<p>Regional or national positions will mean something. School leadership positions will only mean something if you use them to launch large community service campaigns, etc. Membership means nearly nothing.</p>
<p>(For reference, I was inducted into NHS but didn’t put it on my apps because debate prevented me from attending most meetings. I was accepted to nine schools, including Harvard, Princeton, UChicago ($10,000 merit/yr), and Duke with a likely letter.)</p>
<p>The general consensus is that it means nothing at vast majority of schools, but it means something (or a lot) at a minority of schools.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m in NHS at my school, but we hardly ever do anything ever. It probably doesn’t do much on apps, but hey, it can’t hurt.</p>
<p>Not significant. It’s comparable to Key Club at the chapter-level membership.</p>
<p>No. It’s not that significant. National Merit Society, now, that’s a different story.</p>
<p>NHS definitely helps. But I wouldn’t deem it a “serious advantage”</p>
<p>NHS was, and likely still is, a huge farce at my hs. It’s highly political and allows certain teachers to abuse the power they have on the selection board. Since hundreds of students meet both the quantitative and service criteria, these teachers cherry pick their personal favorites to meet the quota. </p>
<p>Back then I remember my friends and I laughing at the joke that is NHS as we got into Cornell, Penn, CalTech, Northwestern, Columbia, etc without it. NHS is prosaic, banal, and says nothing about the applicant.</p>
<p>All schools have different requirements for their National Honors Societies so just saying your a member of NHS really holds not bearing. The volunteer and charity work you do within the club is what will actually set you apart.</p>
<p>Wait, so if I join the NHS it will HURT my chances of getting into college? I got accepted and I want to be in it for the sheer enjoyment of volunteering. I can’t really go into Ivy League schools because of my intended program/major Physical Therapy. Only Columbia offers it, but I want those 3+3 or 4+3 programs. In this case, will NHS hurt my chances of getting into these programs or not, considering I’m not applying to Ivy League, but I’m applying to hard to get into Physical Therapy programs? I also don’t intend on being a leader ( although I’m already holding leadership position in another club). </p>
<p>@Firesoulism Not all of our NHS members don’t deserve it. Some of them genuinely worked hard to get into the club. It’s just those students that got in due to ‘easy’ classes.</p>
<p>I have a few questions:</p>
<p>-Where should I list NHS? Can I just throw that in the “awards” section?
-Is Science NHS looked upon well? In my school, only around 5 people in my grade get into it out of 300</p>
<p>No honor like this is going to hurt you anywhere. The only possible downside I see of one of these societies would be if it takes time away from an activity you like better.</p>
<p>Anywhere remotely good, Admissions is not going to care. I don’t really care how much you say you do with NHS, NHS itself is kind of a pointless club that gets people with certain grades together to “volunteer” in things that these same students could otherwise volunteer on their own anyway.</p>
<p>-Where should I list NHS? Can I just throw that in the “awards” section?
-Is Science NHS looked upon well? In my school, only around 5 people in my grade get into it out of 300</p>
<p>If you did some volunteer activity or anything else significant i would put it with “Ec/clubs”. Never heard of Science NHS but sounds prestigious at your school. I would put it in and mention only 5 people got in.</p>
<p>NHS is a very weak academic honor society. It does not offer much to strengthen a college application.</p>
<p>I went to the information meeting for my NHS at my school. The 20 by 15 room was overcrowded in every inch by people and their backpacks. It extended into the hallway, where about 30-40 other people were waiting outside. It would not be a joke to say there were 100 people there out of 700 students. It’s a farce. I would rather volunteer with the time spent doing pretty much nothing in NHS. Exclusivity, no meaning to sound like a big arrogant prick, matters in certain clubs because it helps separate you from the competition at your school. If everyone is in the club, it does next to nothing for your application. Hell, being the president of video game club would probably do better for yourself. I would rather volunteer at the hospital or the library with my time. Or hell, start a club for the people who are uninterested in NHS and do something in that. Do not sweat over it.</p>
<p>National Honor Society itself and supporting schools greatly exaggerate its effect on college admissions. Most public schools, from what I understand, do look at being a so-called well rounded individual for admissions. But academics and standardized tests will always outweigh any extracurriculars, always.</p>
<p>When I was a kid, I thought that National Honor Society was some kind of obsolete 1950’s era club. As a parent, I was surprised to see it was still around - throngs of kids lighting their candles.</p>
<p>It doesn’t mean much, but it’s OK as filler for the college apps. But somewhere, there might still be a place where it’s taken seriously. If so, the colleges will know about it (but then again, so would you - and hence, no thread).</p>
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<p>No, NHS membership in many (most?) schools is contingent not only upon GPA but also community service hours and “leadership” hours in some cases. Also, the GPA can in some cases be achieved in any combination of high school courses; no distinction is necessarily made, for example, between kids taking honors, AP or dual credit courses and kids taking easier classes. So, in fact, NHS has no universally applicable meaning.</p>
<p>Well, if you’re applying to a decent college, you should have a 3.5 GPA (grade needed for my school’s NHS), so don’t really see it as a strong thing. Doubt colleges even consider those minuscule random hours (for our hs at least) as anything other than a single small club…</p>
<p>Is this the most dead-horse-beaten thread in recent memory? Over 12K looks and the same thing gets said over and over again. </p>
<p>We get it already. So does everyone else. No need to post something that 85 others have already said. </p>
<p>This is the 140th post and about 2 facts have been discussed. Please let this thread die…</p>