<p>I received a mailing addressed to The Parents of DDD DDDDD.<br>
[quote]
Ds commendable achievements have merited recommendation to Whos Who among American High School Students for the Academic year 2006-2007
[/quote]
</p>
<p>After completing a two page form, Ds academic biography will be included in Whos Who .. There isn't a fee for being included in the book, but of course you can purchase a copy of the book for $63.95.:D</p>
<p>Is this just a hoax :confused:, hoping the parents, grandparents, et al will gladly spend $60+ to see their little darlings name, bio, and picture in print?</p>
<p>I don't know for sure..but we decided not to do it as it seemed to us that the only purpose was to get your money. We also thought it was funny that in the same week my son received two letters - one from The Who's Who among American High School Students and one from the Who's Who among American College Students. He was doing concurrent enrollment at a local university during his senior year of high school. It struck us both as very odd that taking one class at a university and getting an A would be enough to get him into a legitimate "Who's Who among American College Students". Even if they'd waited until after his second semester at the University when he received 2 more A's it didn't seem to either of us that it would be enough for any recognition among college students. So for us we felt it was just a scam.</p>
<p>Yes. Someone came into the Library where I work and asked if we had the book and I had a hard time not laughing at them. Of course we did not. As far as I know the offer is sent out to all seniors. But don't feel bad, this question comes up every year on this BB.</p>
<p>Like any of those late night commercials promising "you too can become a millionaire by calling this number", this HS Who's Who is also a trap to get your personal information to either resell or use for their own nefarious purposes. Don't get sucked in...</p>
<p>Who's Who is a legitimate organization that has been around for many decades that is not trying to get your personnel info for nefarious purposes. It actually publishes a book. However, that is only what it is for -- getting you to buy the book with your student in it which they are in the business of selling. They send those mailings to huge numbers, it is not a badge of intelligence or real merit to be included, and being in Who's Who adds nothing to a college application; it simply gives you a book that you might impress the uniformed with.</p>
<p>They print the book, yes. Your kid gets listed, yes. Does anything ever happen for those who are listed? No. Do you shell out $40, yes? Who wins? The publisher.</p>
<p>It doesn't stop with Who's Who for h.s. student and college students. My d also got the letter that stated she was a Who's Who for h.s. athletes and she was just a varsity cheerleader. Same company, different book. I tend to think at one time, many years ago, Who's Who had some prestige attached....but at some point, the profit motive took over and the standards were lowered to the point where just about everyone gets this little accolade.</p>
<p>It's worth it to apply for their scholarships since they have to give the scholarships so as to avoid being charged with mail fraud.</p>
<p>If one wins a scholarship, it's worth it to include it as an honor on your college applications.</p>
<p>Otherwise, however, "Who's Who" is no honor. The letters are sent to any high school student whose name the company can manage to cull. The "honor" is a marketing tool to buy overpriced books, certificates and other merchandise. Being named to the h.s. "Who's Who" is not something to list on college applications because adcoms know it's meaningless.</p>
<p>The scholarships amount to nothing more than a lottery with the "awards" being funded almost entirely through the fees collected from scholarship applicants. Although the application fees may seem nominal, enough students apply that their fees fund the scholarships. Your odds of receiving a scholarship are very small. Information about fees collected, scholarships awarded, and adminstrative costs is readily available from on-line copies of the IRS filings for the non-profit arm of Who's Who.</p>
<p>This comes up in the Financial Aid Forum alot by the kids:
If you have the inclination please do a search on my UN on this topic.</p>
<p>To be brief: IMO this is a harder award to win than NMS. DS won $1000 in 2002 with no strings attached. Cost was minimal, I believe it was $4.00 and stamp. Less than 100 words (about quarter page hand written biography by frustrated kid who just wanted to keep Dad happy, no embellishments. )
He won NMS but was unable to use it because of his school was not participant.</p>
<p>Also IMHO, the amount of effort and cost was far easier than the scholarships that many people are vying for, far larger without strings. We were a full pay FAFSA family and did not expect $ from anyone. But nice award and he certainly earned it. This is a subjective award and I believe the recommendations by teachers are a very strong factor in the final decisions. We were not informed of the award until Early July/late June.</p>
<p>All of these types of mailings are just a means for the publisher to sell books. They give out some scholarships but only so they can sell books and appear to be philanthropic.</p>
<p>A primary rule to follow is to never respond to or apply for a scholarship to a place soliciting money. If they're truly philanthropic, they won't ask for money up front. There are plenty of places who do this including many corporations (my D won several corporate scholarships from retail businesses you're all familiar with - none of them asked for money to apply).</p>
<p>Never put down another persons dreams and aspirations. Never, no matter how bad I think it is, or how much it will cost them in terms of $ or pain. They just may win. </p>
<p>BTW, Does anyone want a free IPOD, 15$ITUNES? and entry to win one of 5, $2000 scholarships? Send no money. ['just open a student free checking account', my credit union's flyer with my statement. I'm so very glad my CU is so willing to give prizes away from the profits they make from my deposits/loans; That should go back to its membership. Oh, Well. That's how the game is played.</p>
<p>Students aren't the only targets. Several times I have received letters informing me that, because of my distinguished contributions to the field of medicine, I have been nominated for inclusion in the next edition of Who's of Who of Physicians. Now I would like to think I have made a contribution but I doubt it. The real contribution they are talking about is the contribution they would like me to make to the revenue of whoever publishes Who's Who.</p>
<p>Being nominated means they got a hold of a mailing list with your name on it. Toss it. It is meaningless.</p>
<p>Check the Tylenol (TM)Scholarship thread in the Financial Aid forum. Then check the Tylenol website. How many coupons will be printed and used for a drug that can be bought for much less than brandname. How do you think Johnson & Johnson funds this program? (students and parents getting headaches from agonizing their college and scholarship applications and subsequent essay that is hopefully written by the student. Good Luck to the Tylenol applicants, they need it.</p>