Ok pretty basic and straightforward. What do you guys think, and if yes would it be an award or extracurricular.
No, unless you actually did something with it - impacted your neighborhood, school, or community in some way thanks to it/through that organization.
@CollegeCraze72 are you a member of Mensa only or are you also a member of the honour society? My daughter is a member of the Mensa Honour Society and listed it under Achievements and Honours on her applications.
Unless you hold an office or help organize events or something, do not put it on.
Don’t do it. It makes you seem arrogant. Highlight your intelligence in other ways instead.
I agree. Many people affiliated with universities view Mensa as a organization for self proclaimed “bright people” who spend their time trying to convince themselves or others that they are bright. Well adjusted bright people usually have little need to seek validation of their intellect.
It can backfire. They aren’t picking kids based on some intelligence test.
Unless you have some commensurately high GPA & achievement, it will raise the bar in expectations and could make you look like a slacker.
I am surprised at the negative comments being expressed. Students are certainly encouraged to list that they are members of National Honour Society for example, so why the overwhelming negativity on Mensa? @CollegeCraze72 did not specify whether they are a member of Mensa or a member of Mensa Honour Society, if it is the latter why should they not be encouraged to list it?
Being a member of Mensa does not grant automatic induction into Mensa Honour Society. Students must undergo an application process much like other honour societies. Service to either the school or community each year must be documented, active participation in an activity outside of school be it music, athletics, Scouting etc, high academic performance and a letter of character reference that the student embodies the ideals of the society (integrity, intellectual curiosity, academic commitment and a concern for others).all are required. Students who are inducted and earn their honour cords aren’t simply checking off a box that says they have a high IQ.
NHS on its own doesn’t matter much at universities where EC 's are the differentiator between lots of highly qualified candidates.
If membership in NhS meant doing something good/impressive, yes. Otherwise it’ll only matter on its own for universities that are selective enough to look at ec’s, but not so selective that they expect real achievements .
A difference between nhs and mensa is that nhs isn’t supposed to be purely honorific, students are supposed to do actual projects, even if it has little or no impact. So even if only that is listed -say, to your flagship - there’s an expectation you did something, whereas unless specified Mensa isn’t expected to include projects, community service, etc.
Colleges are increasingly de-emphasizing IQ-based criteria (SAT) and embracing achievement-based criteria (GPA, ECs).
@MYOS1634 Mensa Honour Society is not purely honourifc, being a member of Mensa is not the same as being in Mensa Honour Society. As I stated above there is a litany of requirements that students must meet and are required each year to perform/document in order to maintain their inclusion. There is clear expectation that the student is “doing something”
^yes but if that’s the case for this student, the achievements need to be listed alongside the Mensa name, otherwise the assumption of projects/achievements won’t be there from adcoms.
For NHS, every hs has different qualifications and some don’t even look beyond gpa, some take younger hs kids who haven’t had much chance to prove anything. So no, it can’t carry special weight, just for being a line entry.
The idea is one’s accomplishments, not the raw IQ per a test. I agree with MYOS that, if a student has the sort of high level of challenge, achievement and thinking a top college wants, it’s going to show up under Activities and in the writing. And remember, top adcoms aren’t just looking for titles and hours.
Mensa of any kind 100% don’t put this on your app. It has very negative connotations in the academic community. NHS isn’t honestly that much of an honor at most schools these days so it’s the kind of thing you can put or not put. I don’t think NHS helps or hurts. My son put the service on his apps associated with NHS but wanted to put real emphasis on his app to the things that were super important to him rather than list out 20 things. Depth is usually better than breadth for ECs.
I was in Mensa but didn’t put it on my college applications. In those days, scoring at the 98th percentile on the SAT (1250 or above) conferred eligibility for Mensa. Most of the applicants to the schools I applied to had scores that high, so I figured mentioning Mensa would just make me look like a tool.