<p>No, they won't take just anybody, but for most of the CC crowd, it's a slam dunk. I think that's why some of the responses here come off a little jaded.</p>
<p>Congrats to your son.</p>
<p>Actually, though, I would not call it a slam dunk. I was surprised two years ago when several kids in my childs class were not accepted even though they had very high GPA's (and later admitted to Ivy schools). I mentioned to my youger son this year that he should take the application seriously, and sure enough, again, he mentioned the names of a few friends who were not accepted. Both times these kids were shocked that they were not accepted, and had just assumed that they would be a shoe-in. The application was very lengthy--and required the student to demonstrate their leadership and service skills--as well as a commitment to the organization and its activities. Anyway, it served a valuable purpose in helping students in the junior class start thinking about their activities and their resumes--and getting things in order before the college application process starts next year.</p>
<p>NHS has 4 legs - Academic, Service, Leadership, Character. If you took the time to fill out the form (responsibility), and qualified academically, have participated in a number of service projects, have conducted yourself responsibly and shown that you can be a leader in some capacity then it isn't the title NHS that means something- it is that you have proven yourself to be a well grounded student. Many of our top students did not qualify for NHS and sometimes for silly reasons- many of our NHS will not be in the top quintile- but the point is that often the things that you do, the way you conduct your life, can be honored by NHS. And I agree - when it is missing from a transcript, it begs the questions why. Just like an olympiad medal is not worth much on it's own - what the medal stands for and what went into achieving it is what counts. NHS is a reward. Whether the award means anything to the particular student is each individuals own issue. If you earned it - congrats! if you didn't - just ask yourself why and if you are lacking in any of those 4 foundational areas then maybe it's a wake-up call and if not don't worry about it.</p>
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BUT, for the student that didn't belong, they are automatically at a major disadvantage.
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<p>This was certainly not true for me. I got into several top 10 and top 20 schools having voluntarily not joined NHS*. And it's not like I was a prodigy with overwhelming credentials that would have compensated for it.</p>
<p>I don't want to knock NHS for those at schools where it is actually something worthwhile. But I think the idea that not having it will hurt is a myth. There are other ways to demonstrate academics, service, leadership, and character.</p>
<p>*I thought it was ridiculous that they expected my parents to rearrange their schedules to come to a special parents' meeting, or I couldn't join - like my parents had nothing more important in their lives, with jobs, schooling, athletic training, and several young children to look after, than going to a silly meeting so that I could join a resume filler? - so I decided not to bother.</p>
<p>Excellent post 2by2. And for a clarification on my last post; I specifically said that "My point is; you should try and do all the things possible that you have a passion for". The key is passion. I agree that making a laundry list is not a good idea, nor is it beneficial or good use of your time. I also said that if you didn't have NHS or other normal achievements, then you have to come up with other activities that demonstrate some of the same traits. Just like 2by2 mentioned. So, if you have a high schooler that didn't want NHS or didn't get accepted, that's fine; they should however be looking for other activities to demonstrate your Academic, Service, Leadership, Character such as 2by2 mentioned.</p>
<p>I rather think it's the other way around. Lower tier colleges might be impressed by NHS. But the top colleges should know that NHS has widely varying entrance standards and the club usually accomplishes little. To join it and then do little of importance (versus organizing a major project--which could be done outside of NHS just as easily), is just the same as not joining it at all. AdOfficers can look at your academic qualifications and look at your other activities/essays. In that sense NHS is like National Merit Scholar-- it's an award that means little simply because they'll have your actual SAT scores as well to look at. It's redundant.</p>
<p>An acquaintance of ours, a student who was subsequently among the valedictorians at our local high school, was turned down for NHS selection as a junior, reportedly because a teacher on the NHS committee objected to the statement in the students application essay that President Clinton had been impeached. (The teacher thought that this was factually incorrect.) She was accepted by NHS as a senior.</p>
<p>Recently, I was happy to read that the student had been elected to Phi Beta Kappa at the university shes attending. Phi Beta Kappa is something you can put on your resume after youve graduated from college. NHS is not.</p>
<p>NHS is good and its valuable, if its good and if its valuable at your schoolthe chapter makes all the difference.</p>
<p>NHS is certainly an achievement, but the issue with how "valuable" it is in college admissions is that it's not terribly selective. At the top levels of college admissions most students will be NHS members so it doesn't really help set one apart...</p>
<p>NHS= useless unless in leadership position.
Almost everyone is in it. Not hard to get in. Soooooo over rated.</p>
<p>Leadership position in almost any club= good.
NHS member=useless. Whether or not you were capable of joining NHS would reflect on your transcript, imo</p>
<p>I go to a highly competitive high school and half, if not more, of the 700 seniors are in NHS. I agree that it is not a positive for most schools, but is almost an "expected" now. If you are not in NHS and have the grades, they will think you were too lazy to write the essay, do the community service, etc.</p>
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If you are not in NHS and have the grades, they will think you were too lazy to write the essay, do the community service, etc.
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<p>No, really. Not having NHS does not keep you out of good schools. Or at least, it sure didn't keep me out of good schools.</p>
<p>^^ seconded</p>
<p>Yea seriously. You can volunteer on your own, be in and a leader in a volunteer organization,etc ...</p>
<p>It's not possible to make sweeping generalizations about the relative ease/difficulty/meaninglessness of NHS because it apparently varies SO much by high school; they make a REALLY big deal of its importance at our midwestern public HS: out of a graduating class of ~375 seniors, ~ 160 met the GPA requirement, ~ 80 applied, and 21 were inducted. (Some who were passed over seemed at least as worthy as some accepted, so I guess it became a first lesson in the seeming arbitrariness of selective college admissions.) They also are expected to meet a challenging fund-raising goal (apparently in the last 2 years a parent or grandparent had donated a large % of the required amount but D's class was not so lucky) and a nominal amount of community service (can double-count cs they are doing for other things, so most are not doing anything incremental.) </p>
<p>If it feels like an honor and a big deal at your HS, it probably is, in spite of the opinions to the contrary about it elsewhere. Don't expect it to be an admissions boost, but where it is a big deal, the things that stood out to the committee making the membership selection will probably also come through on college applications--with the perpetual caveat that at the most selective colleges all of the students will have those qualities.</p>
<p>^^Also, in a somewhat backhanded vote for "meaningless" in college admission, even here where they make a big deal of it, I know of multiple kids who were among those who applied but were not among the few inducted who have gotten into top 20 U's and top 10 LAC's.</p>
<p>Honestly, a college/university isnt going to check the importance of every highschool's NHS. Its so common in applications I feel like its not that great of a deal.</p>
<p>And I guess that if there were "reasons" that a student was not admitted into NHS (eg. suspensions or other discipline problems), the colllege wouldn't need to read between the lines of non-NHS membership to figure that out-they'd be on the transcript.</p>