<p>I was rejected from NHS my junior year (probably because of my sophomore suspension), and applications for it are due this Friday. Problem is, I don't want to be in it, but my mother really wants me to apply. She called the advisor many times after my brother got rejected his first try, but he was inducted his senior year. She made the same calls for me, but I don't think I can do it. I won't feel that I'm being true to myself if I apply. When I asked why I wasn't chosen, the advisor showed me that my "character" score was a 2.8 or so (which is bad). What bothered me even more than being denied was that out of the ten people admitted in our high school of 150, three of them had never done community service before. One of the categories is "service." I don't get it.</p>
<p>Either way, I have no intentions of applying. I don't see its importance in anything, and I feel I'd better serve myself if I rebelled against something that I see as corrupt by ignoring it. I checked other threads about NHS, and it seems that colleges don't care about it. The schools I'm applying to don't give scholarships for membership either. </p>
<p>There are only two bad things I can think of. The first is that I don't want to let my mother down. I've tried to explain to her my feelings about it, but she doesn't yield. I think it's more the embarrassment of having a great student as a son who's not a member of NHS than anything else. The second comes from some teachers who personally told me that they were disappointed to see me rejected. They're probably expecting me to apply this year.</p>
<p>I know it may sound like whining about something insignificant, but I have many personal battles invested into something minor. I need some parental advice from people outside of my school system. :) Any suggestions for me? Thank you.</p>
<p>Step - I completely understand where you are coming from, and I admire your stance. I would just ask, "Is this really the hill you want to die on?" (That's an old expression, in case you don't recognize it). In other words, is it <em>really</em> a battle worth fighting? Maybe it's just a small gift you can give your mother, if it would make her happy (assuming she isn't some kind of driven crackpot).</p>
<p>In our school, the valedictorian had ZERO community service hours and was not accepted. The parents harrassed the school relentlessly until they gave in and let her in. Every school has a story! </p>
<p>You are right that essentially the colleges don't really care.</p>
<p>I used to respect the NHS, but after reading so many threads about it here re the varying qualifications for selection and its irrelevance in college admissions, I am, at best, neutral on the topic. </p>
<p>Ask yourself if this particular group at your high school is one you would like to join. Would you want to contribute your time as a member? Do you want to associate with the other members?</p>
<p>Stepinto - I am one who thinks it doesn't matter for college apps. DS "snoozed" through the jr. year app cycle, so was already accepted to colleges by the time he was inducted in Sr. year. GC told us it wouldn't matter and it didn't.</p>
<p>As to whether to be true to yourself or apply to honor your mother's wishes/teacher expectations, I agree with nedad. Is this the battle you want to pick? You can be true to yourself by deciding that it's more important not to let your mother down. Or you can stick to your guns that you don't want to be a part of it. Either way, you are deserving of respect, imo.</p>
<p>NHS is not important at all. A lot of students do not even have sufficient space on the application to list it. FWIW, I did not list it on my applications. </p>
<p>I realize that some schools "make" a big deal of it, while at others it is an afterthought. Unless a student is really, really involved in its organization, I would consider it as significant as listing your birthdate. Oops, the birth date IS important. :)</p>
<p>Xiggi, I agree that NHS is not a big deal. But you've heard me carry on about my kid (and NO I have never called the school about this issue). She has NEVER received an award from her school despite being a top 10 student in her class (and yes the other 9 have continuously gotten awards...btw, she's 8th). So when she was asked to be in NHS, she was thrilled (even knowing that is wasn't a big deal for colleges), because she felt that someone finally had taken notice of her achievements in high school. I'm with the others who have responded. This shouldn't be a "make or break" decision for the OP.</p>
<p>thumper - there was a whole thread last year on kids who performed at the top but never got the Awards. Don't remember if you were there, but I was. S never got any of those awards. Then at Senior Celebration, he finally got one (amidst peers who get multitudes). But then: at Graduation, he was mentioned at length by the faculty speaker and performed with his band. I admit it; I cared.</p>
<p>What if someone has a lack of awards...the only ones I have are Honor Roll all 3 years, "General Excellence", Principal Honors / 1st Honors. Can someone list some awards they put so I can reflect if I had any similar to those.</p>
<p>There have been threads about this the past few years. NHS membership does not really matter to all colleges. I was worried cuz S2 -- now a college senior -- was not accepted to NHS in 11th grade for a variety of reasons which included, I think, but could never substantiate, being disrespectful. In 12th grade, he applied but was not accepted for an obvious and major blunder. However, he was accepted to a top 10 university. So this is NOT the end of the world.</p>
<p>I've written this before regarding NHS: My D was rejected as a Jr. without much explanation. She did NOT want to apply her Sr. year (this year), although I bugged her all summer about it. I was crushed that she refused to apply this year. She told me that she has too much on her plate now and NHS is not important to her.</p>
<p>At first I was very disappointed about it and I felt that it was one tiny thing that she could do to make me happy. But, after thinking about it, it isn't about me. It is about her and whether or not it fits in with what she is passionate about. NHS just doesn't fill the bill for her. </p>
<p>Do you have any other honors like National Merit or a foreign language honor society?</p>
<p>I think the hardest job was the 200 or 300 hours of commnity service. Being part of some projects counted towards hours, and my S earned more than enough doing something he would have done anywAY. But some kids tried hard just to accumulate the necessary hours.</p>
<p>NHS has always been and will continue to be worthless at the high school I went to. I saw through the very thinly laid facade that it was a great college sheet booster and turned down the program twice. I even got the recommendations just to prove that I would get in. The program here does absolutely nothing for the community or the student body. Besides, with the number of kids that have it listed, what is the point of doing it.</p>
<p>Honestly, NHS is ran with such a tight fist at my school that it is a torture to be in it. My school selects seniors with GPA, leadership positions, and community service and we also have a actual council of teachers (the names of the teachers are hush-hush matter). 20-30 people are selected from a class of 600 kids. There are people who I think should be in NHS who were rejected. It is not something important. Do something that you want. It is nothing but a pretty ornament on graduation day.</p>
Unfortunately, I've only gotten on the honor roll, and I've won student of the year in certain subjects. My school doesn't give out much in the form of honors or awards.</p>
<p>Same thing at my school (I'm a senior now). The end of my sophmore year, applications were sent out, we applied, we thought everything was fine. Months later, the highest qualified students were not admitted for strange reasons ("No leadership", "Not enough community service"). Although I was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and had led classes AND was principal viola of the orchestra, along with many hours of community service, apparently there was a problem! This happened to many other people, parents complained, etc.
Then: School officials decided they were being unfair (they were) and created a new application period to re-try for admission.
Hardly anyone applied!
Serves them right. I'm a member of other honors societies, and I wouldn't want to be associated with NHS at my high school! I don't mind though, no one even though twice about re-applying!</p>
<p>ok, at my school, teachers get a list of all sophomores and juniors who have a 3.5 gpa. they then evaluate the prospective members based on character, service, leadership. Basically, everyone who is involved in school and has a positive attitude gets in. all the students have to do is write an essay to get it, and the essay is basically to prove that you want to be a member. However, I am president of NHS this year, and the new moderator and i are trying to expand our role in the school. we provide tutoring, and we are going to adopt a school in the gulf area, and provide them with school supplies throughout the year. also, we have a 'monthly motto', and we have made presentations to younger girls (all girls school) about different study tips. any suggestions for more involvement? btw, everything but the tutoring is new this year.</p>
<p>there are 32 members, 10 from their junior year, and 22 new juniors and seniors. the school has about 500 students.</p>
<p>Do you think being in NHS is helpful for winning local scholarships? I mean, really--is NHS one of those things that puts you over the top without regard to the rest of your academic and extracurricular record? I can't put these thoughts away because NHS is looked upon very favorably at my school, and non-members look foolish. However, all graduates at my school attend one of our local state schools or a nearby small private college. In the end, I might not be much different because I could end up attending a safety school, but the kids here don't aim very high. Could NHS membership have helped them in any way?</p>
<p>NHS is nice. But it will not be the driving force if you have bad EC's, grades, and test scores. It is just something that makes your application looks a little better. It is unnecessary in most situations unless you are just dying for more ECs to put on your college applications.</p>
<p>I don't know why your school put such a favorable emphasis on NHS. Yes, it does look nice. It doesn't hurt to be in NHS but I don't think it helps all that much either. </p>
<p>In short, no NHS is not one of those things that puts you over the top without regard to the rest of your academic and ECs record.</p>