Is the SAT a good indicator of IQ?

Question

My guidance counselor, school principal, and a bunch of other people told me that the SAT test is basically just a different form of an IQ test, and that there was a way to get a pretty good idea of your IQ based on your SAT score. 

So, I went on the internet and put in my SAT score and it told me I had an IQ of 145 -_-. This is definitely too high because I am far from a genius. I would guess my IQ is probably 115, or 120 at the highest (although I've never actually taken an IQ test before.) I guess they probably did it based off of percentiles (ie, the top 2% of people have an IQ of 140 or above, so people who score in the top 2% have an IQ of about 140.) This would make sense; if the SAT were a valid intelligence test. However, I am coming to think that the aforementioned people are incorrect, and it is not an IQ test. Based off of the questions, I think that it is dependent on a plethora of other factors; for example, your high school education, how well you do under timed pressured conditions, your vocabulary, what level of mathematics you've taken, how much you read etc.

So, what do you think? In what ways is the SAT a valid measure of general intelligence, and in what way is it not? (On another front; to what extent are IQ tests a valid measure of intelligence? I guess this is debatable is as well.)

Any insight to be offered on this topic would be greatly appreciated. Peace :)

Empire539 · Accepted Answer

No, not at all. The SAT assesses your analytical, mathematical, and writing skills, not pure intelligence. Basically, if you pay attention in school and study, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't do well (asides from psychological factors, like people who become too nervous to think properly during a test). A test score does not necessarily determine how intelligent one is, even though it seems that many people (the aforementioned included) correlate good grades with intelligence.

As for actual IQ tests - I don't think they're too accurate of a measure for intelligence. Besides, "intelligence" in these contexts has an ambiguous definition. Should it include knowledge, or only reasoning ability? How does age play a factor? (Obviously, older people with a higher level of education will know more and be more familiar with a subject.)

So, in short, it's a bit difficult to conceive of a measurement scale on some poorly defined quantity which we don't fully understand yet.

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Is the SAT a good indicator of IQ?

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