<p>Hello everybody! This is my first post, so if I'm posting this question on the wrong place, feel free to shout at me. I admit I'm a newbie at this. xD</p>
<p>I'm currently a junior with a seemingly heavy schedule this year. APUSH, AP Chem, AP Language, Honors Physics, Band, Honors Precalculus, and Honors Mandarin. My EC's include Tri-M, Chinese Honor Society, Red Cross club, and Class Government (as Secretary and Treasurer). For me, NHS seems to be just a lot of volunteer work. It doesn't seem to tell a lot about my character, other than I am a paradigm of an "honor" student. </p>
<p>So the question is simple, is NHS really worth it?</p>
<p>I think it does. NHS seems to champion volunteering, but I do a lot of that anyways through our chapter Key Club, so it’s of no extra work. </p>
<p>If you’re looking at top schools, as your username might suggest, not joining NHS might be a cause for concern, particularly if it is reflecting your attitude towards “…a lot of volunteer work.”</p>
<p>NHS is a joke at some schools and joining/not joining is irrelevant. Do a search here and you’ll find out. Just type “NHS” into the search bar.</p>
<p>NHS neglected to invite me, or I missed out on the organizing meetings. Dunno. Didn’t care. Was too busy. Didn’t hurt me any: accepted at all schools applied, matriculating at an HYP</p>
<p>I really doubt it’s that important… My school doesn’t even have NHS. If you join, get involved, and show dedication, it certainly couldn’t hurt in the college admissions process. But if you aren’t planning to get involved, being just another member probably doesn’t help much.</p>
<p>It definitely does not hurt to join NHS. The joining process may be different for each school, but at my school, you not only need a good GPA to even get a chance to join, but you need a teacher to fill out a peer assessment review. You also need to write an essay and get a recommendation letter from someone (another teacher, church, coach, etc.), and so its a little like applying to a college. Given that, it would show colleges that you have the capability of being accepted to a rather highly scrutinizing club/EC, given that not everyone can join. </p>
<p>Also, for my junior year I did not do anything in NHS. The juniors got inducted into NHS towards the last semester/quarter of school, and so no volunteering hours were necessary. Not sure why they made it like that, but starting senior year, you are required to do a certain number of hours of volunteering, whether it be tutoring, working at the concession stands, etc. So it’ll even get you volunteering experience/hours, as well as the fact that its an added incentive to your college application. The required hours are not many, and any person who manages their time rather well can easily keep up schoolwork and NHS requirements. </p>
<p>Also, the people that say that NHS is ridiculous are more often than not students that were rejected or never invited. Not pointing that out about T26E4, but at my school that was the way. Not many of the “top GPA, smart” students got in due to the fact that NHS is a combination of smarts and character - something that not all top grade students show. So count that as another bonus for colleges to see. </p>
<p>But to strictly answer your question, it’s not necessary at all to join NHS.</p>
<p>NHS is a joke at my school, where kids who take the bare minimum of standard classes are invited in while an IB diploma candidate (me) who will graduate in the top 2 or 3 percent of the class wont be let in.</p>
<p>So it depends on your school. Look at the kids in it.</p>