Even though I thought I was fairly well qualified for NHS, I didn’t get in at my school. I have the opportunity to re-apply in the fall of 2017, and I was wondering if it’s even worth it. So to speak, my question is: Does NHS make any significant difference in the college admission process? Would they select someone with similar qualifications as myself over me simply due to their participation in the Honor Society?
No way. NHS is more of a space filler for apps. At my school, you have to be nominated and only like 1% of the 2700 kids at my school get nominated. It still is not a big deal. A lot of people at my school at least act like it is a huge deal but mainly it just feeds egos. I am part of it but I almost did not even put it on my application and I only did put it on there because I am an officer—a 3 year NHS member.
No. Don’t bother. It’s no value. Zippo.
Nope.
My daughter’s school only offers NHS to seniors with 3.8 U or higher. I’ve seen other schools offer it for all 4 years with a 3.0 or above. It’s really all over the map.
Bottom line, it won’t have any real impact in either direction on an application. Unless you are in dire need of something else to fill space on your app, don’t worry about it.
Since colleges will already see your GPA, your community service, your teacher recommendations, and just about everything else that gets you into NHS, I don’t quite see what getting into NHS would really prove. If anything, it might send a message to colleges if you consider NHS, which seems to be basically pointless, one of your 10 most important activities in high school.
No. The problem with NHS is there is no national standard. Every school is free to make its own criteria for admission. Unless you get an officer position, NHS is pretty meaningless.
^ What every poster said. I’m in NHS, and I absolutely regret joining the club. It touts honor and service, but all we do is volunteer for x hours to meet the criteria of being a member. I think it would be more impactful to join a club that volunteers for senior citizens or packages food for homeless people (just giving examples - do what YOU are passionate about).
@nac7890 , I do not think putting NHS on an application is detrimental in any way, even if it isn’t impressive to colleges. Some schools require very significant hours of volunteering and major service projects, such as at my kid’s school. It would be very unfair for colleges to knock a kid for doing NHS, and I am very sure they don’t. All colleges are interested in seeing how kids spend their time, and if a kid spends a lot of time doing NHS, and especially if they are an officer, he/she should absolutely list it on an application.
Agree. My D was in a small program in her HS that used a different grading system and she was not eligible for the school’s honor society. It made zero difference in the outcome of her (and her classmates in the program) college acceptances.