<p>I'm sure others have gotten the invitation for your child to join this organization. There is a thread on CC about it, with mixed opinions as to the legitamacy/benefits of this honor society. As the deadline is quickly approaching, I am wondering what others with kids at UD think of this. My daughter is in honors program and I imagine that many of the kids in honors got this invitation. I hesitate because there is a fee of $75.00, which isn't enormous but still don't want to pay it if it's not worth anything. Does anyone know if UD's chapter is active? Is anyone else's kid doing this?</p>
<p>Glad someone else posted this. We’ve gotten 3 mailings so far, today’s had a window sticker. My son says he is not interested and I strongly doubt he would attend any meetings. The only reason I could see joining is for scholarships, which they claim to have available.</p>
<p>I too asked my daughter what she thought. she said that someone in Russell had the sticker on their car and my daughter asked if she was a memeber. The person said they were joining because someone she knew received some kind of scholarship. I am considering doing it because they say it is a $75.00 lifetime membership and if there is a possibility of obtaining some kind of scholarship it just might be worth it. It might just be a money making thing but, who knows, it might open doors or legitimately award scholarships. I think we have until the 25th?</p>
<p>I am sure they’ll take your money after the 25th as well!</p>
<p>I did notice on their site that you can get a discount on a quote from GEICO so I am wondering if they would apply the discount to an existing policy I have with them. It could pay for itself in that case.</p>
<p>Thanks rrjs82 for posting this I checked out the cc thread you were referring to and new information suggests this is a scam. Yes Mr Bill they stalk you with special invitations to pay after the deadline “just for you”. No credible honors society asks for dues.I am troubled that they know our kids grades.</p>
<p>They obviously have some sort of arrangement with UD since they hold their event on campus. BTW I emailed GEICO and got a response that I would only get the discount if my wife or I were members. That’s too bad.</p>
<p>Also, it does appear that Phi Beta Kappa chapters charge dues. So I’m not so sure about your comment about “No credible honors society asks for dues”.</p>
<p>I belong the the nursing honor society (Sigma Theta Tau) and they charge dues. I think the suspicious ones are those that the only perk offered is a paid listing in some sort of book.</p>
<p>Yes, we too have received an invitation to join at UGA. I’ve been looking everywhere to determine if it really is legit. It is accredited by the Association of College Honor Societies. My daughter said she received a window sticker in her invitation-I told her at least she got something other than a bill for dues! She has received several invitations to other type “honor” societies which we have placed in our circular file… Does anyone know if the UGA chapter is something worth joining?</p>
<p>Didn’ know about the dues at other honor societies I stand corrected I am repeating what others said on the other cc threads on this topic.</p>
<p>There is a long thread and current discussion in the Parents Forum. It would probably make sense to move the discussion there. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/35536-national-society-collegiate-scholars-4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/35536-national-society-collegiate-scholars-4.html</a></p>
<p>BTW, my son has also gotten 2 emails from them.</p>
<p>From OP - I looking into this/thinking about it more, I don’t think I’ll encourage daughter to join if she doesn’t want to. Reasons:</p>
<p>1) Although it may not be a “scam” I really don’t think this is too exclusive of an honor society. It is offered to the top 20%, at least at UD, which is 1 in 5. In the other thread on CC, some posters seem to think you need to have a 3.4, but I don’t think that’s true. You need a 3.4 for some of the scholarships listed but others said 3.0.</p>
<p>2) As Misterbill said, honestly, I don’t think my daughter will really take advantage of in terms of going to meetings etc. And I’m not sure how active UD chapter is. You can look at past winners of some scholarships at there is not one listed with UD student.</p>
<p>3) Scholarship wise (which is the only reason I might encourage daughter) I feel like the odds of winning a scholarship wouldn’t be great. For any of those national type scholarships this is true. My D applied to several as a HS senior and despite having great stats won none. She only won two small scholarships associated with her high school. Also, if you look at the requirements out there to apply for the scholarships currently listed (I did) its the same old thing - getting teacher recs, writing essays etc. To be honest I don’t feel like dealing with getting on my daughter’s back about this (like I did when she was a HS senior). And now it would be harder with her not home! Maybe others have kids with different personalities- but mine, she certainly applies herself with the school work but with stuff like this I would have to harass her. I just don’t think I’m up to it and if she joins I would feel that I would have to since that would be main reason to join. Sorry to ramble about this but just the thought of it makes me exhausted. Also, as mentioned, I saw no previous UD winners.</p>
<p>So will probably mention it again to daughter but I don’t think she’ll join. One final question - does anyone know if UD has big involvemnet with this? I know there’s an induction ceremony on campus but other than that???</p>
<p>I am a recent graduate of UD and was Co-Vice President of Community Service for NSCS. As any honors society goes on campus, it is what you make of it. If a student wants to be active in the organization (obtains an officer position, does community service, goes to events), then I feel that it is worth it regardless of a one time fee. No, NSCS’s GPA requirement isn’t TOO high (although I’m positive it’s 3.4 and not 3.0 at UD), but it’s still not something offered to most students. I loved being a big part of community service for NSCS and our chapter does great things (mentoring for a boys and girls club, visiting with sick children at AI Dupont Hospital, volunteering at the food bank, among many other activities). There are also guest speakers at some meetings and fundraisers around campus that members can get involved in. Do not completely dismiss the idea of joining based on a $75 fee. Yes, a lot of these honors societies are run-of-the-mill and not too difficult to get into, but like I said it’s what you make of it. As far as scholarships go, those are hard to get but it doesn’t hurt to apply for them. If you have any more questions, just PM me.</p>
<p>We also got the invite for our son to join, here is why we will not be joining even though his school has a chapter. According to their own financial tax records filed for the fiscal year 2007 (the most recent public records on file) the
total income was $5,777,952
total expense was $ 5,023,841</p>
<p>they claim that a majority is spent on program services, but the two programs listed are:</p>
<p>chapter allocations - $1,339,332
and membership - $2,872,574 this includes mailings to members and web site and brochures printed encouraging members to attend conferences (not any real service that I can see)</p>
<p>they did give out scholarships this year for a total of $102,313 (the most of them were for under $1000, but there were 6 at $5,000 and 53 at $1000)</p>
<p>the executive director had a salary of $137,288 (that is more than the scholarship line) </p>
<p>This is all public information from the agencies 990 report as listed on Guidestar.com the web site that monitors not-for-profits.</p>
<p>This is my first post here but it was because of the other posts on this site that I joined it is very valuable information, thank you</p>
<p>Rembrandt, thanks for “painting” a very informative picture for us! Glad we did not join!</p>