Q&A: Psychometric Exam as a Measure of Intelligence
Psychometric Exam as a Measure of Intelligence
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Recently I started studying for the psychometric exam, and I also saw that many universities use the psychometric exam as a tool to classify who should be admitted to a degree program. As I understand it, the university wants the most successful people, and therefore uses the psychometric exam.
Does the Rabbi think that the psychometric exam is indeed a measure of success in university? And if so, what kind of intelligence does it measure?
Answer
That is a question for professionals who have examined the issue. As is well known, there are quite a few arguments about it, but for the time being no better measure has been proposed for predicting success at university. I thought the most appropriate thing would be to let a person study through the first year and evaluate them according to their grades there. True, I have not looked into this deeply, but it seems to me that in any case people are spending money and time on the psychometric exam, so at least they should invest that in a year of study. Even if it is not the degree they will eventually finish, there is still value in it, and if it is the degree they will finish, then they have not wasted either time or money at all. On the face of it, that seems the most sensible.
Discussion on Answer
The psychometric exam is not a measure of intelligence (nor of IQ), but of success in academic studies. It is certainly reasonable that there is a correlation between the two, but it is not clear how strong it is.
To be more precise: not even of success in academic studies, but rather of the likelihood of completing a bachelor’s degree.
The option of “letting a person study for one year and then evaluating them based on their grades” exists through the Open University (which does not require admission prerequisites) and a transfer track. At first, the Open University is not subsidized, and someone who accumulates 18 credits—a typical amount for one semester—receives a subsidy like regular university tuition (if I remember correctly, even retroactively, but I’m not sure).
After accumulating enough credits, one can use a “transfer track” from the Open University to a ‘regular’ university on the basis of grades at the Open University, without matriculation exams or a psychometric exam.