<p>2do3down: Did your son have to apply for these scholarships?</p>
<p>Notice that all the NSCS proponents on this thread are brand new posters. I suspect the organization has a Google Alert set up. When someone mentions the organization online, they get an e-mail alert.</p>
<p>Rodney: Yes, he said there was an application process to get the award. He said a letter of recommendation was needed as well - not sure how what else the application process entailed besides that however.</p>
<p>There definitely is something fishy about jsa43. Look at his/her posts. Only six and all in praise and support of this organization. Who joins CC to talk about NSCS and then the extensive text in the posts is word for word the same.</p>
<p>Very bizarre -- or worst, very shady.</p>
<p>jsa43: I think you're BUSTED</p>
<p>As far as I can tell from both my kids, this is just something that sends a mailer to anyone who makes Dean's list. However, I think it's also very dependent on the college campus. One of my kids had a chapter that did absolutely nothing, so it was a $75 acknowledgment that my kid made Dean's list (could have put "invited to join..." on the resume with the same effect). The other kid had a chapter that actually engaged in lots of activities, so it was worth more. Your kids will encounter lots of honor societies in college. Mortar Board may be a good one for Seniors, since the number of kids who can join each school's chapter in a year is limited and selection is based both on grades and service/activities. Phi Beta Kappa is of course well-known. Whether or not any honor society is worth joining is a personal decision. IMO, just listing it on a resume doesn't do anything if it only duplicates a GPA that is otherwise apparent. If the society does charitable work, offers lectures or access to particular alumni who might not otherwise be available to undergrads, etc., then those activities may be meaningful.</p>
<p>NSCS is legitimate. As with any organization, participation is key. It is what you make of it. My son and daughter are both members. My son received a helpful scholarship from NSCS and is active in his local chapter at Clemson University.
I would also like to add something from the "Human Resources" perspective. When I see this listed on a resume I know beyond a doubt that this person received a 3.4 GPA or higher in their first years at college. An impressive feat! Those first semesters tend to be some of the toughest at college. I realize that you will put your GPA in your resume, though you would be surprised at the inaccuracies (polite term) we see (yes we do check GPA and membership verification). I also see some motivation in this person. This organizational membership alone doesn't show motivation. Though generally the individuals that list NSCS membership have many other impressive stats to offer. Does this membership make or break our hiring this individual? No. It is an eye catcher and does certainly add weight to their resume. If you have ever looked over 20-30 resumes in a day you know it is time consuming. Reading them word for word isn't plausible. One looks for certain key words: memberships, college attended (yes, at many places of employment, it still matters), GPA, to mention a few. Sorry for such a long reply. I felt it necessary, considering the misunderstandings and negative comments. $75 is such a paltry amount of money these days. It is well spent here.</p>
<p>I earlier posted about my suspicions of another poster. He has since contacted me with a compelling case of his legitimacy. I withdraw my earlier post (#24).</p>
<p>Save your $75, everyone and their mother gets "invited" to join.</p>
<p>There is something fishy about all the proponents though, I checked all their posts and they are the same. Im thinking this society is not honorable if everyone in my hall got the letter.</p>
<p>Everyone on this forum who says it’s for real has fewer than 10 posts.</p>
<p>This process is identical with the phony reviews on amazon.com. Employees of a company become members and post praising their product/book, or dissing a competitor. Sometimes they post in a different thread attempting to legitimize themselves. An author was actually busted for writing reviews for his own books. Obvisouly all these posters in this thread are phonies and I do not believe anyhing about them. There are 10 and more new members just posting suddenly on this thread. How many other threads have you seen in CC that suddenly all the new posters decided to post?</p>
<p>Ok, I’m not some brand new person who just joined CC, and I’m a member of NSCS. It’s not a scam. My school’s chapter is fairly large and is very active. I know several people who have won scholarships from the organization.</p>
<p>This organization is clearly a scam. They’ve sent me several E-mails trying to scare me into joining with phrases like “Can you really afford not to join in this economy?” etc.</p>
<p>No legitimate honors society would say these things.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of an E-mail they just sent me:</p>
<p>"Dear Casey,</p>
<p>I am writing because the deadline is now past and we never received your CONFIRMATION accepting membership in The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS).</p>
<p>You are one of the few nominees we have not yet heard from.</p>
<p>The good news is, the Society’s Board of Directors, after much discussion, is permitting a short extension of the membership confirmation deadline to allow those who have yet to respond to confirm their membership."</p>
<p>“You are one of the few nominees we have not yet heard from” is clearly a lie, and the fact that they’re extending their deadline (I’m pretty sure they’ve extended it before) also shows it’s bogus. And, by the way, a 3.4 GPA is really eligible for the best honors society out there? Come on now…</p>
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<p>I just thought that was worth repeating a couple of times.</p>
<p>SCAM.</p>
<p>NSCS is not a scam BUT I would question its value. I’ve worked with academically talented college students for more than 15 years and when they ask me whether they should join this organization I tell them to weigh the benefits against the costs. I also tell them they will most likely be invited to join many honor societies while they are undergraduates and, unless their funds are limitless, they might want to wait until they are invited to join Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi or the honor societies in their discipline that carry far more prestige and potential benefits.</p>
<p>And certainly the emails the posters above received in recent days would make me think twice. In my opinion, pressure techniques and honor societies do not go together.</p>
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<p>Since when are registrars allowed to release private information on students? The Privacy Act would not allow a school registrar to send a student’s name, address, and GPA to an outside organization. Also, many of my homeschooled friends’ kids have gotten invitations. I wonder who submitted them?</p>
<p>Unless a parent or student specifically opts out, school districts can provide cerrtain student information (name, address, phone, grade, BUT NOT GPA) to outside groups. I believe College Board and ACT sell their mailing lists, also.</p>
<p>I knew that College Board (and I’m sure ACT, too) sold their lists, but I thought that would be pretty weird that they could release GPA’s!</p>
<p>Be on the alert. The mass mailings went out again. Son got one and I received a packet at my home.</p>