<p>Does it matter whether you do NHS or not? and if so, will 2 yrs in the club be regarded much less than 3 yrs in the club?</p>
<p>I don’t think it hurts, but I don’t think it helps much either.</p>
<p>NHS is not very unique, nor prestigious.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t bother getting too caught up over it</p>
<p>lol NHS is such bs at my school.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. sounds like 3 yrs is not much more impressive than 2 yrs in the club.</p>
<p>It seems that my dtr’s high school has many meaningless clubs. Kids just start clubs to put on college apps. These clubs do last for a few years until the kids graduate and then new clubs get started by other students. Nothing really meaningful ever lasts because everyone wants to be the “starter” of the clubs. </p>
<p>I just thought I’d vent, thanks for listening and I’m curious if anyone else’s child has had this problem at their kids schools</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t matter. Colleges want to see real ECs.</p>
<p>While there are certainly many “meaningless” clubs, and colleges can see through that…NHS is FAR from “meaningless”…if it’s in its truest form. However, I’m guessing that being in this club is a “given” for most higher levels of student. So it’s not really a plus or minus, all by itself. An officership, and continuity are nice. </p>
<p>I’m adding all this because my D was in NJHS for 2 years. Then, when it came time to apply for NHS…she didn’t do it “because all the kids at school said it was lame”. I didn’t find this out until the last day, and I was livid! She has found ways to listen to the WRONG advice frequently, and this was one of them. This organization speaks to your involvement in your school, academic excellence, respect from your teachers, possible leadership, and community service! What a GREAT “club” to be in, let alone have on your resume! If one reads our local paper for all the “best of the best” scholars in the state…there is one GLARING thread…nearly every one of them is a NHS member. </p>
<p>I’m sure a some schools the requirements aren’t as stringent, but…at my D’s school, it’s a very small membership and SOME of the REQUIREMENTS include:</p>
<p>Minimum GPA. I don’t recall what it is but it’s about an A- (3.67).</p>
<p>Must already have held a school leadership position to be eligible to apply.</p>
<p>A group of teachers meets and debates your qualifications and votes you in or out (at my own school…ALL of your own teachers MUST vote you in).</p>
<p>Must of course have volunteerwork, ECs, school service, etc.</p>
<p>There are 2-3 pages of application plus an essay. </p>
<p>You must guarantee that you will attend EVERY required meeting (one of the biggest stopping points for previously “engaged” students). You must participate on a committee. </p>
<p>Membership in NHS is NOT a “gimme” at every school. </p>
<p>Edited to say I just looked at some of the similar posts (below) and it’s REALLY sad NHS has turned into such a “nothing” activity for so many schools. This is not its purpose and all chapters are obviously NOT created equally. </p>
<p>So - do what YOU want to do. Be involved where you want to be. Don’t stay in just because it will look good on your resume…that fools no one. But DO stay involved, DO run for leadership positions, do serve.</p>
<p>Our NHS is similar to yours, R12468, and I find it objectionable because it is discriminatory and somewhat arbitrary. Membership size is arbitrarily limited, and thus it excludes students who might meet all of the requirements, but just don’t score high enough to be in the top 15 or whatever for membership. Students who are shut out are not eligible for NHS scholarships. It can come down to politics - which students are most popular among teachers. It also does not perform any functions that are unique. I think it should be banned in public high schools.</p>
<p>At our son’s hs…nhs is very very selective and held the very high standards…it is considered the highest award any student will receive there
…even who is on the selection committee is kept secret so the students don’t campaign.
They can only be tapped out in Jan of jr or sr yr…so even when putting in apps, the student will have been a member only 6-7 mos or so.</p>
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<p>And you are okay with this?</p>
<p>no disrespect to fogfog, but I must agree with Bay. This is not ok with me. It does become a popularity contest and nothing more. It’s a shame. My dtr did not apply this year (sophomore) and now she thinks she may want to for next year. Unsure because of the popularity thing.</p>
<p>actually if you go to the national wb site and look at the pillars–its not a popularity contest…but it will depend on what the school is doing and how their perceive and manage it…
at our hs the kids must REALLY have leadership, significant service types of things not lightweight resume padding…for that part…
so alot of kids who slap a resume together with a ton of ECS or glizy titles but no substance won’t pass the bs test…
no real commitment/nothing beyond 10-12 hrs in a school yr for a cmte will not make the cut.</p>
<p>The reason the faculty identities are not revealed is because frankly the kids then can’t suck up --faculty and staff see these kids for 3+ yrs at their best and worst…no kid can fool them for 3+ years…(the avg graduating class is between 170-190, a private school where some teachers are also advisors…adminstrators, coaches etc…they really get to see these kids in action)</p>
<p>It is too bad if it becomes a popularity contest at some schools…
in hs the kids are supposed to be growing and developing into young adults and not just serving in a cmte for the college resume or cmte title…
If its handled right, the holostic approach over 3+ yrs works…or so it seems to</p>
<p>At our school, if you have over a 3.5 and 30 volunteer hours, you’re in.</p>
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<p>If you dig deeper, I think you will find the real reason why the faculty selection panel is kept secret: they do not want to have to account for their decisions, and answer to irate students and parents of students who were wrongfully denied membership. There is nothing in the national NHS charter that requires schools to limit membership other than as to those who meet the minimal requirements. Schools that set the bar higher do so out of laziness; the advisors do not want to have to deal with more than a handful of members. Think about it and tell me what could possibly be the benefit to the school and the student body as a whole to keep out any student who meets the minimum requirements and has an interest in joining. (Flakes can easily be weeded out by lack of attendance).</p>
<p>is national honor society really that respected?</p>
<p>im our NHS president and now i feel a little more special, LOL</p>
<p>I don’t think NHS matters much unless you are president of NHS or are on the board. i found out that i was rejected from NHS today, the reason why i had 68 service hours and you need 70 hours to get in at my school, and in my opinion i am just as qualified as many of the other candidates who were admitted. our school’s nhs claims to admit people on the basis of “grades, service hours and leadership”. well I have 68 service hours as a tutor for underpriveleged children in our local library and by senior year i will have over a hundred service hours, i have a 4.2 gpa which isnt great but decent and i was president of junior engineering technical society, captain of the tennis team, copy editor of literary magazine and i also won an award for doing well in a national competition called “Wordmasters”, oh yeah and i was also one of two girls in our schools robotics team which went to nationals the first year the robotics program was started at our school. sorry if this post was a rant but i a, kinda angry that i didnt get in just because i had two hours less than what they wanted to see. to have 70 hours by junior year to apply for NHS is kinda ridiculous</p>
<p>@ guitars101, my school has the same problem that your daughter’s school has, people start clubs just to put it on their resume, and they end up not even doing anything. there are so many clubs at my school that don’t do anything. we have alot of pointless clubs such as knitting club and rock climbing club and people actually join them because it gives them another ec to put on college apps but they dont really have to do anything. and then our school doesnt have any clubs that actually matter such as Gay straight alliance, debate, robotics, science olympiad, mock trial, model UN, etc.</p>
<p>National Honor Society is utterly meaningless.</p>
<p>Only on CC is a 4.2 GPA “not great but decent.”</p>
<p>Y’all are so out of touch sometimes. XD</p>