National society of high school scholars

Esquette · April 9, 2007, 6:19pm

Please read this before you choose to believe those who have never seen this organization in action:

My S received a $5,000 scholarship for his freshman yr from this organization. There were more than 10,000 applications for the award. We went to Washington, DC to receive it. There was standing room only at the Dirksen Senate Office Building’s HUGE ballroom – hundreds of people, maybe even more than a 1,000. We talked to people who came from all over the country, including midwest and western states, brought their entire families with them.

Speaker after speaker from very reputable student organizations like Outward Bound, extolled the mission of an organization that promotes the notion that high achieving high school students who seek to make a difference in the world are more likely to actually do so with their lives.

After my son rec’d this award, he rec’d a handwritten note from the president of the university he chose to attend (who must have found out about it through the fin aid ofc after we notified them of the outside scholarship), congratulating him on this “prestigious” award from a “respected” student organization, and inviting him to stop by his office when he got to campus.

And by the way, Claes Nobel made time to talk with my son privately. He could not have been any warmer or more personal.

Here’s hoping to debunk a few myths. . . .

jym626 · April 9, 2007, 6:58pm

From my limited reading about this organization, it appears that the $$ they give out in scholarships is acquired from the $45 they charge to “join”. FWIW, I threw out my son’s “invitation” to join.

Esquette · April 9, 2007, 8:34pm

The difference is between people who are guessing about this organization and those who, like us, have watched it in action and experienced its people, programs, and principles. You may choose not to participate, of course, but please refrain from slandering until you have information rather than speculation.

When the president of a top LAC is prompted to write to one of his students, completely unsolicited, that he has “already made his university proud” for having been recognized by a such a “prestigious” and “respected” organization as NSHSS, I think the organization deserves more than uninformed derision.

When the Senate of the United States provides its largest meeting facility, and those who choose to participate come from far and wide to make it a standing room only educational and awards event, I think the organization deserves more than suspicious dismissal.

When established student services organizations stand up to support the organization in its mission of encouraging high school students to aspire to lives of purpose and service, and there are Nobel Prize winners and academic leaders serving the organization, I think the organization deserves respect.

So, whether you pay for membership and take advantage of its services is up to you. But please let’s get the facts straight.

jym626 · April 9, 2007, 10:14pm

With all due respect, Esquette, just because some people have lent their big names to an advisory board of an organization doesn’t automatically give it the credibility we would like. The Eisenower family still puts their name on the People to People Student Ambassador program, and while it is an excellent experience, many people consider it a glorified international teen tour. In my profession, there are organizations/ Board Certifications that have many big “names” on advisory panels, but these supposed “Board Specializations” are really what we refer to as a “vanity board”-- you pay your money, you get a pretty certificate. Yes, there are conferences and good educational programs available with membership to these Boards, but attendance costs $$$$ to hear well known people speak (who are paid a nice sum for their presentation).

All that said, I am glad you have had a positive experience, and that your S. was awarded a scholarship. We looked into a scholarship a few yrs ago that had a small applicatin fee, and though we’d been advised against paying such fees, this was a legit scholarship, funded by a foundation.

What I had read so far about the nshss was mixed. But since you had a good experience, I thought it would be readonable to look into it a bit more. had to go dumpster-diving to find the invitation in the trash. Think they’ll mind the barbeque chicken wing sauce all over it??? :)

asteriskea · April 10, 2007, 7:24am

I posted a good expose article that covers this and other organizations (some scams, some not so scammy) on the following thread:

“Marketers target kids who seek an edge”

<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=327665[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=327665</a>

Esquette · April 10, 2007, 1:20pm

No fees to attend NSHSS events or meetings. No fee to apply for scholarship. No fee for newsletter. And NSHSS Members receive discounts from certain educational program sponsors, so dues might be recouped in whole or part if a member chooses to attend one.

On the topic of “enrichment” programs:

Educational experiences and inspirations come from many sources. I know families who have had valuable experiences from organizations such as People to People, National Leadership Forum, Scholar Athlete Games, etc. – seeing the world and their futures in a way they would never be able to see otherwise.

For example, how does one duplicate for a 15 year old 12 days at Georgetown University in the company of other high school students, college students, professors, and professionals who share your interest in medicine, shadow Hopkins med students, interview AIDs patients, listen to the compelling story of the national spokesperson for the Mental Health Assn, etc? This can be an invaluable education.

But most importantly, these are all voluntary experiences – and expenses. For those who are fortunate enough to attend and learn, they can have a lifelong influence. Organizations that provide and promote these opportunities are not scams simply because their services are not free. We certainly don’t apply that label to colleges who offer comparable experiences to their students, and even to high school students in summer college programs – for a price.

jym626 · April 10, 2007, 1:28pm

asteriskea’s article is interesting. Esquette, did you have to pay your own way to DC , arrange for lodging, etc. to receive the scholarship $$ ? Just wondering…

xiggi · April 10, 2007, 5:44pm

No, it’s not a scam … just a corporation built on an entirely unethical foundation. Not a scam, but a corporation that’s hiding behing a “glowing” name and a for-profit status and enlisted an aging and gullible aristocrat in need of a bit of recognition, if not a few bucks. The fact that they pay out a small fraction of their income in the form of vanity scholarships, and probably BUY their circus act in Washington, DC does not make any less despicable and dishonest.

The National Society of High School Scholars says it has attracted 70,000 members since it was founded less than two years ago. 

For $45, a student gets benefits that include a membership certificate, monthly newsletters, invitations to luncheons across the country and a shot at scholarships. 

Based on the number of members, the Atlanta-based society has collected $3.1 million. Scholarship money awarded? Just $60,500.

Founder and president James W. Lewis won’t say how much it costs the society - a for-profit company - to provide the benefits. Nor will he reveal his pay or the salaries of his handful of staff members.

Lewis has done nothing improper by creating the National Society of High School Scholars as a for-profit enterprise. It gives excellent students the praise they deserve and desire, he said.

“I founded it because it was important to recognize a diverse group of outstanding high school students,” Lewis said in a telephone interview. 

The society is unlike traditional nonprofit high school honor societies, such as National Honor Society, in several ways. It doesn’t have campus chapters. It doesn’t require that students be nominated by their schools. In fact, students can nominate themselves. And several Kansas City area schools say the society never verified with them whether students met its stated requirement of a high grade point average.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals knows of about a dozen high-school-level national honor societies. None is a for-profit enterprise.

Yet neither is Lewis’ society exactly like national recognition programs, such as Who’s Who Among American High School Students. Those programs charge for copies of their publications, but not for students to receive the recognition. 

But the society’s characteristics concern experts in the field of honors and recognitions.

Experts generally advise high school students not to pay to receive honors or to become eligible for scholarships. Students should join only societies that have strong school connections, they say.

Students and their parents need to be concerned about an honor society that requires a fee to receive the honor, said Norm Weiner, president of the National Association of Honor Councils, after hearing details of the society’s operations. The association represents college-level honors programs.

Weiner, who leads the honors program at State University of New York at Oswego, understands the parental pride that prompts membership fee payments.

The United States is a “society that loves honors, so this makes everybody feel good, especially the parents” who think such memberships will look good on college applications, Weiner said.

College admissions officers understand what’s a legitimate honor and what’s not, he said, so paying for recognition “is a waste of their money.”

“I joke with my students that I have a laser printer,” Weiner said. “If they’d like to give me $35, I’d be happy to print them a certificate saying anything they want, and their parents can hang it in their bathroom.”

Honor societies and scholarship-granting agencies normally operate as nonprofits, meaning they must file tax forms showing their expenditures.

**But because Lewis formed the National Society of High School Scholars as a for-profit corporation, he doesn’t have to release financial details. **

Under Georgia law, corporations must file the names of their officers with the secretary of state. The National Society of High School Scholars had not done so, and until last month was considered “noncompliant” with Georgia law.

The society does not have a board of directors that oversees it. But three board members interviewed by The Star said that as far as they knew, the board had never met. They also said they knew nothing of the society’s budget or day-to-day operations. 

Advisory board member William Nelsen, president of Scholarship America, the country’s largest scholarship-granting agency, said he was not even aware of the society’s for-profit status.

LeCretia Morrison and Laura Janvrin regret sending in their $45 now that they know more about the organization.

Morrison attends Hogan Preparatory Academy in Kansas City. Janvrin graduated from Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kan., and attends Iowa State University.

Neither knows how the company got her name, school name and home address.

Lewis said his company identifies students through educator nominations and “commercially available lists,” but he wouldn’t identify the source of the lists.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals says student recognition programs should state in their initial contact letter how they got a student’s name and address, and should work through principals to identify outstanding students.

But Hogan and Blue Valley North counselors say the schools didn’t nominate the students, the principals don’t know anything about the society, and the society never requested grade verification.

Morrison was starting her senior year last summer when the society invited her to join.

Her mother, Yolanda Morrison, said she hoped membership would make her daughter more attractive to the colleges she wanted to attend. But the public universities she has applied to base admissions on grades, class rank and test scores.

The well-known names on the advisory board listing also impressed the Morrisons.

LeCretia Morrison said her $45 could have been better spent. It could have helped her try to get into Yale, whose application she skipped because of its $80 fee. 

Yolanda Morrison said the invitation was misleading: “I think it’s unfair to the students that work so hard. … I’m not happy about it.”

Janvrin’s mother wishes she had investigated the society before paying the $45 fee in the summer of 2002, just before Laura’s senior year.

“This was an early one before we got smart and realized we weren’t supposed to be paying for these,” Kathy Janvrin said. “Looking back, I can’t believe we sent in that check. We learned so much during that year that when our son comes up (on his senior year), we won’t be falling for these things.”

Tara Smiley, a senior at Shawnee Mission North High School, said she liked the society’s e-mail newsletters and thought membership would enhance her college application.

She has applied to the University of Kansas, where applicants are admitted if they rank in the top third of their class, score at least 21 on the ACT or earn a C average in a college prep curriculum. Smiley has an A average.

The National Society of High School Scholars offers several benefits, chief among them recognition for academic success. New members receive certificates and press releases they can mail to their hometown newspapers. 

Many newspapers across the country have mentioned students becoming members of the National Society of High School Scholars. The Star has published membership notes about students at Independence, Belton, Blue Springs South, Blue Valley West, Shawnee Mission North and Oak Park high schools and Westport Senior Academy, all in the Kansas City area.

The notices don’t mention the $45 fee but do repeat the society’s statement that it “limits selection to only those seniors who have excelled academically.” 

The society requires a 3.5 grade point average, said society vice president Maudelle Driskell.

But a Southwest Charter School senior became a member despite a 3.3 grade point average.

When asked to explain, Driskell said the society upped the cutoff from 3.2 to 3.5 on Jan. 1.

But a year ago, Driskell told Missouri homeschooling leader Orilla Crider that a 3.5 was required, Crider told The Star. 

Lewis said there must have been confusion over what constituted a B+ average.

In its invitation letter, the society highlights benefits beyond recognition: Access to scholarships, service activities and leadership development programs.

Scholarships: In the first two years, the society has awarded eight $5,000 scholarships, 18 $1,000 scholarships and 10 $250 awards. Its Web site (<a href=“http://www.nshss.org/index.html[/url]”>www.nshss.org/index.html</a> ) also links to Fastweb, a free scholarship search site that is available to anyone.

Lewis said his company is not a “scholarship society.” Scholarships are just one of many benefits, he said.

Service opportunities: The society says it provides connections to community service organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and People to People International to “help our members gain valuable experience for themselves, as well as make a significant contribution to improving the lives of others.”

Students do not have to belong to any honor society to work with Habitat for Humanity, which has groups across the country, or People to People, which is based in Kansas City.

Leadership development: The society has presented eight “member events” to provide networking opportunities and inspiration. The events include a guest speaker and, sometimes, admission to a museum.

Lewis said students enjoyed hearing from Claes Nobel, a member of the Swedish family that awards humanities and literature prizes. Nobel, who served with Lewis on the board of a separate Atlanta-based company, is the society’s honorary chairman and signs the society’s invitation letters.

As part of its leadership development, the society also sends out a monthly newsletter that quotes members on topics such as their first college semester and how they can improve the world, and offers items on education issues. 

Lewis said the newsletters provided members with encouragement to continue to do well in school and thus were “a great way for students to receive a consistent message and reminder that they are a member of an organization that’s dedicated to recognizing academic excellence.”

Beyond scholarships and service opportunities, the Web site also says that “membership in the society distinguishes you as one of the academic leaders of your class and can help your (college) application to stand out from among the others. … Being recognized as a member of the National Society of High School Scholars may assist you in the admission process to the college or university of your choice.”

Invitation letters from August 2002 quoted a “Dave Kenahan of Georgetown University” saying, “Being a member of an honor society distinguishes an applicant in the admissions process at a college or university.”

Dave Kinahan (the letter misspelled his name) worked in alumni relations, not admissions.

According to Georgetown spokeswoman Julie Bataille, Kinahan said someone affiliated with the society spoke with him by telephone two years ago. He said he told the caller that he wasn’t the proper person to discuss admissions. He said he never gave the society permission to quote him on the topic in its invitation letter.

Kinahan did not know that he had been quoted until a parent of a student who had received a society invitation letter called him to verify his statement. Kinahan then asked for his name to be removed, and the society has done so.

Lewis and company representatives did not return several telephone calls seeking comment on the use of Kinahan’s name.

Lewis said society membership is one of many factors, including grades and test scores, that can influence admissions decisions. 

But Jeff Sherrill, associate director of student activities at the secondary school principals association, said students should know that surveys of admissions officers show honor society memberships play little role.

“Recognition programs are way down the list as far as carrying weight in the college application,” he said. “They’re looking for those AP (advanced placement) scores, those ACT scores, the grade point average. They’re looking for student activities, and personal recognition isn’t a student activity.”

<a href=“http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0304/HS_recognition.asp[/url]”>http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0304/HS_recognition.asp</a>

xiggi · April 10, 2007, 6:28pm

No wonder why the good Mr. Lewis did not apply for a non-profit status. He probably could not get it!

<a href=“http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i32/32a03701.htm[/url]”>http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i32/32a03701.htm</a>

<a href=“http://www.carillon.uregina.ca/99.01.14/news/nonprofit.html[/url]”>http://www.carillon.uregina.ca/99.01.14/news/nonprofit.html</a>

Non-profit group under fire 

by Irfan Dhalla
the Ubyssey 

VANCOUVER (CUP)-- Six-figure salaries, trips to Cancun and glamorous conventions with paid speeches from Hollywood actors do not fit the description of most non-profit organizations.

But the Golden Key Honor Society, an Atlanta-based non-profit organization that boasts the membership of several Canadian universities, is one exception.

The organization promises scholarships and contacts to high academic achievers to its 271 affiliates, including the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, McGill University, McMaster University and the University of Alberta.

The University of British Columbia joined the society last fall partly on the urging of its president, Martha Piper, who sent letters endorsing the organization to about 3,200 of the school?s top students.

More than 800 students paid $80 each – for a total of $64,000 – to join the society that according to Golden Key literature is associated with the likes of U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel and American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole.

But questions are being raised about whether the Golden Key Honor Society is as good as it sounds.

The organization?s submission to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, obtained by the Ubyssey, shows it spent just $289,461 US on scholarships, or less than five per cent of its total expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1997.

And according to the Atlanta Better Business Bureau, Golden Key has refused to provide it with its financial statements.

Valerie Maclean, general manager of the Vancouver Better Business Bureau, says withholding such information is highly unusual for non-profit organizations. 

She and the president of UBC?s Golden Key chapter, Fahreen Dossa, have also expressed concern over the society?s spending practices. Dossa said she had expected scholarships would account for around 60 per cent of the organization?s total expenditures.

She also pointed to the high salaries paid to Golden Key directors. The organization spent $1,822,837 US on salaries and other employee benefits in 1997 and its executive director, James Lewis, received $247,600 US.

But Golden Key?s representative in Vancouver feels that Lewis? salary is not extraordinary.

Kari Sivam, a former UBC student who is now Golden Key?s Assistant Director of International Development, said that a recent study of for-profit as well as non-profit organizations revealed that the average salary of a chief executive officer in the US is $225,000.

Mr. Lewis salary is reviewed annually by the Board of Directors, said Sivam. The organization?s board of directors is made up of university professors who are not paid for serving Golden Key.

While Golden Key spends a lot of money on salaries, it spends even more on conferences and initiation ceremonies. More than half of the organization?s budget is spent on these ceremonies.

Golden Key directors were unavailable for comment.

Esquette · April 11, 2007, 10:25am

I stand educated by these articles. Thank you, Xiggi.

But I also stand by my personal experiences reported above. For our family, NSHSS provided real inspiration, real honor, and real money. We saw and heard from real students, including those whose musical talent is neither “for profit” nor a sham. We saw and heard from real representatives of student services organizations, all of whom encouraged these students to challenge themselves to think outside the box, to aspire to lives of purpose and service. The only expenses have been the one time membership dues and the cost of gas in getting ourselves to DC for the NSHSS event (a day trip for us). The $5,000 check was mailed to my S’s university – no deductions. The unsolicited note from the University president – priceless.

So to the extent that NSHSS’s mission is to encourage high school students, rather than to provide a resume line item, we have personal experience that it performs this function.

For anyone who thinks that spending $45 to join a student organization is a “magic bullet” that will get them into school, the investment is not likely worth it. But choosing to participate in a student organization that promotes and provides educational experiences is a valid reason to join.

Esquette · April 11, 2007, 10:41am

One more thing, Xiggi – what is the date of the JWR article on NSHSS? Seems like it might not be recent - mentioning the organization is only two years old, but I know it’s older than that. Tried the link but it is undated.

abhimanyuk · March 28, 2008, 7:30am

This is a bloody scam. PLEASE DONT APPLY FOR IT, and CERTAINLY DONT PUT IT IN YOUR RESUME. it will label SUCKER in big large words on your college application.

What kind of a honorsorgainisation has a STORE to sell memoiribilia that cost up to $100??!! And they sent me this hude press release which is just a poorly disguised PR attempt.

I wish I could personally conatct this founder, who is so obviously a cheat, and abuse the hell out of this scamster. Alas, I am an international and dont want to waste more of my money.

THIS IS A SCAM!!! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! and people in the USA, please try to get a class action suit against this guy (who has already been fired once). I will feel so much better if he spends time behind bars.

My high school counsellor laughed whne he saw the ornate certificate and press release. When he found out that i paid good money, h e;aughed even more. When he found out that I listed it as an academic honour in my ECs, he stopped laughing.

I just hope the ivies realise that I am an international and couldnt know better. replies are 4 days away.

abhimanyuk · March 28, 2008, 7:31am

And oh yes, esquette, why do i get this sneaky feeling that you are in the PR dept of NSHSS??

NSHSS: national society of high school SCAMMING!!!

NJ_mother · March 28, 2008, 11:25am

Esquette, you don’t have to pay an organization like Natl Leadership Forum to shadow a doc at Hopkins. Save the money, contact your local med school and find a doc your kid can shadow for free. it’ll look jusdt as good on your kid’s resume, believe me. Plus you’ll have all that money to put towards college.
Speaking as med school faculty here.

emeraldkity4 · March 28, 2008, 11:37am

I am proud to say that I received a letter from the National society of high school scholars-
of course the last time I was in high school as a student was in the 1970’s ;)

NJ_mother · March 28, 2008, 12:44pm

EK4, that is too funny. D’s letter was addressed to the family of …

emeraldkity4 · March 28, 2008, 12:56pm

D requested that I ask for college info in my own name, since she didn’t want to get any more mail- ( smart girl- I should have put it in the name of my dog, the way I did in the name of my cat for my oldest daughter)- then it is very easy to tell how which mailing list is being used.

gadad · March 28, 2008, 1:13pm

I posted this on a previous thread about this topic which promptly died. So, as an encore -

Turn on your printer; I’m about to give you your retirement income plan.

Come up with a grandiose title. Something like “National All-American Honor Society of Scholarly High School Servant Leaders.” Look around until you find someone with a famous last name who’s looking for an easy buck. An Einstein would be great. A Nobel is also good. Settle for a Roosevelt, Eisenhower or Kennedy if you must. Pay that person to be your figurehead and to write a letter indicating how this society perpetuates the life works of their famous distant relative, and how kids like yours are the inheritors of the world that great-step-granddad helped to create. Send Fred Roosevelt’s letter to every guidance counselor in the country and ask for nominees, explaining how great it will be for their school when they can publicize all their honored students, how the honor is free, and how those students will be aided in their college searches and have a shot at generous scholarships. Create a glitzy promotional piece to send out to all the parents of the GCs’ nominees, indicating how prestigious this honor is and how the proud parents will surely want to pay only $69 for the hardcover NAAHSSHSSL book (or $119 for the deluxe faux leather bound version, and perhaps $49 for the framed certificate, $19 for the key ring, and $199 for the coveted semi-precious jeweled pin by which the Society’s honorees recognize one another). Put a couple percent of the revenue in a scholarship fund and give out modest grants to the students who write the best testimonials about how the Society helped them get into the dream school for which they’d have never otherwise been competitive. Redirect a substantial amount of the revenue into a special one-week Washington D.C.-based “Young Leaders of America” seminar, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for which next year’s parents will have to raise only $3850. Put the rest of the proceeds into your retirement fund, except for a couple grand which you’ll want to use next year to fire Fred Roosevelt and hire Fred Einstein.

Schmoomcgoo · March 28, 2008, 1:26pm

My son was asked to join as a freshman when my daughter was a junior. She had just been passed up for National Honor Society and I felt badly for her, so (thinking it was probably just a money-making endeavor) I crossed out my son’s name, put in my daughter’s, and sent off the “application” with my $45 check. In return we received a pretty certificate and a press release for the newpaper announcing my daughter’s induction. We chuckled about how meaningless membership in either organization is (at least in our town NHS is meaningless).

NJ_mother · March 28, 2008, 1:53pm

Um, Gadad, was that in response to my post a couple of weeks back?

National society of high school scholars

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