Hello, a few days ago I received an email from an organization called the Honor Society. Apparently I’ve been invited to join due to my academic achievements and all that. The thing is, I’m not sure if it is legit. I did go to their website and started to fill out a membership, but I stopped as soon as they said a membership fee is due. I have had several other “honors organizations” that invited me and asked for membership fees, and I know that some of them aren’t worth it. How would I be able to distinguish which ones are safe and which ones aren’t? Any tips would be great!
My kids got these all the time. They are legit, but they don’t get you anything by paying the $$ membership fee. You’ll continue to get them in college too. We toss them.
I generally suggest not to bother with these. If you have the impressive “academic achievements and all that” then you are smart enough to figure out the process without an organization like this.
The one benefit they may give is in helping some people get organized and prepared to complete the college admissions and scholarship application process.
Some kids who have great grades but no “awards/recognitions” - especially where the top 10-25% is very competitive, may complete these memberships with the thinking that it "looks better " to have something rather than nothing. But the very selective, top schools are well aware which of these organizations require pay-to-play, so I don’t think it helps. Perhaps there might be a small confidence boost for borderline applicants, that may translate to an improvement in organization and presentation in personal interviews.
You are right to be cautious here.