<p>Okay, let's be real here. If there is anything more useless in the world, it is membership in either of these organizations. However, being the snob guy I am who wants to look superficially good, I still want to include this crap on my resume. I have a few questions though.</p>
<p>I got my invitation to Golden Key via mail and it says I have to pay a $80 life time membership fee.</p>
<p>1) I don't really want to pay $80 for essentially NOTHING. Can I still include in my resume "Member of Golden Key Society" even though I was nominated and invited but just technically never really wanted to join cause I didn't want to pay the damn $80? It's not like anyone is going to verify that crap right?</p>
<p>I haven't gotten an invitation to Phi Beta Kappa, but according to UCLA PKB's website, the requirement for an invite is a 3.67 GPA when you have 140+ units. I'm like, 80% sure I'll get a 3.67 when all my Fall quarter grades come out and my units will by then have reaced 140 exactly. </p>
<p>2)Will I get my invitation during Winter quarter?
3) Does Phi Beta Kappa have a "fee" too?
4) Same question as #1 applies about PKB</p>
<p>I wouldn’t pay for membership either, but I would advise against saying you’re a member unless you paid the membership fees. If you say you were “nominated” or whatnot, I’m not sure how much that means to anybody. Your stats that got you in should mean more than some organization you paid.</p>
<p>My daughter is a senior at UCLA. Last year, in the spring, she was invited to join Phi Beta Kappa. Juniors are not usually invited and at the new inductee ceremony she went to in June, most were seniors about to graduate. I believe you have to have about a 3.85 to get an invite from Phi Beta Kappa, and be in the top 10% of your class. She has been “invited” to join Golden Key but has not yet done so. I think Phi Beta Kappa is more impressive but in any case I would not put these organizations down on your resume if you have not formally gone through the induction ceremony and are not officially a member. You really don’t want to falsify info on your resume. Who knows, a future employer may see it and be a member themselves and then start asking questions about the organization at your school or something. Bottom line, be truthful with your resume.</p>
Unfortunately for you, verification is as easy as a member searching for your name in the online directory. Back in the day (that day being 15 years or so ago) someone that wanted to check would have had to go to the trouble of a letter, but with the internet anyone with an inkling to check can readily do so.</p>