dzleprechaun

<i>And how is NSCS not a scam? i got it and it seems so scammish to me? would you enlighten me?</i>

Well, let's see. For starters, there's over 200 student-run NSCS chapters nationwide that plan various events and programs - that part of it is dependent on the chapter at your school. Beyond that, there's a number of national opportunities you can apply for: scholarships, summer internships, service spring break trips, a position on the student National Leadership Council, etc. It's all on the website.

kevintech

PTK will help for applying to east coast schools. PTK is pretty big there.

jenwat

Hi,

I am a current alumni member and I was a chapter officer for my chapter of NSCS. I can tell you from personal experience that NSCS is a legitimate organization that is well worth the membership dues.

I belong to four honor societies on my campus. NSCS was the first that I joined because they honor freshman and sophomores who maintain thir GPA. Of all of the honor societies that I joined, NSCS is THE SINGLE MOST active organization.

First, let me make it clear that it is up to you son our daughter how much you want to use NSCS. NSCS doesn't require members to complete a certain amount of activities. Instead, they provide and the members take advantage of what they want to. Each chapter gets a certain cut of the dues that new members turn in each year and it is dispersed two times per year so that chapters can budget. With that money chapters plan and implement the induction ceremony, socials, community service events, academic development events, leadership activities, and whatever else members want. The rest of the dues is used towards national scholarships, chapter grants, leadership summits, regional conferences, etc. ALL of which bennefits the members.

Chapters have meetings (most chapters meet once or twice per month) with members. During these meetings, members have the chance to network with other students and faculty from their school. They learn about what their chapter is doing that moth (again service, socials, leadership, academic stuff, etc) and they give ideas of what they want to see from the chapter. They also learn what the national office (located in Washington DC) has to offer them.

The national office offers TONS of scholarships that members apply for online. They offer study abroad and scholar at sea programs. They have a program called the distinguished scholar program which is an internship program. They have a leadership summit every summer with sessions on getting financial aid for school, law school and grad school planning, resume building, interview strategies, and much more! They also offer everyday life help like health insurance offers, car insurance, discounts on services, etc.

I have never been involved in an organization that cares so much about members. The national office is constantly getting feedback from officers and MEMBERS on what they want to see from the organization. In fact, you can personally meet members from the national staff at your son or daughter's induction ceremony! Furthermore, the staff visits each chapter about twice per year and once they hold a meeting with the members to get feedback!

In my involvement with NSCS, I have been to two leadership summits (one in Washington, DC and one in Denver, CO); two regional conferences (one in Atlanta, GA and one in Tuskaloosa, AL);service activities like a diversity fair, coastal cleanup, helping paint the rooms of disabled children, and many more; socials like karaoke, BBQ, ice cream social, movie night; and academic activities like free graduate school test prep and admissions, and study groups. Furthermore, my chapter's advisor has written letters of recommendation for countless NSCS members including myself and he is a major factor in my getting into law school. He has also helped three of our chapter's members get the outstanding senior award from our school (awarded to only one senior at each graduation ceremony), and has helped me to get a scholarship from the school.

I think that the one time membership fee is nothing compared to what you can get out of it. I strongly encourage you to visit the NSCS national site at www.nscs.org. There is a phone number there that you can actually call their office and talk to a staff member any time during normal business hours.

chibiutena

I'm Vice President of the Golden key HOnor Society. Yes, we're legitimate but our focus is more on community service than anything else. one of our alums is Bill Clinton and our sponsors include Boeing and Bank of America. @ the International Conference, we met chapters from Austrailia and South Africa (who lived in a box for 3 days to raise money for the homeless) and our keynote speaker was Sean Connery. We gave away 2 $500 CAMPUS scholarships as well as several $10,000 national scholarships. It really is worth joining just to see whats out there.

Citan

is Golden Key really the scam?

chibiutena

No. Though national deans list and who's who is in my opinion.

Golden key is a campus club.

Twenty8

I got my refund from NSCS, because the chapter at my school did not do community service (nor did anyone ever contact me for confirmation of my acceptance). Instead, it just made the members donate money or buy things to earn an outrageous number of points each semester. Obviously, this is a private school.

Definetly do some research before you sign up for an honor society. I had a hard time getting my money back. They really did not want to give it up lol.

chibiutena

Well for GK, we do a few activities every week but no one comes. Its usually just the 10 of us on the executive board. But if you guys have an active golden key chapter, you can petition to attend the International Conference- all expenses paid. Which more than makes up for whatever you put in in the first place.

theherald

for some reason, people who "work" or "volunteer" for these organizations remind me of telemarketers.

regardless of what you guys say about NSCS, i still think it's pretty shady (and stupid). I got an e-mail out of nowhere stating how you are a top achiever and to seriously consider membership--which required a good deal of $$$. it's so effin annoying how they mail you crap asking for money along with bumper stickers. dear god, i actually feel bad for the people that put such organizations on their transfer applications.

"Only first- and second-year students who rank in the top 20th percentile of their class and have a minimum GPA of 3.4 are invited to join."

my roommate got a 2.4 gpa first semester and he got an invitation to NSCS. lma0.

don't hate hahahaha, everything IMO.

dzleprechaun

I'm not a telemarketer and I'm not making money hand over fist with each membership check. A significant part of the NSCS experience depends on how active the chapter at your university is. That is something that is largely up to the students themselves who run it, rather than the national office, although we do try to provide direction, guidance, etc.

As for the "good deal of $$$," the lifetime membership fee is $75, which is less than the cost of the average textbook. If you really want to know where that money goes, our finances are public record as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. If you are unable to pay the membership fee due to pressing financial circumstances, you can contact our office and we are willing to waive the fee.

The point of NSCS is not to be a self-sufficient line on your resume or transfer application. If you are active in the chapter and accomplish various projects, you will have something to show for your membership that will, in fact, be worth pointing out. It is like any other student organization in that regard - what you get out of it is based on what you put it. By way of example, I would point to Sara Bright at Northern Illinois University, who started an initiative to help build a home for a family in New Orleans. That drive has now spread to other chapters and is making real headway.

On top of that, there are numerous scholarship opportunities, as well as programming and other benefits, available through the national office. When I arrived at Georgetown as a freshman, I was a bit suspicious as well, but then I found out that an RA in my building had applied for and received a $1,000 scholarship from NSCS. You actually do have to apply, though - again, the burden is on the member to maximize the rewards of their experience.

If anyone has any specific questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them in whatever way I can.

P.S. As for someone receiving an invitation with a 2.4... First of all, do you really know his GPA for a fact? I'm not suggesting that you're lying, just noting that a lot of people try to play down their level of academic success. Secondly, there are a number of schools that do not release the names of their students to us - we essentially have to trust them to send our invitation letters to qualified people. If they make a mistake, not only is that not our fault but we would have no way of ever knowing about it.

*devo*

I am not convinced, especially since the poster jenwat, who left the huge explanation about the society, has only six, identical posts in other threads.
It's either a scam or a super lame club that won't help you. Jenwat's post comes off as propaganda to me.

dzleprechaun

Or she only wants to answer what is essentially the same question (is NSCS a scam?) once. No reason why copy and pasting the same answer shouldn't suffice.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "super lame club." If you feel that community service is super-lame then I feel pity for you. As for being something that "won't help you," if you really are involved, then it definitely will help you because you will have concrete accomplishments to point to. Some honors/awards/memberships "help you" by virtue of their reputation, built up by virtue of their selectivity, their strict criteria for admission, etc. The Innocents at Nebraska would be something along those lines, as are many of the award societies in high schools like NHS, Mu Alpha Theta, Quill & Scroll, Cum Laude, etc.

That's not what NSCS is about - how valuable and worthwhile it is, how much it "helps you," is largely based on how much you put into it. In that regard, it's not much different from the Key Club in high school. If you were a member of the Key Club and paid your dues for it but didn't actually do anything, it will be just one more line on your resume or application. If you actually participated in activities and accomplished things, though, that line will have much more weight and substance behind it.

SocSkiBlue

Great line I just found within a NSCS letter:

"You should know that there is always a fee with joining an honors organization"

Can I yell out a big BS?

That should prove to you right there that all this group wants is more money, not to mention jenwat's ramblings and the lengthy amounts of info that the lowly intern dz has at his fingers.

SleeplessTN

Thought I would share this bit from The National Dean's List's site. I have read over the site and do not understand why some of you consider it a scam. Please enlighten me.
Legitimate honors should not cost the recipient money. Therefore, there are no financial responsibilities whatsoever contingent upon recognition in The National Dean's List®.

zhgiu

NSCS sounds like suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch a scam

of course people who are scammed are in denial and trying to make it real.