<p>Both DS and DD were (repeatedly) invited to join the NHS based on their GPA, and have chosen to ignore this invitation, because it involved payment.</p>
<p>I have no idea if this matters in schools that are lower-ranked. I am certain it is no feather in the cap of competitive colleges. These don’t even look at NMF designation, which could be argued to be rarer (top 1% in a national test, after all) and which DS was.</p>
<p>But I would not want to discourage anyone who thinks they will enjoy doing this. Doing anything because it is also how you’d like to spend your HS years should not go by the wayside of the frenzy that is ‘where do i get into college.’</p>
<p>I think NHS is alright, I know some students have to tutor a few hours a week on top of X service hours and X GPA, but its still kinda a joke. Nice to have on your application, but its not really going to push you towards acceptance</p>
<p>NHS has pretty strict rules about how much $$ it can cost. I think it is like $10 max for dues. Do particular chapters charge more and if they do what do they use the money for?</p>
<p>NO NHS isn’t really that helpful. I talked to a person who works with admissions at NYU and he said one of the most prosaic things the see is NHS</p>
<p>205Mom…are you sure that it is NHS and not National High School Scholars program? BEcause NHS is a school club, and NHSS costs a lot of money. (Not meaning this to correct you at all just wondering?)</p>
<p>It’s almost useless. As many have said above, it’s much more “useful” if you are president, but then again, you can be president of some other big clubs on campus as well. </p>
<p>I was rejected to NHS for a lack of community service, despite having more hours of community service than many qualified students (NHS’ definition of community service was too specific, hehe). I graduated top of my class and will be going to an Ivy League, while the presidents and officers are mostly going to public colleges in my state. </p>
<p>It’s important to end on the note that the name itself for anything is not very important; it is much more important what you do and how you lead in high school.</p>
<p>I think everybody pretty much knows that NHS on a college application in no way gives the applicant an advantage.</p>
<p>At University of Florida, a public state university, 98% of applicants are in National Honor Society. It’s meaningless. Imagine then how much more meaningless it is at any competitive schools.</p>
<p>Honestly, it’s a huge waste of time, in my opinion. Many people in my high school join it and they do a lot of Charity and volunteer work bla bla bla. It’s just another club to put on your application but if I were you I would skip it altogether and invest that saved time into something more meaningful. If you are in NHS, you have to tutor people every month and it really is a strain on yourself time wise. The schools that most NHS grads got into weren’t too impressive, UCR being one of them. 2 Stars out of 5</p>
<p>NHS is too subjective to the requirements of a specific school rather than nationally set guidelines. Nevertheless, the word “honor” makes it stand out as a prestigious standing when in reality it isn’t all that great. Rather, focus on working your hardest senior year, being as involved as you can in past clubs/sports commitments, and embarking on volunteer activities. This would be a great time to brainstorm essay topics for the college applications and get recommendation letters from teachers, counselors, etc. These things are what will allow you to get into your dream college, not one line on your list of activities that is taken up by NHS. </p>
In senior year? Really? This should all be pretty much done by the time senior year starts… there’s just way too much that goes on, I don’t see how I would have been able to complete a decent essay while balancing senior year and everything that goes along with it. As for being involved and imparting passion in whatever you do, well, you had three years to do that already, senior year is often too little too late.</p>
<p>I went to D2’s NHS induction ceremony, at the same H.S. D1 attended who was NOT in NHS…was surprised to see nearly her entire class inducted! Seems to me it’s a lot like those “Who’s Who” organizations that solicit $$$ to make you a member…Older Sis attends a top LAC so being excluded did not hurt her chances.</p>
<p>Did you really need a thread to find that out? It’s not about what clubs you are in, it’s about what you accomplish and how those things both show your character as a “member of the global community” and quite possibly how they indicate future involvement in clubs or service as a college student.</p>
<p>NHS at my school is worthless. At my MS, NJHS was much tougher. I’m still putting it on my app because it’s an honor, but it will not be a deal-breaker</p>
Yeah I still haven’t figured out why this is even a featured thread. There are far more informative, insightful, and helpful threads out there that are worthy of being featured…</p>
<p>I have never heard of a “fee” for NHS. Perhaps you are thinking of the sound alike scam organization called “national association of high school scholars” (or something like this). While most colleges assume that if you have a certain GPA you will be a member of NHS, I think it can go against you if you have a high GPA and you are NOT in NHS.
At my daughter’s school you needed 3 letters of recommendation, X amount of volunteer hours etc. to be inducted. NHS is a nice organization, and if your kid has worked hard, they ought to be rewarded for that hard work. There were some people with high GPA’s who were blackballed due to ‘moral’ problems.</p>
<p>At my town’s rural, conservative high school, a couple years ago the valedictorian was blackballed because of the length of his hair, and in spite of several years of working as a volunteer at the public library. </p>
<p>If membership in NHS signifies academic achievement at one’s school, it can’t hurt to mention it. May be worth briefly discussing the criteria for membership if it’s especially difficult to get in.</p>
