<p>Aw. Very cute.</p>
<p>"I don't think I have the influence to change anything, especially because our advisor is so rigid. (I honestly believes she yells more then she speaks.)</p>
<p>If I quit then others would follow. 90% of senior NHS members hate NHS; its a joke at my school. No one wants to be the first to quit, but if someone does, the rest will follow.?"</p>
<p>Harvard is very interested in students with the leadership ability to change for the better situations that are bad. While, frankly, H probably won't care if you quit NHS, it could be very impressed if you found a way to make a weak NHS chapter a strong one that students are glad to belong to and that they also participate in to make a difference in the school or society.</p>
<p>Thus far, you don't sound like H material as you complain about NHS because instead of finding a way to change a difficult situation, you seem to be taking pleasure in the idea of leaving the situation and having 90% of the members follow you. If you have that much respect from your peers, you could motivate those 90% of NHS members to do something more positive than quitting the organization.</p>
<p>While H would probably not even notice if you left NHS (and there could be lots of reasons why a student of good character and grades could leave NHS without being kicked out), this is the type of thing that could come up in yourj alum interview, and your reason for leaving NHS is very weak, and is exactly the type of reason that could cause you to not get the backing of your interviewer. Ordinary people -- the type with no chance of getting into Harvard -- handle difficult situations by bowing out. Harvard, however, wants proactive people with the skills and motivation to make a difference, not by leading people to quit an organization, but by finding a way to change an organization for the better.</p>
<p>The very fact that you are posting about your situation on the H board to find out whether leaving NHS will hurt your H chances makes you seem unlike the type of students that H is looking for. It's probably hard for you to believe, but H is looking for students who participate in activities out of their own interest, not because the activities will impress H.</p>
<p>The Principal of my school got kick out of NHS when he was in high school. Look where that got him: Being principal of a high school and making 6 figures salary. Woe to those who was betrayed by NHS.</p>
<p>do principals really make a 6 figure salary?</p>
<p>Yeah, administrators in my district make around $100,000, but just barely. Teachers, on the other hand, make about $55,000.</p>
<p>Perhaps I am simply too cynical. NHS seems like this amazing club where the whole point is to help others and to excel academically. Instead, I see it as a complete sham. Another club I severely disagree with is Student Council. </p>
<p>It has similar problems, no one can get things done, time is wasted on useless things such as what the theme for the school dance should be, random shouting is the way to be heard, etc. Even though I was elected for an office, I chose to quit Student Council.</p>
<p>Why? It was a matter of opportunity cost. With the effort it would have taken to revise student council into an efficient and useful club, I decided to found my own club (unrelated to school goverment). Sure the Student Council office would look better on an app then founding some random club, but I've learned much more and have had much more fun in the club that I founded then I would have had in Student Council.</p>
<p>As an officer in Student Council, I would have had a great deal of say in how the meetings would be run. I could have made a difference, but I chose not to. Now, in NHS, I have absolutely no say (there are so many members our advisor can barely remember our names). If I chose not to make a difference earlier when the odds were in my favor, why would I choose to do so now? We have fewer than 10 meetings this year. Each meeting is about 20 minutes long. Is it worth it? I don't think so.</p>
<p>If the way I acted makes me unworthy of Harvard, I suppose I'll just have to be happy elsewhere.</p>
<p>Shark_bite, why would Harvard know that you were in NHS one year and then not in NHS this year? Are you going to tell them on purpose? No, right.
In fact, they probably don't care. That is, it probably just doesn't matter whether you stay in NHS this year or no. Do whatever. You don't even have to decide really. It just is not a serious concern.</p>
<p>It's OK, I quit NHS too-- I was too busy pursuing academic excellence and service to waste an hour a week watching popularity-contest-winning officers talk about academic excellence and service.</p>
<p>Or you could stay, if, like at my school, you get a little white NHS collar at graduation. You see, without this little white collar your graduation robe looks pretty bad, and to get this little white collar you've got to stay in NHS. But it's cool, because everybody knows what NHS is for (the collar).</p>
<p>"
Now, in NHS, I have absolutely no say (there are so many members our advisor can barely remember our names)."</p>
<p>Something doesn't add up. You said before that if you quit NHS, 90% of the club would also quit. If that's true, then you should have the clout to make the club into something more than it is now. </p>
<p>"Why? It was a matter of opportunity cost. With the effort it would have taken to revise student council into an efficient and useful club, I decided to found my own club (unrelated to school goverment). Sure the Student Council office would look better on an app then founding some random club, but I've learned much more and have had much more fun in the club that I founded then I would have had in Student Council.</p>
<p>As an officer in Student Council, I would have had a great deal of say in how the meetings would be run. I could have made a difference, but I chose not to. "</p>
<p>So, what club did you found and what has it accomplished?</p>
<p>Jesus. Just quit. It's seriously not that big of a deal. Our valedictorian a couple years ago quit NHS cause she was extremely unhappy with it. She was also student body president. She was accepted to every single school she applied to, with significant scholarships.</p>
<p>"Or you could stay, if, like at my school, you get a little white NHS collar at graduation. You see, without this little white collar your graduation robe looks pretty bad, and to get this little white collar you've got to stay in NHS. But it's cool, because everybody knows what NHS is for (the collar)."</p>
<p>See what I mean? I don't care for the little NHS collar (or whatever our school has.) I hate the idea of being recognized for a club I hated, and for wearing a symbol that in essence says "I'm smarter then you better then you and will most likely make more money then you."</p>
<p>Also, though I think I'm reasonably well liked, I doubt I have the clout to convince 90% of NHS members to drop just because I asked them to. However, I do know that 90% of our members are extremely dissatisfied with the club and that if someone quit (not necessarily me) and showed them it can be done, many would also quit.</p>
<p>A friend of mine wanted to run for NHS president. He was a day late turning in his nomination sheet because he was absent for a field trip. Since he was a good friend of mine, I set up a petition to let him run for office anyway. Sure, it was his fault for not turning in the sheet on time, but considering the fact that 34 of the 40 NHS members signed the petition it would make sense for our advisor to make an exception. Our advisor refused and became quite angry that we even tried. The one person allowed to run for president won with a landslide of 4 votes.</p>
<p>You don't have to like my ideas or believe anything I say; I mean I could be exaggerating everything I write just to justify quitting. I dont really feel like discussing my other club at all. Im not here to impress anyone or try to win sympathy. I just want some advice on a tough but relatively simple question. Thanks Northstarmom and everyone else for your advice, but quite honestly I dont want to talk about this subject anymore.</p>
<p>I side with the advisor. Your friend's lack of getting the paperwork in on time indicated his organizational skills are lacking or he wasn't that motivated to become president. Neither possibility bodes well for a future club president.</p>
<p>If he had been suddenly hospitalized and that caused the delay, I'd be sympathetic, but I am sure that he knew about the fieldtrip in advance, and he could have gotten his application in on time or early if he had really wanted to.</p>
<p>Just because 34 NHS members supported him doesn't mean that what he did was OK. I think the advisor made a good decision to not cave into that kind of pressure from students' supporting another student's irresponsibility.
"
A friend of mine wanted to run for NHS president. He was a day late turning in his nomination sheet because he was absent for a field trip. Since he was a good friend of mine, I set up a petition to let him run for office anyway. Sure, it was his fault for not turning in the sheet on time, but considering the fact that 34 of the 40 NHS members signed the petition it would make sense for our advisor to make an exception. Our advisor refused and became quite angry that we even tried. The one person allowed to run for president won with a landslide of 4 votes."</p>
<p>One last thing: When I was at Harvard, I found that the student club officers were more anal retentive about deadlines than were most teachers and professors that I ever had (Harvard profs were, incidentally, very lax about whether students made paper deadlines). The students tended to take club responsibilities very seriously and not to have any patience with those who did not.</p>
<p>Thank you very much. I can see where those officers are coming from; I've been told I am also quite stringent during my meetings as well.</p>
<p>"The advisor is one of meanest people on the face of the planet, the officers aren't organized and its a complete waste of time. I hate everything about it. I hate it on basic moral principal."</p>
<p>"I can see where those officers are coming from; I've been told I am also quite stringent during my meetings as well."</p>
<p>Hold on. Are you an officer, or are you dissatisfied with the officers?</p>
<p>I have officer positions in other clubs. I am involved with plenty of other clubs-ones I actually enjoy. NHS happens to be my least favorite club, at least out of the clubs I am involved with. </p>
<p>I joined for NHS for three reasons. </p>
<ol>
<li>I had already done the 50 hours of required volunteer work on my own (I just had to go get some proof that I had done it. (Ive done more, but I only provided proof for 50 hours.)</li>
<li>I already had the grades or "dedication to academic excellence" as they so eloquently phrased it, to get in.</li>
<li>I had the same misguided, optimistic view of NHS as all my friends. I thought that we would have fun helping people out and that we would get to fix actual problems in our community. Of course I shouldnt forget to mention the archaic idea that it would somehow boost our resume.</li>
</ol>
<p>I don't want to be a part of a club that makes volunteering required and simple altruism a chore. Coupled with the fact that our advisor believes that we are a bunch of 3rd graders who can't be spoken to at a reasonable decibel...I just don't want to be apart of the club.</p>
<p>I'm sorry; I'm just using this thread as a personal journal in which I rant about how frustrated I am with NHS. I probably sound like a self-absorbed, cynical jerk right about now. Its actually seems to relieve stress to just complain to a bunch of random people on an anonymous forum. I guess this is why AA works so well.</p>
<p>Once again, thanks for all your advice.</p>
<p>Shark_Bite:
You can certainly put down National Honor Society on your application. You earned it, and you were inducted into it. My suggestion is that if you truly are miserable in it, continue to focus your energy toward the clubs/activities that you like and use your leadership positions effectively. Quietly withdraw from NHS, without trying to take others with you. If the advisor asks why you quit, politely explain your reasoning.
There is no good reason to keep doing something that makes you so unhappy. It's really not going to matter in the long run.
Don't make yourself nuts over your application. Be yourself and you will shine. (And, be sure you have a few good safety schools to apply to also, as everyone should!) :)</p>