<p>Well, there is worse stuff. Sometimes burglars will use the obituaries to identify houses to rob, and then clean them out during the funeral.</p>
<p>I disagree..there are scholarships available through membership in the NSHSS, one of which my daughter won. They aren't a lot of money, but the one she won was worth a lot more than the $45 it cost to join.</p>
<p>yankeegirl49, those random drawings for scholarships are ploys used by these organizations for advertisement purposes on their letters to hook people into giving them money. They take a small fraction of the amount of money they take in from their audience that actually believes there's merit to their organization, and in turn put out some meager carrot on a stick so they can describe the amazing and vast benefits and prestige of their glorious organization. </p>
<p>In reality, you can find plenty of legitimate scholarship opportunities that are free to apply to, as they should be (like through fastweb which is a scholarship search engine, and coincidentally places you on the mailing lists of these who's who, national honor roll, nhssss, and other glorious programs).</p>
<p>Placing this "award" on your college application is analogous to placing on it that you won some "thank you for participating!" award at some science fair (except it would actually require you to do work for the science fair while the glorious organizations require nothing, and even "rewards" fake applications with praises and advertisements of year books and graduation trinkets).</p>
<p>I got Who's Who letter and NSHSS letters too the other day. I've heard these are both scams, but I filled out the Who's Who one since it was free. But the NSHSS one is $45...should I actually pay? How do you guys know that these are scams?</p>
<p>It is just common knowledge that they are scams. I actually saw a post on here last year from a parent who had personally tracked down one of them. I forget which one, but I remember that it had an address on Penn Ave in Wash DC. The parent lived in DC and went to the address and it was only a mailbox. He tracked it further to a marketing firm in NYC. The ones that don't require money make their profits from selling mailing lists. If you signup, you will get more junk mail. It probably doesn't hurt to put it on the app beyond the fact that adcoms will skip over it. I doubt if it even registers when they see it because probably enough people put it down that it isn't unusual.</p>
<p>I remember that the "Who's Who ... " one dates back to at least the late 1960's.</p>
<p>This is such a scam. Why would a “National Society” have international headquarters?!?!</p>
<p>It’s not a scam. A lot of societies outside provide you pay a fee. Through the NSHSS organization they offer many events, scholarships, and college fairs. Most people who are in NSHSS, however, pay the fee and neglect to be active in the society. (because of this, I don’t think it’s too impressive in admissions)</p>
<p>It’s nice to be published in the Who’s Who publications. NSHSS also offers many scholarships and events all over the country to its members. I don’t think they’re scams.</p>
<p>If anyone can give me some more insight I got a letter from the NSHSS wanting $60 and I am hearing it is a scam and hearing it is not a scam so I need some help. Please and thank you.</p>
<p>don’t do it. Believe it or not my mom fell for this one my sophomore year. My school had just released the names of the new Honor Society members, then this shows up in the mail two days later. She thought we had to pay to join and sent the $60 in. I didn’t know until she handed me this fancy packet. Nothing in it but glossy info and a certificate. Then I told her it wasn’t NHS. She felt stupid for falling for this. I really wonder how many other parents they trick into paying. I didn’t list it on any of my apps. I don’t think it is a true scam - they never asked for anything else. But it won’t help you get into college which I think is the real question so what’s the point? Only join if you actually want to participate.</p>
<p>I think they send it out at the same time as NHS for the same reason. I (stupidly) fell for this because I didn’t even read the title, it just said something like $60 dues needed. We are going to get our money back, it’s unfair and cheap little scam.</p>
<p>Yea, I wouldn’t say it’s a “scam” but NSHSS does not really help for colleges…especially for top-tier colleges. I paid money for both NSHSS and National Honor Roll but I’m not going to mention either on my apps. It’s not worth it.</p>
<p>and also to many, NSHSS may seem awesome just because it is from the “nobel prize family”
but it’s Claes Nobel, who’s like the grandson of Nobel…he doesn’t have any major accomplishments…they are just using his name.</p>
<p>I paid for NSHSS, and I put it on my applications. There’s a small one-time fee, so I don’t feel “scammed,” but I can’t say whether it helped me or not. I got in to all the colleges I applied to, including top-tier schools. Probably the best benefit is access to the scholarships offered only to NSHSS members. Not much money, but money is money when it comes to college bills.</p>
<p>^Did you put NSHSS specifically in your college applications?
And congrats on Stanford! Maybe it was your other ec’s/essays/recs/leadership/grades that helped…
I highly doubt they even looked at the NSHSS award.</p>
<p>^Yes, I put National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) - like that exactly</p>
<p>And thanks! :)</p>
<p>I agree with you. My point is that I can’t tell what did it (well, I think it was my essays), but I understand the uncertainty of joining NSHSS. Being an NSHSS member isn’t going to make or break your application, and it’s not going to be a deciding factor.</p>
<p>But is being in the National Honor Society or similar societies any different? I think all these societies look better en masse rather than individually. But who really understands admissions…</p>
<p>I think it’s a scam; after I recieved my letter, I found out my ex-boyfriend - with grades and ec’s impressive enough only to get him a scathing rejection letter from every top-tier school and even from crappy schools- also got the letter. Let’s just say I was disheartened and threw that letter and its free T-shirt offer in the trash. XD</p>
<p>^Lol free stuff is free stuff. I ordered the T-shirt too. It’s sitting in my closet right now. I’m probably never going to wear it. But it was free :]</p>
<p>It is not a SCAM. They give you what they tell you they will, membership, that free cord thing, and a CHANCE at scholarships. This means it is not a SCAM but HIGHLY unworth it. This will not help you on applications, but only show that you have extra money to waste on this stuff. Also barely anyone gets a scholarship and they are very small amounts.</p>
<p>By the way, not only Juniors get the “invites”. I know MANY freshmen who got them too.</p>
<p>Its a scam. An expelled freshman received one in my household. I have received several over the last 2 years. They buy names off lists (College Board, etc) and then mass-mail. They use the money paid into it to offer some scholarships to get positive word of mouth going, and continue to survive off the new members. It is not impressive to any college.</p>
<p>“They buy names off lists (College Board, etc) and then mass-mail. They use the money paid into it to offer some scholarships to get positive word of mouth going, and continue to survive off the new members.”</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean it is a scam. You should look up the definition and remind yourself what a scam really is.</p>