity of reading. [grin]

I myself do a load or reading, and would have much preferred to do it that way than go to a university and be eyeballs up in debt. It really stresses me out sometimes.

[edit on 12/15/2008 by ludaChris]

AS - Criminal Justice
BA - Forensic Psychology
MS - Psychotherapy (spring '09)

Two observations...

One, the majority of my graduate school experience was spent reading subject related books & papers which are available to the public. Anyone can read the material and will learn just about the same as I have without paying for it.

Two, I work in IT. Self taught computer programmer. It's where the job market was hiring and how I can afford to feed myself. Although the degree "paper" looks good when meeting with higher level managers, if I went to work in the field of above study, I would almost certainly take a pay cut compared to staying in IT.