12-year-old girl beats Einstein, Stephen Hawking

International Desk: A 12-year-old Indian-origin girl from Cheshire county, England, has scored an amazing 162 in the British Mensa IQ test.

British Mensa IQ test is open to anyone who can demonstrate an IQ in the top two per cent of the population, measured by a recognised or approved IQ testing process.

Twelve-year-old Rajgauri Pawar secured two points higher than scientists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking in the British Mensa IQ test. She has been invited to join the coveted society -- High IQ Society -- as a member.

"I am just feeling on top of the world and can't explain in words. It's an honour for me to represent India on foreign soil and achieve such a feat," the 12-year-old told The Indian Express via email.

Rajgauri appeared in the British Mensa IQ Test in Manchester last month, and scored 162, the highest possible IQ for someone under the age of 18.

According to an NDTV report, Rajgauri is among the one per cent of those people who sit in the Mensa test and achieve the maximum mark, with the benchmark set at 140, which is considered as 'genius'.

She is one of only 20,000 people to achieve the score all around the world, Mensa said.

"I was a little nervous before the test but it was fine and I'm really pleased to have done so well," NDTV quoted Rajgauri.

Rajgauri's father, Dr Surajkumar Pawar, is a research scientist at the University of Manchester. Dr Pawar hails from Baramati in Pune district, and was exhilarated after he came to know about his daughter's recent achievement.

"My daughter with a top one per cent score leads the tally, making her one of the youngest to achieve such a feat," Indian Express quoted Dr Surajkumar Pawar.

Stating that swimming, netball and chess were among her favourite activities, she said, "I would like to pursue medicine in the future and am also inclined towards topics including Physics, Astronomy and Environment."

"I was preparing for entrance exams to secondary schools. I secured admission at Altrincham Girls Grammar School, which is one of the coveted institutions in the UK, and my parents suggested that I attempt the British Mensa IQ test. Anyone above the age of 10.5 years can take the test. As it was something different and was like a competition across all age groups, it sounded interesting and worth focusing on,"Indian Express quoted.

"Hence, it was challenging. The test was kind of a mixed bag, easy at the beginning and got tough at the end. The key difficulty was completing the test in time. So you are basically judged based on your skill set to manage time and the correctness of your answers."

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/May 9, 2017/Saiful Ahmed/Nasim