<p>My son refused to join because he hated the teacher who was the advisor (she was his AP Chem teacher). Yeah it was a pretty stupid reason and led to many conversations about not liking everybody you’re going to meet in life (such as bosses and co workers) but that’s the real world. At graduation he was an honor scholar (anyone with a 4.0 or greater weighted GPA). Many of the honor scholars were not in NHS and there were far more NHS members than honors scholars, so probably not a big deal.</p>
<p>In many schools there are so many interesting clubs for the academic heavyweights…even in my kids little public the BPA, debate team, First Robotics, Quiz Bowl attract the top kids who would easily qualify for NHS membership. Over 80% of the kids at this public play sports, many also participate in band, choir, theater, work on the newspaper and a goodly chunk hold down part-time jobs, not to mention the mandatory service hours required to graduate…it’s rare the kid that doesn’t HAVE to pick and choose what clubs and activities they align with. No one could possibly do '“everything” worthy in any meaningful way. So yes, NHS is a fine student organization, but not the only club that attracts good students.</p>
<p>– Caillebotte wrote: Some of you seem to be under the impression that she will be required to “defend” her choice. No one will care enough to notice much less ask. –</p>
<p>I was indeed worried about that. I guess that is why I posed the question, and I am very relieved to know that admissions or interviewers won’t gasp in horror that she’s not a member.</p>
<p>Also bear in mind that the interview might only counts for a very small factors in a lot of colleges’ admissions decisions.</p>
<p>They let a lot of kids in at our hs - there’s a minimum GPA (I think a weighted 3.5) and beyond that you have to have the community service and leadership positions. Probably about 10% of each class is in NHS.</p>
<p>The question in my mind is, if the OP’s D is applying to a college where the vast majority of applicants ARE in NHS, does it look bad that she isn’t in it? Does it imply that she was not chosen for some reason (perhaps a character reason/disciplinary incident that wouldn’t show up on a transcript)? In other words, being in NHS may not be a big plus, but NOT being in NHS may raise questions. It depends where she’s applying. </p>
<p>Plus, at our hs, NHS members get nice-looking and extremely obvious sashes with their graduation robes (not just rope cords). It becomes glaringly obvious who is and who is not in NHS. And their names have an asterisk in the program. If that sort of thing doesn’t bother your D, then that’s fine.</p>
<p>I was also surpised to find that each chapter of NHS could set its own standards.</p>
<p>At our high school, it is a huge deal–and this is a school that sends maybe 10 students out of 400 to competitive colleges. You must have a 4.0 GPA as you begin the second semester of junior year to be invited to apply–and no suspensions or detentions. Then you must select 10 teachers to provide a recommendation of your leadership and academic record and your character. And you complete an application with several essays and a list of community service hours that must be validated by an adult from the organizations you served.</p>
<p>When that is all turned in on time, a panel of five teachers selects the members. The senior members “tap” the juniors on a secret day in March. This year, 50 students were selected. 35 juniors and 15 seniors. (Only five of the juniors were boys!) Each class has about 400 students so NHS is less than 10% of the class.</p>
<p>The entire school attends the induction so they have to hold identical back-to-back ceremonies to allow all 1600 students to see it. The NHS students then go to a luncheon off-campus.</p>
<p>The NHS sponsors the school’s blood drives, canned food drives and penny wars for the local United Way. And the members wear a special sash at graduation.</p>
<p>1/3 of my class in in NHS. </p>
<p>It really isn’t that big of a deal at my school.</p>
<p>
This is a bit ridiculous. I think the school is doing a disservice aggrandizing what is effectively a popularity contest. And this is passing completely over the fact that elite colleges seem to care about as much for NHS as they do for perfect attendance awards.</p>
<p>Caillebotte: we live in a primarily blue-collar Midwestern community that is neither urban, suburban or rural. While we have a “directional” state university in town, only one-third of the adults in our town have a college degree.</p>
<p>Note that I said that the school sends less than 10 students a year to “competitive colleges.” We had one Stanford-bound student this year. One got into WUSTL and turned it down. In the top 10, all the others are staying instate or going to neighboring state schools that give great merit aide.</p>
<p>I realize that our community may be an oddity in the CC community. For our students, NHS membership is a sign that a student made an effort to excel rather than settle for the norm.</p>
<p>
I can understand and respect that. Where I come from though, it is hardly an appraisal of merit. A lot of petty, unnecessary, “vetoing” and blackballing occurs by professedly mature teachers, cheapening the selection process to the point where it IS effectively a popularity contest. This seems to be a commonality which is why so many hold the NHS in such low regard.</p>
<p>At my school, NHS is a pretty big deal. It’s not over-emphasized, but it’s something a lot of kids kind of idealize. Anyone with a 3.5+ GPA is invited to apply, but the application involves stating your leadership positions, community service, extra curriculars, etc. and having teachers speak on your behalf. It’s rightly considered an honor. But, in my opinion, those initiated at the end of Sophomore year are usually a little more qualified than those initiated at the end of Junior year.</p>
<p>It seems like, even at the schools where NHS is considered a joke, a student might stand out by NOT being a member if lots of other students are…and not in a good way.</p>
<p>
NHS preys on that fear, but in fact the kids who have refused to play the game have done just fine. I’m sure my kids had stellar recommendations from their GCs and teachers without NHS. They had plenty of ECs. They were interesting kids.</p>
<p>At my D’s school NHS membership is just a resume padder. Many of the kids who get in boast that they lied on their applications about church related service because they knew that is what the panel wanted to see. Some even admitted to going online and looking for mission trips of churches in other states and using these on their applications. It is a huge joke, and many many 4.0 high caliber students don’t bother applying because they refuse to lie and play the game.</p>
<p>"It seems like, even at the schools where NHS is considered a joke, a student might stand out by NOT being a member if lots of other students are…and not in a good way. "</p>
<p>I’ve seen no evidence that is the case. NHS just doesn’t make a difference for the relatively few colleges that care about ECs. The exception is if one is a national NHS officer or has done something remarkable (Eg organized a fundraising project or tutoring program or some other project) with one’s school chapter. However, colleges would be just as impressed if one had done something equally remarkable with another organization or on one’s own.</p>
<p>
I agree that it is highly unlikely that anybody will ask. If they do, the answer should simply be that she was busy with other activities.</p>
<p>At our school, applying for NHS is something like a dry run for applying for college. Kids need to request LORs, write a brief essay, and prepare a resume. So for those kids who decide to apply, it’s good practice for senior year and, if nothing else, gets brains in gear for application season.</p>
<p>Our school had a val (a friend of my d’s) not apply for NHS, and it made no difference at all in her many college acceptances. Some folks may have wondered during the grad ceremony why she wasn’t wearing a gold cord, but she wasn’t bothered by the possibility. :)</p>
<p>The one concern I can see about a student applying for and not being elected to NHS is that a teacher or GC may have kept the student out, either because of a wrong piece of information, being ignorant of the extent of a student’s ECs, or just plain not liking the kid. These are the same people who will be writing college LORs and sending out applications. If a student is rejected by NHS, it would be worth making sure that all information on file is accurate (check the transcript, be sure the GC knows that the main EC takes place off-campus, if that’s applicable). And maybe asking different teachers for LORs wouldn’t be a bad idea.</p>
<p>Seemingly unimportant. Excluded junior year from the society, but still accepted to top schools such as Duke, Cornell, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, UVA, Michigan, GT, etc.</p>
<p>Two of my kids joined, the third one refused to apply. I don’t think it had any effect on their college admissions results. Certainly no one ever asked about it in the interviews.</p>
<p>Hunt wrote:
I agree that it is highly unlikely that anybody will ask. If they do, the answer should simply be that she was busy with other activities. </p>
<p>OP here. Is anyone else a hopeless over-thinker? I always assumed that NHS was basically essential to prove…well, something important about the student. And that EVERY honor student should have this credit. But getting these perspectives, I do realize that it’s a good thing to have on your application, but likely not detrimental if you don’t. And I love this answer to the question, unlikely as it is to even be brought up at an interview.</p>