Good morning. DS24 received an “invitation” to become a member of the National Society of High School Scholars. They charge you $75 and then you are considered a member. This reminds me of the invitations both my husband and I have received from similar organizations that honor you by listing your name on some website and charge you to do so. Anyone know if this is the same type of thing? I am about to throw it away but curious if anyone knows if this is indeed legit so I do not pitch it in the trash if there is someone benefit.
Straight to the circular file! 
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We received this invitation when my D was a rising sophomore, and did some research. First of all, it’s far from exclusive because it claims to have nearly a million members. Second, it’ll add nothing to your son’s college application profile.
It’s not a scam per-se because it seems they do give out $5,000 scholarships to a few students. So maybe more like playing the lottery. But overall, really not worth it.
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Scam? No. But the ROI for 99.9999% is negative $75
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It will be one of many! I think my D gets 4-6 invitations/year (and it lasts all through college). Unless your child is going to be involved in leadership in the organization in some way, pitch it, even for “legit” societies.
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I will add, should you decide to fork out the 75 dollars, please save your child from the embarrassment of putting the bumper sticker on your car.
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We got this last night too. I keep wanting to create a box of all of it, including getting swag already, he is also class of 24.
A scam is typcially defined as a fraudulent offering that takes money from you and does not provide what was offered. AFAIK, NSHSS has been around for a long time and provides the benefits that it describes.
Many consider it to not be worth the price charged, but everyone has their own way of valuing what may be offered.
I would not recommend joining, as I don’t believe the benefits offers are worth the price charged. This is the same feedback I posted about the Van Gough Immersive Experience discussed in another thread. I did not classify that as a scam.
Not a scam per se, because you get a membership for your money. It’s just that it’s worthless and may „members“ seem pretentious, because it’s playing off the NHS — which actually DOES have to be earned.
I know of gullible parents and high schoolers who announced how proud they were of having been „chosen“.
The rule still applies: If you have to buy it, it’s not an honor.
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Many honor societies charge a small fee, so I wouldn’t necessarily agree with the latter point. For example, PBK is highly selective but does charge a small lifetime membership fee once selected.
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Valid point with respect to PBK - she did have to become a paying member to be able to list it on résumés.
In the case of the NHS, our high-school had covered any registration and cost of branded trinkets they handed out during the award ceremony.
I suppose the key difference is, whether the membership was an invitation extended through a formal process at the high school/college, based on the school’s/faculty selection criteria for NHS, PBK, etc., or whether it was just a sales pitch from an unaffiliated party blanketing a commercial mailing list?
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Is NHS based on GPA? How does a student get invited/nominated for NHS?
High Schools set up a local chapter of the NHS. There are some minimum national standards, but the specific criteria/implementation are left to each High School. There is always some grade requirement, and it could include a commitment for some “public service”.
At our high school, "candidates must be members of the junior or senior class and
have a weighted GPA average of 93.75 (no rounding). Eligibility for membership shall then
be evaluated according to service, leadership, and character." You also had to commit to a tutoring rotation.
The chapters have to require at least “a cumulative GPA of 85, B, 3.0 on a 4.0 scale”, so that they adapt a “cut-off” that is suitably achievable and selective for their student body.
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