Apparently there are honor societies even for freshmen with just one semester under their belts (Alpha Lambda Delta)–who knew! I kind of poo-pooed it at first, and my kid thinks since “everybody” he knows was invited to join, it can’t possibly be worthwhile, but other parents assure me their kids ended up attracting all kinds of scholarship money due to their membership in these organizations.
So I’m curious what other CC parents think. Which are worthwhile? How much is too much? What are considered reasonable fees to be a part of these organizations?
Schools vary in how many of these honors societies they offer on campus; may also be regional. DD’s school participated in many of these and she wound up joining several societies when invited. I can’t remember the fees. In hindsight, probably PBK has the most universal recognition as shorthand for top 10% of class. I don’t think the others make much difference unless the student wants to get involved with the organizations themselves. She graduated almost 3 years ago and can hardly remember what each represents.
It strikes me that people are loathe to leave recognition on the table, so these groups collect lots of fees. ALD is recognition of first semester freshman GPA- probably not something many know or would care much about. Then there are departmental/major societies, leadership based ones, etc. Maybe in some fields these have more meaning, but I don’t think it mattered much in her case. I’d be curious about what others have experienced.
Members of the Association of College Honor Societies have met certain standards http://www.achsnatl.org/quick_link.asp (or at least have paid dues to ACHS).
@romanigypsyeyes, Phi Beta Kappa is the one college honor society that really stands out to me personally. Flaunt it proudly on your resume!
If my son is invited to the the engineering equivalent some day, I’ll happily pay for him to join, but the rest of them seem kind of superfluous to me. Nowadays most graduates post their GPAs on their resumes anyway, don’t they? That really wasn’t done when I was a new college graduate, so Latin honors or PBK membership was a way to set yourself apart. PBK meant your were very well-rounded and were fluent in a second language as well, not just that you had excellent grades.
The only real reason I can see for joining most of them is if there is some serious scholarship money available, but I’m starting to think a lot of these societies just fund a few nice awards with everybody else’s dues, kind of like the office football pool.
Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, and one community college honors society (can’t remember the name, but many universities give merit scholarships for students in it)
My daughter was a member of PSP (Phi Sigma Pi) a co-ed, honors, non-greek frat. She rushed and joined in fall of her sophomore year. It was a very active chapter. They did meaningful community service, studied together and socialized together. My daughter found good friends in her honors frat, something that she had been struggling to find at school, it was a place she fit in and felt comfortable. She became involved in e-board and learned valuable skills like public speaking, organization and financial. She really developed her self-confidence. During her senior year when she was interviewing for jobs she was always asked about her frat and her role on e-board. She felt it was something that helped set her apart.
