<p>So I'm kind of having a debate with my friend about whether NHS is really important for college. Do you think being a member of NHS will make an applicant look a lot better?</p>
<p>Be a member of NHS because you’re passionate about helping people and that you cannot help giving to others. Don’t undertake an EC unless it’s something that interests you, and not just another “point” for admissions officers to look at.</p>
<p>^ I second that</p>
<p>It makes an applicant look a tiny bit better. Certainly not “a lot” better. Having a leadership position in NHS will look nice though.</p>
<p>My belief is that for competitive school admissions, NHS is as common as being on the Honor Roll. It’s a miniscule blip – won’t be missed, won’t be much noticed if it’s there.</p>
<p>^ Equating it to being on the dean’s list seems apropos, IMO. Although, in my experience many students only contemplate community service once they realize it is often a requirement for inclusion in NHS. The community service hours committed thru NHS may be more helpful to your application than NHS itself.</p>
<p>It really depends on the status of the club at your school and whether a number of students from your school will be applying to the same universities and colleges.</p>
<p>DD’s HS has NHS, but it isn’t looked on very highly. Rumors run rampant of cheating and lying on the application by many, so there is a small stigma - many of the top kids don’t bother applying and it doesn’t hurt them in admissions. </p>
<p>The main service project for their club is a soup kitchen (2 times a month); there are small projects to a local nursing home (once each year) and Relay for Life which occurs right after school lets out. Otherwise, its really not much of a club/distinction here. In fact, they are trying to drum up greater interest in the club by making induction part of the honors night (also being done to drum up interest in extracurricular academic clubs - ours is a sports driven school).</p>
<p>If your club is more dynamic and service is something you really enjoy, then by all means, join. Like others have said, don’t do it to just pad your resume.</p>
<p>Was not a member.</p>
<p>Unless you are super involved, it isn’t important.</p>
<p>My son didn’t join. He is ranked first in his class, has a perfect ACT score and has 165 hours of community service listed on his transcript, after which they stopped counting (40 was required). What’s a admissions officer going to get from an NHS listing that isn’t already obvious elsewhere? For him, joining wasn’t worth the paperwork.</p>
<p>He also didn’t list that he’s gotten a top-10-in-rank award every semester and all the other goofy awards the school hands out (perfect attendance, anyone?).</p>