<p>I looked at their annual report about 3 years ago and they were giving out about $250k in scholarship out of about $5 millions in revenue (about 5%). Here is the latest annual report and you can decide for yourself:</p>
<p>So now they are making about $7 millions which mostly come from membership dues, and they give out a little of $400k in scholarship. If you look at the expense, most of it come from the membership service ($3+ millions) and the administrative cost of $1+ million. Here is how I rationalized it a few years ago of the expense:</p>
<ul>
<li>3 million college freshmen (roughly)</li>
<li>Top 25% GPA = 750k students</li>
<li>$5 dollars each to do mass mailing with the fancy gold leaflet brochure and all the follow up letters = 5 x 750k = $3+ millions</li>
</ul>
<p>@MommaJ: They are an approved organization, but one that I fundamentally disagree with based on their premise. However, my disagreement with it doesn’t mean that doesn’t get to exist. As long as they follow the rules set forth in their charter, they can exist, however begrudgingly I might find it. It’s not hard for an organization to get approved. You just need a faculty member and a charter/ constitution. We have clubs and organizations for pretty much everything from the flyfishing club to the pagan student association and so forth, so it’s not like there are truly high hurdles to clear to be a registered on campus organization. </p>
<p>And I don’t tell any of my students directly <em>not</em> to join. I just tell them to be very cautious and to be sure they understand all the pros and cons. As their advisor and prof, I don’t want them to believe that they can’t or shouldn’t join if they think it makes sense to them. They’re big kids now, and they can decide.</p>
<p>It’s just that based on everything I’ve observed, it isn’t worth the money at least on my campus. Other campuses may be more active and thus a better bargain. That I don’t know and I can’t answer, but of the campuses I have been on (several), it wasn’t an active organization.</p>
<p>DrAngela, your information raises an interesting question about what sort of credentials and performance a college should demand of an organization before giving it an imprimatur. At the schools I’m familiar with, approval of a campus organization comes with a grant from the school’s activity budget. (Otherwse why bother registering?) Certainly a group that does virtually nothing or has no substantive value shouldn’t be getting money from what is typically a very limited source. And national organizations like NSCS use the names of member colleges in their recruitment materials to suggest that the schools support them. If I were an administrator involved in student activities, I’d hate to see people misled in that way when in fact my school has no oversight or knowledge of the organization.</p>
<p>Everyone who keeps focusing on the amount NSCS hands out in scholarship needs to remember that honor societies in general, and this one specifically are not primarily about handing out scholarships. This is just one small part of what NSCS does. As a student, I just received an invitation from this society and have begun to do my homework into them. I was rather overwhelmed by the sheer amount of negativity towards them, especially from people who haven’t joined! If you are basing this only on the ratio of dues to scholarship, you are discounting and dismissing everything else this and every other honor society offers students. How much leadership training, test preparation, community service opportunities, internship opportunities, or other membership services do you get for your ONE TIME ONLY dues payment?</p>
<p>I transferred to my current University from a community college where I was a member of Phi Theta Kappa and Psi Beta Kappa. Both of those had dues that were paid yearly, both were about $25 which easily added up to close to what NSCS is requiring. I have no idea what I will ultimately decide as I would like to continue looking into what NSCS has to offer at my campus specifically, but I do know I won’t be making a decision based on scholarship amounts. I know it is a small part of what they do/offer their members. Of course, if I join I will be applying for those scholarships!</p>
<p>And yet more posters with their first and only post defending this dubious at best organization. Hmm. Where are the long time posters at CC that are members coming back to defend the organization? </p>
<p>I’d love to see the IP address log of the various 1 time posters on this thread. Something tells me it would be very interesting. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that this “society” is useless on your r</p>
<p>Here’s my advice: if you get a solicitation for this organization, do a little research to see if they are spending any money on YOUR campus. It’s my suspicion that they spend some dough on a few campuses, and if yours is one of them, you might get something out of it.</p>
<p>If they’re not active on your campus, and you’re a high achiever at your school, write them back and tell them that you’ll join if they pay you.</p>
<p>Forget the scholarships–95 bucks is too much for a lottery ticket, and forget about using it on your resume. Only do it if you can get something concrete, for you specifically, out of it while you’re in college.</p>
<p>Sorry I could not resist. Here’s my one and only shot for awhile, I hope.</p>
<p>3+ millions in mass mailing to perpetuate the organization is a service to the members? For any non-profit, that is no alright. The fund raising cost is way out of line with the norm. The cons to me is this is a business model designed to extract money out of people and return very little as real service to its members while taking advantage of the gullibility of poor young college students. How could you say it with a straight face when more than half of the money coming in is used to lure more people to pay next year on top of the 30+ staff you have from 7 millions total revenue. But please join because you will get so many other benefits.</p>
<p>So had to research this and see if they are at my D’s campus. To my surprise it is a registered club with the University. They seem to run it like a HS NHS organization. Doing community service projects, regular meetings and social events. I asked D about it and she said she has several friends in that organization… I have to say I was shocked</p>
<p>rushedmom - as was already posted, being a registered club doesn’t mean that it’s a quality organization or that the school supports them. Anyone can register a club on campus.</p>
<p>And even if they have activities, are they worth $95? Couldn’t your daughter find another club/organization on campus that does the same things without a membership fee?</p>