<p>Many of you have very talented children and I am sure have looked at both of these Honor Society organizations. I am a bit confused. Our son has received invitations from both. Each state that they are either the national honor society or national freshman honor society at UA.
Could you please provide any information to joining one over the other or joining both? Has your student had any experiences with either? Phi Eta Sigma has a due date for Tuesday so any information is very helpful.</p>
<p>My curmudgeonly view is that these organizations are just a tad too close to Who’s Who lists to me. Sheesh, one of them that I read the letter for admitted all those that made a 3.5 first semester. After reviewing the President’s List/Dean’s List, that club would have some 2000 eligible members in the freshman class alone. I’m not sure that it would mean much to your son in the long run. Here’s a previous post that asks a similar question:</p>
<p>Perhaps I’m just a little too jaded, but, I don’t see these organizations as being worth the money. I would be happy to hear what others’ experiences have been…</p>
<p>Alpha Lambda Delta used to be the freshman women’s honorary, and Phi Eta Sigma was the freshman men’s honorary. Years ago gender equity struck, and now they are both coed. Even Mortar Board (women’s leadership honorary for juniors/seniors) and Jasons (men’s counterpart) are now coed.
The freshman honor society is nice to have on your resume, and the leadership honoraries, which are only partially based on grades, MAY look at it later.</p>
<p>My mother, who is a retired faculty member at Alabama, was adamant that our daughter should join the freshman honor societies if invited. (She also made me and all my siblings join back in the day.) Her rationale was similar to Southlander’s.</p>
<p>Bumping this as we received a postcard from Phi Eta Sigma. My personal feelings are the same as what loring expressed but after reading the posts that come after, I’m wondering if we shouldn’t pop the $50. Any other opinions before the 10/17 due date?</p>
<p>We got the postcard for Phi Eta Sigma, but nothing for Alpha Lambda Delta. Are the criteria different? And are there a lot of freshmen who already have grades such that they have the 3.5 for Phi Eta Sigma? It seems a little early for a freshman honor society to me.</p>
<p>Beth’s mom, I thought it was early, too. I wonder if the students who got the invitations now and the ones who came in with both AP credit and transfer credit on a transcript with a GPA, giving them both a GPA and the credit hours of between 12 - 45. </p>
<p>Even though early, my son should have more than 45 hours after this semester when you include AP credit, so I think this is the only opportunity to join if he wants to. </p>
<p>We also did not receive anything from Alpha Lambda Delta.</p>
<p>“On campuses with a chapter of Phi Eta Sigma, all first-year students are eligible to join who have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale at the close of any full-time curricular period during their first year.”</p>
<p>They must be counting the AP/transfer credits coming in, since the first semester hasn’t closed yet. Unless I am missing something?</p>
<p>D joined Alpha Lamda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma last year. She received scholarship money from Alpha Lamda Delta which was a pleasant surprise.</p>
<p>She didn’t join Golden Key International, but she is still receiving “not too late” letters despite the induction being the beginning of November. We’ve found you just can’t join them all or you are just spending money all the time. We both spent quite a bit of time trying to research the benefits of the different organizations as they came in. That can be pretty time consuming as well. There’s another one going around now that we will also pass on. It just gets to be too much.</p>
<p>Hi Aeromom! My D joined Alpha Lambda Delta in her freshman year. She attended the induction ceremony and was awarded a small scholarship. My rationale for joining at least one honor society is to put it on your student’s resume or CV.</p>
<p>My D also joined the Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society. Here is some info that she received from them.
Mary Turney
Chapter President
Sigma Alpha Lambda - University of Alabama
Chapter Email: <a href="mailto:ua@salhonors.org">ua@salhonors.org</a>
Chapter Facebook Group: <a href=“Facebook Public Group | Facebook”>Facebook Public Group | Facebook;
Follow SAL on Twitter: SALHonors (National) & UASigmaAlphaLam (Chapter)</p>
<p>Is Alpha Lambda Delta more exclusive than Phi Eta Sigma? I can’t tell from their web sites. Both indicate that the criteria are at least a 3.5 gpa and full load. My son has a 3.9 and received an invitation to Phi Eta Sigma but has not received an invitation to Alpha Lambda Delta.</p>
<p>My son has been involved in the honors societies throughout his time at Bama. He did join Golden Key, and he won a big scholarship from the organization. So, while one may have to pick and choose what to join, it is nice to know that his efforts have been rewarded.</p>
<p>All the honor societies have meetings, activities. They seem to do a lot of service projects, like Habitat for Humanity type stuff, tutoring, canned good drives. It is up to your student whether they want to attend meetings or not. It seems that there are a lot of smart young ladies in these groups, and if one were so inclined, I think it would be a great way to meet girls. I know, I’m terrible. Just wishful thinking.</p>