I am a junior in high school and I was just wondering if I didn’t get into Honors Society, how much would that matter to ivy league and top college admissions officers.
Doesn’t matter at all.
Does NHS discriminate against athletes? Is a student-athlete playing high level sports considered one of the ways to get into NHS along with a 3.8, non waited all honors GPA or does one also need to also be a leader or heavily involved in a school community service work too. This student has already been accepted to college without it, but was told playing sports, good grades and little leadership in school won’t get you in to NHS. Isn’t playing sports for your school considered community service? Your football training every day, cleaning up the field and locker rooms, then baseball season comes and you’re add it again. And you’re training for the good of your school and your community, plus studying when you’re home at 10 at night. What are your thoughts?
No, playing on a high school sports team is generally not considered community service.
One of NHS’s pillars is Service - “ voluntary contributions made by a student to the school or community, done without compensation.” Each chapter is required to publish it’s criteria, so you’d have to direct your questions to your specific chapter advisor as to your chapter’s definition and scope.
Given that one of the other pillars is Leadership, I can understand the statement that “little leadership” would be a barrier.
My school hadn’t sent out letters of acceptance yet, but I was told by my counselor that our school is highly competitive and I need much more than what I do. Students in NHL at my school all join clubs, show face and do nothing. Just like students play on teams, but sit on the sidelines and say they are athletes. I have done many good deeds in my community and have include my team in the things I have done. I’ve lead multiple fundraisers in the different organizations I’m involved with. One being choir where I raised money to supply tuxes for students. We have a large choir. I love it, but I don’t sing very well so I’m not a standout vocalist. No biggie. It’s very cold in Indiana, and our team raised money to provide warm clothes for underprivileged kids. I wasn’t the leader on the team, but I worked hard and always was the one to raise the most for the cause. I have done community service out of school, but not 100’s of hours in school like some kids do. I was tutoring English to Hispanic kids in school but felt the “tutors” were really there to socialize and it wasn’t fair to the students who needed real help. These “tutors” claimed they tutored! I didn’t sign up for tutoring center this year, but I do help the kids when they come to me for help and of course without being compensated. If a student stands out in his sport by working hard 24/7, helping the team win, why isn’t that counted? The school and community are depending on these teams to do well so the school looks good. Athletes don’t get home from practice until 10 at night. The ones making straight A’s should be recognized by NHS.
I’m very fortunate that I’ve already committed to play in college in the 9th grade. My grades and SAT scores are excellent, but why my school is so tough on athletes is mind boggling. Older athletes said they made things up because they felt they have to be in NHS to get into college since they may not get in by playing a sport. At any other school, you just need to be smart, have integrity and be involved. Why would the counselor tell my not at my school. Unfortunately, If an athlete was playing cello in the orchestra instead, he/she would have a better chance of getting in.
Straight A’s, community service work plus a talented Athlete? This is when Athletes should be begged to join. It only makes the diversity of the group that much better.
Tbh, if I think about some people being athletes, them helping out underprivileged kids, fundraising, etc. are not things that immediately pop to my mind. As long as you include that in any of your essays or describe your activities as such, why would they not take it into account?
Don’t worry about it.
NHS is completely irrelevant to admissions results at highly selective colleges.
Only way NHS matters is if you become an officer. Don’t worry, you are fine 
To be inducted into NHS, in general you need the four pillars: Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character.
Guess what colleges are looking for? Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character.
So NHS is a way of the school honoring the students who excel in those four pillars. That is a very good thing! We honor football players and band members and such…let’s also honor academics!
Also, parents love to see their children publicly honored.
So if you don’t get in. don’t worry, colleges care about what would get you into NHS, not necessarily the title.
So make sure you find ways to exhibit Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character even if you don’t have the “title” of NHS.
I haven’t been on this website in a long time, but I actually did get into NHS! I presumed early that I didn’t and completely worked myself up. We didn’t really get anything done because of the virus 