<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm a junior this year. I've just received a packet for the National Honor Society. Unfortunately, I'm already part of another club that also does community volunteer work, and I'm doing volunteering on my own as well. So I was wondering whether it's necessary to join NHS. I know it's a really great and well-known club, but would it be detrimental to my college app if I wasn't part of it?</p>
<p>I suggest joining it because there are some merit scholarships associated with NHS. Some colleges, for instance, Earlham, give scholarships automatically to NHS members. Being an NHS member also can impress local merit scholarship committees.</p>
<p>NHS is not, however, something that will impress adcoms at places like Ivies because virtually all of their applicants qualify for NHS -- whether or not the students are members. </p>
<p>Now if one is the national president of NHS, that's the kind of NHS affiliation that would impress a place like an Ivy. Similarly, doing something major in your school's NHS such as starting a major tutoring or fundraising program also could impress the more competitive colleges. The same would be true if one did similar things for another organization.</p>
<p>I suggest to join it if you are planning to apply ivy, it sounds like you already have a lot going for you.</p>
<p>It's interesting to note that about 2 years ago, one of my friends received a letter in the mail to join the NHS and he only had a 2.5 GPA!</p>