<p>So I'm a high school sophomore and I just got invited to join the National Honor Society. If I am planning on applying to top universities in the future, is it 'worth' to join? Will admission offices find this as a great EC? I'm already part of SGA and on a sports team.</p>
<p>Yes, it costs nothing (or nearly nothing) and it’s an acknowledged “minor honor” (more so as a sophomore selectee); therefore, what’s the "downside:? </p>
<p>Join. It is an “honor”, and selective to get into (some schools more so than others). It also wouldn’t hurt if you were to become an officer in your senior year.</p>
<p>I would join. Find out what is expected of you. To be nominated for our NHS, you must have completed 100 service hours and have a 3.5+ GPA. After you join you are expected to complete 50 additional service hours (often tutoring kids). Also it will make your parents proud.</p>
<p>At my son’s school, nearly half the class is a member of NHS. It doesn’t seem that selective, unless you are my son, who didn’t get in due to his lack of leadership positions. So now he feels like a jerk for being rejected by the society that “everyone” gets in, even though is one of the top 6 students in his grade. They told him to reapply this year, but he has decided he can live without the gold tassel on his mortarboard. </p>
<p>I agree, your refusal of the invitation seems short sighted. My kid didn’t join some of the honor societies she was invited to last year, she thought she would only join the ones that “did something”. She later felt like a doofus when she had to watch a bunch of other kids get inducted into those honor societies. It may not be a stellar EC, but it is part of being a member of your school community. Almost every school puts an asterisk next to the NHS members in the graduation bulletin, if not having a special tassel or other recognition. These are little things, but why turn up your nose at this pat on the back?</p>