<p>I think it has potential to be a good thing if you actually get involved in it and hold a high office. It could really help get you noticed at your school by the administration, if PTK is good at your specific school. That can have obvious benefits when it comes to recommendations, dean reports, and future contacts. If you apply just to put it on your transcript or resume, it is useless.</p>
<p>But it does not get you automatically into Phi Beta Kappa when you transfer. They are not related organizations that transfer students back and forth between each of them. You have to apply specifically to each one.</p>
<p>Because of PTK I have a significant amount of scholarship money from Fairleigh Dickinson, a full scholarship from Rutgers, and a whopping... $2500 from NYU. I'm waiting to see how much Drew will give me, but I'm guessing it'll be in the $10K ballpark. </p>
<p>I hold no office in my chapter and haven't been involved much. However, it does pay to join.</p>
<p>Yes, all the people that wrote that PTK is bull sh it is either kidding or is just a plain dumbfck. There are tons of scholarships that are only available to PTK members. I got a book scholarship just for being a board member. I didnt even apply for the scholarship.</p>
<p>oh man dude i love this scholarly debate about the merits of the organization and dumbfcks</p>
<p>ok. if one plans on a UC transfer....its dirty</p>
<p>you mean it's not applicable for uc transfers</p>
<p>its applicable but as far as I can see....worthless</p>
<p>chunk you are right about that. The truth is that PTK is not considered to be a pretty worthless EC most of the time, however, it does offer some good scholarships. So, check if it has something to offer you before you join.</p>
<p>In order to be eligible for PTK here in San Diego a student must take a full coarse load and have no less than a 3.8 GPA… I go to a very large CC - San Diego City College and this last year there were only about 50 people who were eligible out of the thousands that go to school here. People who have 3.8’s and above are not “jokes”. And - when one guy talked about PTK - ZEEMOOKMOOK - and said, “No, seriously, PTK is not prestigious. it’s not elite, its not selective, and getting inducted is just a joke” You are an ass… If they only let “average students” like you in then i would agree with your post about PTK not being selective. But thankfully they only accept GPA’S of 3.8 and above. How much more selective can they be.</p>
<p>PTK is a respectable organization at the CC I am transferring from. I got offered scholarships by PTK at a couple of the schools I was accepted to ($7500/year). I dunno how it is viewed as as far as EC’s go unless you actually become involved in the chapter on your campus (leadership/comm. service) but if you plan to apply to a number of schools where PTK offers scholarships then it is totally worth joining in my opinion. The required GPA at my school to be invited was 3.75.</p>
<p>I am an officer in my ptk chapter. All I can say is it is shady and zemook is 100% right. These kids get together to pretend to do work. When they do work, it’s trivial things like car washes and clothe drives. PTK is a joke and it will simply be one of my last options to put down for ECs even though I am one of the high ranked officers. As far as scholarships go, there aren’t any good schools that offer PTK scholarships so…</p>
<p>On the other hand…</p>
<p>I am NOT an officer. In fact, I have never attended a single meeting before.</p>
<p>I did however pay the $75 membership fee and get scholarship offers from:</p>
<p>WUSTL
Cornell University CALS
U of Rochester
NYU</p>
<p>All of them were well into the thousands. </p>
<p>While it may not look too great on your accomplishments section, it sure as heck looks great on your financial aid report if you get accepted.</p>
<p>Hmm Cornell has ptk scholarships?</p>
<p>As a result of belonging to PTK, I got offers of PTK-related scholarships from several private schools. In addition, a bunch of schools began bombarding me with e-mails begging me to apply. At first I was skeptical of the quality of those schools (I mean, they were basically spamming me), but as it turns out, some of them were quite prestigious. Tulane was one of them . . . Columbia also e-mailed me, specifically mentioning that they liked PTK students for their “nontraditional student” program (the name of it escapes me at the moment.) Cornell also e-mailed me. </p>
<p>As far as “doing things”, maybe PTK is a joke. But is “doing things” really what PTK is all about? It is, after all, based on academics . . . If your academics are sufficient, you ARE doing something–studying for tests and doing homework. If belonging to this organization that’s “a joke” nets me thousands of dollars in scholarships and garners me the attention of schools who otherwise wouldn’t notice me, I would say that’s a pretty good joke–one I will heartily laugh along with.</p>
<p>I was invited to join Phi Theta Kappa a few weeks ago, but I haven’t yet because I don’t have $80 laying around at the moment for that. I will though in the next few weeks, especially since they offer scholarships for one of my top choice schools.</p>