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Intelligence/IQ/GRE by academic field

Data are based on GRE averages. Data from here: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/01/classicists-are-smart/

I have sorted them for Average-SDU, i.e. estimated g (intelligence). As a funny note, top 10 includes 5 different physics fields. #11 is also physics…

Data file here: IQ data by academic field GRE

Illustrations from the same source.

Field V-mean M-mean V-SDU M-SDU Average-SDU Difference-SDU
Physics 540 743 0.66 1.05 0.85 -0.4
Classical Language 619 633 1.32 0.32 0.82 0.99
History of Science 596 661 1.13 0.51 0.82 0.62
Astrophysics 540 727 0.66 0.95 0.8 -0.29
Mathematics 523 740 0.51 1.03 0.77 -0.52
Atomic Physics 522 739 0.5 1.03 0.77 -0.52
Solid State Physics 514 743 0.44 1.05 0.74 -0.62
Biophysics 523 727 0.51 0.95 0.73 -0.43
Classics 609 616 1.24 0.21 0.72 1.02
Planetary Science 545 694 0.7 0.73 0.71 -0.03
Physics, Other 519 723 0.48 0.92 0.7 -0.44
Philosophy 591 630 1.08 0.3 0.69 0.78
Astronomy 525 706 0.53 0.81 0.67 -0.28
Materials Science 509 728 0.39 0.95 0.67 -0.56
Chemistry, Physical 513 708 0.43 0.82 0.62 -0.39
Nuclear Physics 506 715 0.37 0.87 0.62 -0.5
Optics 495 729 0.28 0.96 0.62 -0.68
Aerospace Engineering 498 725 0.3 0.93 0.62 -0.63
Biomedical Engineering 504 717 0.35 0.88 0.62 -0.53
Operations Research 483 743 0.18 1.05 0.61 -0.88
Nuclear Engineering 500 720 0.32 0.9 0.61 -0.58
Chemical Engineering 490 729 0.24 0.96 0.6 -0.72
Economics 508 707 0.39 0.81 0.6 -0.43
Russian 584 611 1.03 0.18 0.6 0.85
Applied Math 487 730 0.21 0.97 0.59 -0.76
Linguistics 566 630 0.87 0.3 0.59 0.57
Probability & Stats 486 728 0.2 0.95 0.58 -0.75
Neuroscience 533 665 0.6 0.54 0.57 0.06
Comp Lit 591 588 1.08 0.03 0.56 1.06
Chemistry, Inorganic 502 690 0.34 0.7 0.52 -0.37
Ecology 535 638 0.61 0.36 0.49 0.26
Mechanical Engineering 471 721 0.08 0.91 0.49 -0.83
Math, Other 474 715 0.1 0.87 0.48 -0.77
Electrical Engineering 465 722 0.03 0.91 0.47 -0.89
Finance 466 721 0.03 0.91 0.47 -0.87
Geochemistry 514 657 0.44 0.48 0.46 -0.05
Actuarial Science 460 726 -0.02 0.94 0.46 -0.96
Chemistry, Organic 490 683 0.24 0.66 0.45 -0.42
Computer Engineering 465 716 0.03 0.87 0.45 -0.85
Cognitive Psychology 532 627 0.59 0.28 0.44 0.3
Chemistry, Gen 483 681 0.18 0.64 0.41 -0.47
Atmospheric Science 490 673 0.24 0.59 0.41 -0.35
Geophysics 487 676 0.21 0.61 0.41 -0.4
Paleontology 531 621 0.58 0.25 0.41 0.33
Cell & Mol Bio 497 658 0.29 0.49 0.39 -0.2
Biochemistry 486 669 0.2 0.56 0.38 -0.36
Immunology 492 662 0.25 0.52 0.38 -0.26
Civil Engineering 456 705 -0.05 0.8 0.38 -0.85
Quantitative Psychology 515 629 0.45 0.3 0.37 0.15
Genetics 496 651 0.29 0.44 0.36 -0.16
Botany 513 626 0.43 0.28 0.35 0.15
Computer Science 453 702 -0.08 0.78 0.35 -0.86
Music History 536 596 0.62 0.08 0.35 0.54
Chemistry, Other 477 659 0.13 0.5 0.31 -0.37
Theology 537 583 0.63 -0.01 0.31 0.64
Meteology 470 663 0.07 0.52 0.3 -0.46
International Relations 531 588 0.58 0.03 0.3 0.55
European History 554 555 0.77 -0.19 0.29 0.97
Geology 495 625 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.01
Social Psychology 518 594 0.47 0.07 0.27 0.4
Zoology 505 609 0.36 0.17 0.26 0.2
Develop Bio 490 623 0.24 0.26 0.25 -0.02
Entomology 505 606 0.36 0.15 0.25 0.22
Marine Biology 499 611 0.31 0.18 0.24 0.13
Creative Writing 553 540 0.76 -0.29 0.24 1.06
Chemistry, Analytical 464 652 0.02 0.45 0.23 -0.43
Environ Science 493 615 0.26 0.21 0.23 0.06
Industrial Engineering 426 699 -0.3 0.76 0.23 -1.06
Anthropology 532 562 0.59 -0.15 0.22 0.73
Political Science 523 574 0.51 -0.07 0.22 0.58
Art history 536 549 0.62 -0.23 0.2 0.85
Microbiology 482 615 0.17 0.21 0.19 -0.04
Other Biology 473 626 0.09 0.28 0.19 -0.19
Epidemiology 485 610 0.19 0.17 0.18 0.02
American History 533 541 0.6 -0.28 0.16 0.88
Biology 477 606 0.13 0.15 0.14 -0.02
Toxicology 465 610 0.03 0.17 0.1 -0.15
Petroleum Engineering 414 676 -0.4 0.61 0.1 -1.01
Computer Programming 407 681 -0.46 0.64 0.09 -1.1
Physiology 464 606 0.02 0.15 0.08 -0.13
Drama 514 541 0.44 -0.28 0.08 0.72
Chemistry, Pharm 429 647 -0.28 0.42 0.07 -0.69
Secondary Education 484 576 0.18 -0.05 0.07 0.24
Pathology 468 594 0.05 0.07 0.06 -0.02
Information Science 446 621 -0.13 0.25 0.06 -0.38
Pharmacology 429 634 -0.28 0.33 0.03 -0.61
Music History 490 559 0.24 -0.17 0.03 0.4
Clinical Psychology 484 554 0.18 -0.2 -0.01 0.38
Developmental Psychology 476 563 0.12 -0.14 -0.01 0.26
Sociology 490 541 0.24 -0.28 -0.02 0.52
Psychology 476 546 0.12 -0.25 -0.07 0.37
Anatomy 443 568 -0.16 -0.11 -0.13 -0.05
Business Adminstraiton 434 570 -0.24 -0.09 -0.16 -0.14
Nursing 452 531 -0.08 -0.35 -0.22 0.27
Communication 458 517 -0.03 -0.44 -0.24 0.41
Nutrition 432 542 -0.25 -0.28 -0.27 0.03
Elementary Education 438 520 -0.2 -0.42 -0.31 0.22
Counseling Psychology 444 500 -0.15 -0.56 -0.35 0.41
Community Psychology 441 493 -0.18 -0.6 -0.39 0.43
Special Education 424 497 -0.32 -0.58 -0.45 0.26
Early Childhood Education 420 497 -0.35 -0.58 -0.46 0.22
Criminal Justice/Criminology 418 477 -0.37 -0.71 -0.54 0.34
Social Work 428 463 -0.29 -0.8 -0.54 0.52
Physical Education 389 487 -0.61 -0.64 -0.63 0.03
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