Mortar Board/Honors Societies

[lovelines]

I got a notice on myucla about applying to Mortar Board. I was wondering if anyone knew about this honor society and how people are selected. The website only gives details about the application, but how many people get in? Is it as competitive as it is at other schools?

Also, I'm junior standing but this is my 2nd year at UCLA. Should I apply this year or next year?

How many honors societies do we really have at UCLA? There's ALD/PES, NSCS, Golden Key, etc.

[BoelterHall]

I'd like to know too. Same position as you lovelines. I did sit in on one of there meetings unintentionally (they were in DeNeve study lounge and I was studying there).

I don't know if that was an officer meeting or general, but there was about 40-50 people who showed up.

If you look at the officers list, there's about 30, so I am guessing there are lots of members selected. Unless every member has to become an officer ...

[sooskay]

yeah, i'm also wondering if it's worth it to join ALD/PES? any members here that can share some feedback? thanks!

[thesuperjlai]

and what exactly does mortar board do (and it's members-- what do they do?) hm. i'm in the same position has both of you guys. what is the application like and when is it due?

[BoelterHall]

From what I saw, it's kind of like a more formal version of Key Club. They promote service and leadership, and I think you need to meet the community service requirement per quarter to stay in.

Otherwise, the officer positions act the same as in any other social club.

Application is simple - 1 copy of DPR and 1 rec. Plus the usual "describe your leadership/community service during college".

It's due the day after V-day.

[megathunder]

I got the memo, too, and think it's pretty useless. I mean, their website is janky as hell and the GPA minimum is 3.0?? Not very prestigious if you ask me and if they meet in a dorm study lounge how worthwhile could it be?

[Newton]

how competitive is are the applications? do they really care about your essay and extracurricular activities?

[ohhowiwish]

i think THE honor society is phi beta kappa. for some reason, all the upperclassmen ppl tell me that it isnt worth paying all the other honor societies, but make an exception for pbk. i'm not sure why, but the way its talked about, there seems to be a huge leap in prestige between this gpa based society and all the others

[namaste]

so i joined aldpes but found it to be really pretentious... basically a bunch of kids who dress up in semi formal all the time and read to old people once a quarter. if you have nothing else to do it can be a way to make friends but it aint going to help you in terms of life experience or resume.

mortar board is a similar deal i hear. have also heard phi beta kappa is somewhat legit but thats the only one.

[dawritingmachine]

namaste, so do you not recommend ald/pes? the application is just filling out a one pg form and $70...for life... sounds attractive to me. how time consuming is it?

[BoelterHall]

PBK is pretty prestigious and difficult to get in until your last quarters. I wonder if it is well-known (since I know I haven't heard of it ... )

[namaste]

complete waste of money. now all ALD PES does is spam me with emails about their "volunteer and dance with old people" things. they have officers and meetings but im not sure what they do, besides their quarterly community service events.

[dawritingmachine]

are ald/pes members in both ald and pes?

[mikemac]

PBK is probably under-appreciated on college campuses because you don't get invited to join until near the end of college or when you're graduating. At ucla I think it is almost all graduating seniors. So you won't meet a lot of current undergrads in it. However it is THE prestigious honor society across the colleges in the country. Unfortunately it is geared towards liberal-arts majors so engineers, arts majors, and the like usually don't have the breadth of classes to qualify.

See http://www.college.ucla.edu/pbk/