Triple Nine Society

The Triple Nine Society (TNS), founded in 1978, is a 501(c)(7) non-profit voluntary association of adults who have scored at or above the 99.9th percentile on specified IQ tests under supervised conditions and on certain standardized tests recognized as proxies for IQ by the psychometric professional community (e.g., ACT test, GMAT, Miller Analogies Test, pre-March 2005 SAT test, pre-November 2001 GRE test). This generally corresponds to an IQ of 146 or greater with a standard deviation of 15 (e.g. WAIS-IV, Stanford-Binet 5, Raven's APM, RAIT), 149 or greater using a standard deviation of 16 (e.g. Stanford-Binet IV, CTMM), and 173 or greater with a standard deviation of 24 (e.g., Cattell III-B).^[2] This compares with Mensa International, the better-known and larger membership high IQ society which admits applicants who score at or above the 98th percentile, which generally corresponds with an IQ score of at least 130 (SD 15), 132 (SD 16), or 148 (SD 24).

Like other high-IQ Societies, TNS also qualifies applicants based on standardized test scores that have well-established psychometric correlations with IQ, including GMAT (746), LSAT (173 or 730 depending on year taken), ACT (32 or 34 depending on year taken), Miller Analogies (472), pre-2005 SAT (1450 or 1520 depending on year taken) and through-2001 GRE (1460 or 2180 depending on year taken).^[3]

As of January 2016, TNS reported over 1,700 members residing in 50 countries.^[1] In recent years TNS has enjoyed substantial growth in its International membership, particularly France, Germany and Czech Republic, with number of countries represented increasing from 40 to 50 in the past four years.

TNS publishes a journal entitled Vidya which contains articles, poetry and other creative content contributed by members conversant with a variety of subjects, as well as Officers' Reports and other official business of the Society. TNS members communicate with one another online through email lists, a Facebook group, two Yahoo! Groups, a Linked-In group and a scheduled weekly IRC chat; European members have established a group in XING and a French language Members-only Yahoo! Group. TNS sponsors annual meetings in the US during the Fall ("ggg999") and in Europe during the Spring ("egg999"); TNS facilitates members' self-arranged informal gatherings by maintaining a Members-Only database and a Member Map.

In 2015 TNS established a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit subsidiary, the Triple Nine Society Foundation, whose charitable work will include providing scholarships to intellectually gifted students pursuing higher education goals, educating the public about the special needs of very intellectually gifted individuals, and other charitable work.

The Triple Nine Society was founded in 1978 on democratic principles. TNS encourages members to freely express their views in keeping with the Society's commitment to friendship and intellectual growth. The preamble to the Triple Nine Society constitution follows below:

The Triple Nine Society is committed to friendship, communication, the adventure of intellectual exploration, and a greater realization of individual potentials. It neither sanctions the imposition of one person's philosophy on another nor subscribes to any particular philosophy for its members. It will strive to avoid the insularity of mere exclusiveness. The guiding principle of the Society is democratic and collegial rather than hierarchical. The Society will remain open to innovation and evolution.

— Triple Nine Society

References

External links

• Official website
• Global General Gathering of the Triple Nine Society website
• Denver Post feature on Triple Nine Society