Or is it fluff? It is new at our school this year.
In my circles the consensus is you can include it as an Award if you feel like it, or an Activity if you are an active participant, including if you are an officer.
Of course if you have other things you would rather include, that is fine too.
NHS at our school offers volunteering opportunities, community service, etc. If you take advantage of what your school NHS offers, those things might be meaningful on a college application.
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By itself, it is nothing. All top students will be in it. But if you get involved with leadership, service, etc within it, it can be impressive. Also, they have lots of scolarships you can apply for, so keep that it mind.
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S24 is in PTK. We listed it, figured there are 10 spots on applications to list awards and activities, and why not.
NHS on its own is not much, but it structures opportunities that, if you take part, do matter (volunteering, etc). What matters to colleges isn’t the title but what you effectively did.
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No “activity” or “award” means much - but as others said, it’s what you did, accomplished is what matters.
That said, if you have space and add it, it’s not going to hurt. It’s just unlikely to help (unless there is meaning behind it).
Good luck.
My son never added it since it seemed like everyone was in it at his school.
Fluff.
More than 1.4 million students participate in NHS nationwide.
NHS doesn’t signify anything top grades don’t already signify, unless the school chapter is really active and there’s some way to demonstrate leadership or impact through it.
Ours requires an additional 30 hours of service per year. On top of the 30 already required. I thought all NHS chapters were the same?
No, it’s not all the same. The only national requirement is to have higher than a 3.0 and for the chapter to organize at least one service project each year.
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Fascinating. Our kids had to have at least a 3.75UW and the 30 extra hours
Ours requires a certain number of hours of service per year (not sure how many as my D exceeded it), and a certain number of hours of tutoring.
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FWIW, our school lists the number of students that are in NHS on their school profile. For us, it’s about 40% of the senior class which I think shows that it’s “something”, but mostly fluff.
At our school, an invitation to join goes out to everyone with above a certain GPA. I’m not sure what the cutoff is but a lot of kids get it. The application is really long and somewhat difficult. It requires documented service hours and recommendations. Then after you join there are more requirements. It’s enough so that many kids who are busy with other ECs don’t bother. Lots of top students at our school our not in NHS because they don’t apply. NHS seems to get kids who are low on ECs and need something to put on their applications.
I just checked, ours requires a 3.7, 8 HS service activities and 32 volunteer hours. One of mine was president, the others just members.
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At our school you need a 3.7 or 3.8 to be invited to apply. In order to be accepted you need at least 30 hours of varied volunteer work, demonstrated and documented leadership, demonstrated examples of character, a couple of recommendations, and approval from a committee. Maybe 10% or less are accepted in. It’s not easy-the committee is picky about types of volunteer hours and leadership experience. Once you are in you need to dedicate yourself to tutoring and other service projects.
Interesting. At my school, if you apply you will get in. There is no committee
I think back to OP’s question - the answer is likely it’s meaningful - if you have the factoid (effort, accomplishment of doing something while in the group) to back the listing.
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