The National Society of High School Scholars - Page 2

dufus3709 · 01-30-2006, 11:52 PM

I would not say that it would really hurt you to put in the app, but it would be better not to.

jyancy · 01-31-2006, 02:00 AM

I don't know why there are so many troubling posts already, especially in that link to the high school life one, of people who actually paid them (and even more troubling are people who are supporting such scams by attacking individuals who actually trying to spread the truth about these scams). There are no arguments here- this thing is a scam, period. Putting this one on your application is worse than putting down Who's who and that national honor roll, because this shows that you were actually naive enough to PAY this mailing list scam for wooing you over with drivel and nonsense. There's nothing prestigious about this, they just purchase mailing lists from whoever and wherever they can get and send out this trash to absolutely everyone they can reach. Every year this topic comes up and it's sad to see, because it just means that they have received more than enough funds to continue purchasing mailing lists and sending out letters.

dufus3709 · 01-31-2006, 02:32 AM

When adcoms see it, they will just roll their eyes a little, provided they have enough strength left at that point to do so. It certainly won't help you, but if you've already done it, don't worry. Nobody is going to be denied over it.

Antarius · 01-31-2006, 10:27 AM

whoa... I cant believe that this happens
Thats so evil, total rubbish sending advertisements on such a sensitive topic.

Is there a pattern to who gets it?

spikemom · 01-31-2006, 11:05 AM

yeah, the pattern is, a high school student who is alive and breathing

dufus3709 · 01-31-2006, 11:30 AM

Well, there is worse stuff. Sometimes burglars will use the obituaries to identify houses to rob, and then clean them out during the funeral.

yankeegirl49 · 01-31-2006, 12:22 PM

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.

jyancy · 01-31-2006, 01:44 PM

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.

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).

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).

instanticedtea · 02-11-2006, 06:25 PM

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?

dufus3709 · 02-11-2006, 06:39 PM

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.

I remember that the "Who's Who ... " one dates back to at least the late 1960's.

gangstajuice · 04-08-2009, 07:18 PM

This is such a scam. Why would a "National Society" have international headquarters?!?!

ATLs09 · 04-08-2009, 07:59 PM

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)

MPerfectionist · 04-08-2009, 10:46 PM

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.

Jdogg_007 · 04-17-2009, 11:47 AM

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.

nbg127 · 04-17-2009, 01:11 PM

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.