<p>I apologize if this has been asked already, but I haven't found any information.</p>
<p>Today I received an invitations to Sigma Alpha Pi honor society. I've never heard of this organization and didn't know my college had a chapter. When I got to the second paragraph I thought the whole thing was bogus. They were offering all kinds of fancy things that came along with membership like scholarships and letters of recommendation. They also said the organization was very "selective" and I was selected based on gpa. It really sounded ridiculous when I read that in order to even attend an information meeting you needed to activate a membership code and pay $85. Red flags all around.</p>
<p>I already belong to a legitimate honor society and it involved a lot more than just paying a fee and you're in. I'm wondering what kind of gpa requirements get you an invitation and the minimum they accept. My gpa is about 3.5. Is this a legitimate honor society and if so is it respected and worthwhile? My gut feeling is telling me no and I won't be wasting my money until I can get some answers. </p>
<p>I'm also contacting my school tomorrow to find out information. Do you have any information about this?</p>
<p>Scam. Don’t bother. I got emails like that before I started college too</p>
<p>I’m actually going to be a senior in college this August. Never got a letter from them in hs. I did do a quick fb post to see if any college friends got the same letter. My friend happened to be a member, now graduated, and said it was a legitimate organization and while not totally bogus, it wasn’t really worth $85.</p>
<p>They don’t have a single chapter at any top school, sounds like a scam to me.</p>
My son just received an invitation in the mail. He and I also questioned the validity (he is a sophomore at UMD). He is also an Engineering major and not sure how joining the society will help his future career.
It is legit . I just joined … my Phi Alpha Delta brother is the president .
Most honors societies like this can be legitimate, but offer no realistic benefits for you after paying the fee to join the organization. Like the scholarships and things they claim to offer may be very selective that you might just apply to a regular scholarship program. I personally wouldn’t bother. There are standarized honors societies that everyone recognizes like NHS or Phi Beta Kappa, but I personally don’t think this would be worth it.
^This. It’s not a scam per se, in that the society really does exist. However, there are so many college honor societies that are not widely recognized and offer little benefit to the student after they pay their money and join. Usually the “scholarships” they advertise are small (certainly less than $2,000, often less than $1,000) and highly competitive (they may only offer one for the entire membership). And letters of recommendation you can easily get without belonging to an honor society at all, let alone one that most people have never heard of.
But yeah, I wouldn’t join anything that made me pay money before I was even able to go to an informational meeting about it.