<p>I know there are a lot of posts about this, but I'm really freaking out.
I applied to my schools national honors society, but i didn't get in. I was shocked, as was my family and friends (especially those who got in over me)
the only requirements for NHS at my school are a GPA above 3.7, a letter of recommendation, an essay about when you failed at something, and to fill out an application about your activities. the only thing you need to do to stay in NHS is to do 3 hours of community service a month and keep your GPA above 3.7
I met all of those requirements, and I do about 17 hours of service a month. I really don't know why I didn't get in, I'm not trying to sound like im bragging or anything, but it really is a complete mystery. and the NHS at my school is known for being a little bit weird in there selection process
but my questions is, how important is NHS to college? I've always heard that colleges compare you to other people in your school, and I assume that the NHS kids and I are going to be applying to similar schools so im nervous that its really going to hurt me, even though I know for a fact my ECs and grades are better than a lot of those kids .
what do you think?</p>
<p>It doesn’t hurt you if you don’t get in.</p>
<p>trust me it’s not a big deal if you don’t get in!! i promise. Plus it’s so common and it’s not like it would make you stand out or anything…unless if you had a leadership position in it. You can reapply again next year if you really want to but honestly NHS is not a big deal. (P.S. i didn’t get in either when i applied as a sophomore).</p>
<p>just work on the other parts of your ECs which is more important :)</p>
<p>Honestly, NHS isn’t even that big of a deal. Unless you have a leadership position like someone else said, it’s nothing special. It’s just another generic club that people do to pad their college apps. Focus your time on doing something else that makes you unique and stand out from those people.</p>
<p>im planning on applying to pretty selective schools…maybe not ivies but still top notch colleges…do you think that they would rather have an NHS student over me (even though i have the same grades/similar service/ECS?)</p>
<p>It will not hurt you, colleges are looking for something that stands out and alot of the people applying to those schools might be in NHS so it won’t be anything special.</p>
<p>The situation with your NHS is similar to ours- the requirements aren’t exclusive, but the selection process can accept some not-so-smart people while leaving out top academic students. It doesn’t really make a big difference, I mean yeah it might help a tiny little bit but nothing to be worried about.</p>
<p>NHS is sooooo stupid</p>
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</p>
<p>The man/woman speaks the truth.</p>
<p>Interesting. I go to a small school and I made it in. The process may seem weird or unjust in some cases. NHS can be important but you can probably match it with other extra curricular activities.</p>
<p>Last year at about this time I was like you, freaking out if I would get accepted into NHS. A year later, after having more than a semester of NHS, I can tell you it is a complete tool order. I love helping people out, but be prepared to act as a tool, because that’s all you do in there.</p>
<p>NHS is one of those things that’ll help you in college admissions, but apart from that it doesn’t really do anything. If you get in, great. If you don’t, no loss.</p>
<p>I was inducted by chose not to participate because the (disorganized, pointless) meetings conflicted with debate meetings. I didn’t put it on applications. I’ve done fine with college admissions so far, and frankly, I don’t think I would have done or will do any better/worse with NHS on my app. (For the record, I also cut a bunch of junk clubs I was only a member in from my resume, so NHS would look pretty silly up against legitimate, time-consuming activities.)</p>
<p>okay so example.
lets say I apply and a girl in NHS applies to schools like georgetown, william and mary, duke, tufts, etc. we’re both equally smart and have similar ECs. do you think that they will take her over me?</p>
<p>it really isnt a big deal.
im VP of mine</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re more than your brains and your ECs. You’re two entirely different people with varying temperaments, opinions, and experiences. Those are the qualities that come forth in things like essays, which are huge components of your application. So, in short, not necessarily; membership in the NHS won’t be a deciding factor.</p>
<p>as for me, my fear of NHS was that if I did not get in I would be the only person during gradguation not wearing the golden cord thing.</p>
<p>But then I remembered that my school’s NHS only has like 10 kids out of 3 grades. lolz</p>
<p>Do not worry. You are more than just one silly club.</p>
<p>so to sum up it shouldnt hurt me at all?
if i just keep doing what im doing the NHS kids won’t have a leg up on me.</p>
<p>NHS is inherently generic and trite; the club in concept is to get “smart” people (GPA requirement) to do community service with little to no recurring theme between required activities…</p>
<p>By definition there can be little to no passion in this. You can do more effective and meaningful community service without NHS, and since your GPA meets NHS requirements, not getting in means nothing. Colleges know how NHS works across the nation, they vary between schools.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve seen Stanford,MIT,Caltech,Yale acceptances without NHS. So it means very little in that regard too.</p>
<p>NHS is just a generic resume padder. When ever I hear people talking about NHS, they always say how they’re just doing it for college. Unfortunately for them, I think the college admissions officers can see through that generic ass club too.</p>
<p>okay.
im just nervous that im not going to be as appealing to colleges with out it
the first thought that came in to my head when i got my rejection letter was “if i can’t get into NHS, how am I supposed to get in to any of the colleges i’ve been looking at”</p>
<p>is it really uncommon for non-NHS members to be accepted in to these top notch, selective schools though?</p>