I'm resigning from National Honor Society.

Applying to College
81

<p>I would assume that if you got kicked out of NHS, that the reasons would show up elsewhere</p>

<p>I applaud the OP for resigning- NHS is so varied from school to school- membership requirements and process is so all over the place, membership can be meaningless or valued</p>

<p>I am sure colleges know about NHS- it is not quite the same as Who's Who of High School students, but as you have to PAY to belong, its in the same ball park</p>

<p>As for the OP applying, she went along with what the school pushes and suggests, and discovered to her dismay that it was a sham at HER school</p>

<p>And I don't think all CS needs to be groundbreaking- is helping just one person at a soup kitchen "ground breaking" is spending each Saturday reading to little kids Ground breaking- no, but it is truely worthy</p>

<p>Not eveyone can cure cancer, but some can help the patiients</p>

82

<p>
[quote]
Who's Who of High School students

[/quote]
i never understood teh stigma of Who's Who?</p>

83

<p>Remember, you don't need a club to perform community service and be active. I also applaud the OP. People in my school join this club because they THINK it helps them on their application, not to improve humanity. You shouldn't be doing service for anything but personal choice.</p>

84

<p>"i never understood teh stigma of Who's Who?"</p>

<p>Absolutely any high school student whose name the company gets can get into "Who's Who of High School Students." Being included in there isn't an honor. The designation is simply a way for the company to sell its products to families who are thrilled to pay big bucks for proof of their kid's "honor."</p>

85

<p>I would like to know what was wrong as well! I resigned from Mensa a few months ago, so we can trade stories if you'd like.</p>

86

<p>"And I don't think all CS needs to be groundbreaking- is helping just one person at a soup kitchen "ground breaking" is spending each Saturday reading to little kids Ground breaking- no, but it is truely worthy"</p>

<p>Very true. I mentioned "groundbreaking" CS in my post because that's the kind of CS that would make someone stand out for CS when applying to places like HPYS, which tends to be the issue when people on CC talk about service. I don't think I've ever seen a student post wondering if a community service project was "worthy" in the way that you're mentioning. Sad statement about what sometimes goes on here.</p>

<p>What many students (NOT talking about the OP here) who post on CC don't realize is that when CS makes a difference in top college admissions it's not because a student racked up a lot of hours (I'm disgusted by the students who post asking if their [insert number here] hours of CS will get them into Harvard.).</p>

<p>It's also not because the students did some easy CS that was put together by a lazy NHS organization looking to get the CS requirement done as easily as possible (All NHS chapters are NOT like this) It's because the CS itself went far above and beyond what was typical -- and had some kind of impact.</p>

<p>For those who are wondering -- "above and beyond what's normal" -- doesn't refer to distance: A student's flying to Ouagadougou on Daddy's dime to do "service" in some expensive packaged program would not be considered by HPYS etc. to have done something so fabulous that they'd be an auto admit. </p>

<p>Examples of projects that I've seen that could be tip factors at top schools are: An SGA president who created and organized all of the high schools in his city helping to build a Habitat House (Student --who to my knowledge had no HPYS aspirations -- ended up getting the top character-based scholarship at his state's flagship; a student who was named to the board of a local nonprofit who -- without being asked -- redesigned the organization's web page (Student got into Harvard EA. I interviewed her, and used the CS as an example of her genuine commitment to making a difference. The student hadn't thought her actions were a big deal, but I sure did!); a student who helped organize a tsuami fundraiser at his school, which was the first time in recent memory that the entire school (which has a lot of friction between the academic magnet program and the rest of the school) had been involved in a service project (Student got some merit aid to a second tier LAC where he now is very active in CS including as a leader).</p>

87

<p>citygirlsmom- You don't have to pay to get in our NHS. There's a different society with a very similar name that you pay to get into, so maybe that's what you're thinking of? </p>

<p>But you're right, paying to get in something is very... icky. A small club due is normal, but "give me 50 bucks to join this organization" is gross.</p>

88

<p>This thread has become way too dramatic. Bottom line: do what you got to do. The College won't revoke you for not mentioning anything at this point because you were in it when your application was postmarked. You can tell them if you want, but don't let the sponsors do it. That is a violation of your privacy and right to confidentiality. I would sue them if they did that to me.</p>

89

<p>Yeah, really, your advisor's just.... ... ...</p>

<p>Anyways, depending on your reason why you resigned (PM me! :)), I would say you should tell them why.</p>

90

<p>I think you could have avoided this mess by not applying in the first place.</p>

<p>However, based on what I've read in your posts, I honestly believe that, despite the cynicism displayed in your application, you made a sincere effort during your tenure in the club to improve both its work ethic and its impact on the community. You weren't expecting to be accepted, but you were, and you decided to at least try and change things for the better, which is admirable. As other people have already stated in this thread, it really won't make or break your college application if you resign from NHS (and if it does, you probably wouldn't want to attend that college anyway). Your NHS moderators are making empty threats if they said they wanted to personally inform the schools to which you applied of your resignation from the club, so don't worry about that.</p>

<p>Don't be fazed by some of the people who have been coming down on you in this thread, because some of them really need to get off of their high horses and realize that they're talking to a seventeen-year-old high school student, not the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. You made a mistake by applying to something that you were cynical about in the first place, but you tried to make a difference while you were there, and since that failed, you're doing the right thing by resigning. You have no reason to remain in a club when you have sincere, reasonable doubts about the genuity of its motives and intentions.</p>

<p>I, like you, was admitted to NHS last year (end of my junior year) and am currently still a member (halfway through senior year). Before I read this post, I had sincere thoughts about resigning from the club because I am in a number of other activities which command more of my time and I doubt that the demonstrated principles of NHS live up to its stated purposes ("Scholarship, leadership, character"). However, after I read your post, I realized that I, unlike you, have not made any effort to make my school's NHS better. I've simply been going with the flow, attending the required events and secretly discussing the foolishness of the whole NHS charade with my friends. Somehow, though, your story has convinced me that I can make a difference in the club in some way, or at least try. I'm going to start paying attention at meetings and I'm going to try, sincerely, to make a difference within the club.</p>

<p>Anyway, kudos to you. You're doing the right thing. Nobody knows your intentions better than yourself, so don't let other peoples' opinions, either good or bad, sway you.</p>

91

<p>Didn't read past this post but felt obliged to respond. Two S having gone through HS, both with CSF designation. It is not a 'buy your way in', you have to maintain academic standards - report cards are checked and you need a certain number of points to retain your standing. You're not buying anything...you need to maintain grades in order to stay in the program. It's really pretty basic, and while there is a minimal admin fee each semester, I think $10, it gets you the 'bragging rights' within the state, since it's a state-wide program, and you get a special seal on diploma and a cord to wear at graduation. At our highly competitive high school, it's a coveted program to participate in. Why would you quit, unless you weren't making the grades to continue - there is no other requirement to participate.</p>

92

<p>Responding to poster 'Band Man', #16 regarding California Scholarship Federation...</p>

93

<p>i think the major problem with NHS is that there is no across-the-board guidelines for admission. at my old private/boarding school, you had to have straight As for 3 consecutive marking periods to be admitted into NHS. EXTREMELY difficult. at my current public school, all you need is a 3.5 gpa (doesn't matter if weighted/unweighted), 2 extracurriculars (extremely easy to BS), and a couple of recs. the meetings are absolutely ridiculous and most of the kids there do not do anything until the very end of the year when they absolutely have to. a lot of the kids are only in it simply to put it on their college resumes. so yes, at some schools NHS is extremely prestigious, but i'm guessing at most, it's a total sham.</p>

<p>also, what is everyone's malfunction about paying? at least at my school, it's a yearly $5 dues. hardly anything to complain about...</p>

94

<p>Didn't realize this thread was brought back from the dead. O.o</p>

<p>In case anybody comes across it in an archive search or something, though...everything's turned out okay. My ex-adviser keeps pulling me over in the hallway to hook me up with a new tutee (person one tutors?). And just for the record, proof that I didn't resign for "attention": my AP Bio teacher asked who was in NHS, and I didn't raise my hand, and there was a kind of "collective gasp"/"let's all stare at thrice" moment.</p>

<p>I'm glad I made this decision.</p>

95

<p>Epilogue, for anybody who happens to find this through a search or anything like that: All of the schools I applied to RD -- Binghamton, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Vassar -- were informed of my resignation, and I was accepted to the first three and waitlisted at the last. The waitlisting was most likely due to a lack of demonstrated interest (I live ~80 minutes away from Vassar and never visited, very vague "why Vassar" statement).</p>

<p>In the end, I'm a lot happier and what I did had no negative bearing on getting into some lovely schools. I'll just look weird at graduation as the only person in the front row not to be wearing the blue sash thingy -- but hey, I'm cool with that. :)</p>

96

<p>Thanks for the update! Congratulations on the excellent acceptances that you got. Best of luck to you in college. I hope you'll take the time to inspire others by posting about the community service that you've been doing on your own, and I hope you'll continue it in college.</p>

97

<p>I never joined in the first place, despite being invited twice. The head of it asked why, and I said, "There is no point in joining the club. It isn't important, everyones in it, it doesn't mean anything." The guy is on our schools scholarship committee, so I am pretty sure he had me blacklisted from receiving pretty much any scholarship at our school : D</p>

98

<p>I agree that NHS is basically just a waste of time, money, and space in our club description booklet. I didn't sign up the first time (like thricedotted, I got a lot of stares and was even stopped by teachers to ask why), saving $10. Then three months later they charged another $20 for vague reasons, pretending everyone should have known. Another $10 was involved later.
All it is is a bought name to put on your resume, and for most of the people on this website it won't make any difference in your college application. It's still early in the acceptance letter season, but I've already been accepted to 6 schools (and no rejections to date), including U Chicago with a scholarship. NHS would have been a complete waste of $40.</p>

99

<p>It seems to be agreed that NHS isn't going to help you get into any colleges. I figured this myself, so I didn't join it. I have volunteer hours and leadership anyway (and the grades). I've had two separate friends who are guidance counselors tell me that joining NHS is important because it's going to be very competitive and NHS could give you that edge. </p>

<p>I don't know if I can believe that at all now. I can dismiss all notions of joining it next year if I can be pretty sure that it won't hurt me at all (acceptance or scholarships). So if two applicants are basically identical in every way, except one has NHS, would that be a deciding factor? What if one had 10 pts higher on SATs but no NHS, and the other had NHS, would the 10 points be better than NHS?</p>

100

<p>I found your thread while helping my daughter decide whether or not to join NHS. I think what you did was very brave and I love students like you. (I’m a HS teacher). You are a leader and not a follower! I am so glad everything worked out for you. BTW- my daughter is not joining because there is just too much nonsense. And in the words of Sweet Brown, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”</p>