<p>I was sent an email inviting me to apply for Lambda Sigma because of my first semester GPA (I'm a freshman). Is it worth it? Does something like this look good on a resume? Or should I not bother?</p>
<p>Just Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Theta Kappa for two-year colleges, and perhaps the honor society in your major (like Psi Chi in psych). Lambda Sigma is neither, so I would say pass.</p>
<p>If you want to do it because that society has interesting activities and its a way to meet other bright kids at your school (both things you’d find out if they are true) then join. </p>
<p>If its for looking good on a resume — well, you say its based on GPA, any future employer that cares about your GPA will ask for unofficial transcripts, so its worthless as a sign of “I had a good GPA some semester” since that info is independently available to any employer that cares.</p>
<p>My general opinion about honors societies is that you should do it because you want to do it, not because you think it will “look good” or have any sort of effect on employers’ or grad schools’ opinion of you.</p>
<p>The benefits of an honor society are in terms of giving increased opportunities, helping with networking, possibly more access to professors or professionals in the field, maybe giving you exposure to new fields or other resources. The extent of those opportunities will depend largely on the specific organization that you will be joining and how many opportunities you would actually be taking advantage of.</p>
<p>The effect that it would have on your employment prospects would be given you extra opportunities to network or get internships or have extra resources, but those are all things you could easily do on your own, as well. The name alone will likely hold very little (if any) weight. </p>