<p>Any of you guys out there? I absolutely hate these elitists at my school. and some act like it’s an achievement. For those people that chose not to be in it, which schools are you headed to?</p>
<p>I agree completely with you… but I am in it anyways because it looks good on the application. I go to a tiny school in Wisconsin so it is probably not quite so “elitist”, but many of the kids who got in suddenly think they are some sort of intellectual prodigy. We had to give a short speech at the acceptance ceremony and the majority of the kids just walked up and talked about how they have taken the hardest offered curriculum at our school. The hardest offered curriculum includes only 1 AP class junior year… I feel like since the basis of National Honor Society is academic success it would be common sense to speak about your personal character instead of stating “I made the A Honor Roll while taking this super hard class called Advanced Placement United States History.” I suppose that reading the numerous posts on College Confidential has humbled me though, since it is obvious that I am just a tiny fish in a huge pond of intelligent people. Sorry about the little rant…</p>
<p>Anyways, I will most likely apply at UW - Madison, Northwestern, and Stanford. Madison is my primary pick right now, and I’d be surprised to get into the other two.</p>
<p>I didn’t bother to apply because my school’s NHS application was insane and I figured I had better things to worry about…schools can see my academic achievements on my application, so NHS seemed a little redundant to me. Also, I take a lot of pride in the fact that all of the clubs on my EC list are big parts of my life and things that I really care about, so adding a club that does absolutely nothing and that I’ll never care about just seemed…dumb, I guess. </p>
<p>Anyway, I’m heading to Amherst in the fall, which was the highest reach school on my list, so I doubt that decision hurt me. :)</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter what you think - what matters is what the college admissions staff thinks, and they like the National Honor Society, period. I would never say any one factor is going to decide it, but it certainly helps to say you were in NHS. Seriously, do you really care about those kids in HS you will never be friends with once you go to college? Don’t let stuff like that prevent you from doing what’s best for your future, because once you’re actually at college you’ll never look back. Your only goal is to get in the best possible college for your situation - and NHS is something that can help you do that. If the opportunity is there, take it, and if not, find something else…but don’t dismiss it because of the people.</p>
<p>NHS is a self-glorifying bullcrap organization that hides under the facade of selfless service. At my school, it’s actually an application process, and since everyone in my peers was applying to it, I decided to as well. I was accepted, joined junior year, and realized what a worthless hassle it was. Halfway through I got kicked out because I stopped showing up for the stupid meetings.</p>
<p>So what honor societies are worth joining?</p>
<p>I’d go for it if you have the time. It looks good on an application, and is fairly easy. At my school it’s 7 TA hours and a service project per quarter. My brother didn’t bother and did fine without it; he’s at UNC-CH studying Biochemistry.</p>
<p>I’m going to chuck up the comments to lack of life experience - like I said, it doesn’t matter if it sucks, the people suck, or you think it’s a waste of time. The people that JUDGE such things, otherwise called admissions officers, like to see it, period. Any high school club has boring meetings and community service stuff - that’s what they’re about. I’m no personal advocate for NHS, nor was I ever in it, I’m just saying that in life, sometimes you gotta suck it up and do what’s best for YOUR future. I don’t like either presidential candidate, but I’m still voting…</p>
<p>How do you KNOW how admissions officers really evaluate NHS (or anything else, for that matter). Are you an adcom?</p>
<p>So you’re advocating doing something you want no part of to perhaps get a leg-up on the competition where most of them are doing so as well? </p>
<p>Don’t get me started with the student council at my school, highly qualified students that actually want change (insert race) lose to incompetent, “I don’t know the VP of America” (you finish the description). </p>
<p>It’s a popularity contest.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t see why it should help so much. Colleges typically seem to care more that you <em>do</em> something, not just be in some club. I’ve got tons of other fluff clubs that I’m just in- I need to focus on those clubs and projects I <em>lead</em>. I’d rather be doing that and making a positive change in the world than sit at some stupid induction ceremony and brag about how “smart” I am.</p>
<p>I joined and am attending Princeton, but I know people in my school who didn’t, and they’re going to Stanford, Harvard, and Yale, among others. It doesn’t really matter, unless possibly if you’re president (which I was not), and even then it is a small thing. It’s definitely not a bad thing, though.</p>
<p>I forgot to join!</p>
<p>I half-filled out an application to join as a senior…but then I didn’t.</p>
<p>@StoneMagic: Regardless of what YOU think, it does matter, at least to me, what I think of NHS (or any ECs for that matter). I will not join or do anything simply because it looks good to an admissions officer. Period. Life is too short to do things that you think someone you’ve never met before may or may not want you to do. I simply won’t waste my time like that. I got involved in ECs that I cared about and that mattered to me (which did not include NHS), and I will be heading to my first choice school next year. It’s a matter of living your own life, not the life you think an admissions officer (or anyone else) wants you to live.</p>
<p>And just for the record, I think joining NHS just so you can say you did it is extremely fake.</p>
<p>Thing is…where do you draw the line at what is fake? Is the volunteer work fake? Is wearing something like a suit to an interview fake? What about doing well in a class you don’t care about? Or being kind to a professor you don’t like? Wearing makeup? Getting hair cut? Shaving? What is fake?</p>
<p>Sometimes…complaining that something is too fake is just an excuse to get out of doing something that you perhaps should make an effort for anyway. If people tried to be a little more “fake” (aka manners, thank you notes, holding doors, kind words when they don’t feel that way, taking showers, etc etc etc) then maybe this entire world would be doing better.</p>
<p>I know you can get in to a good college without NHS. But saying you won’t do NHS because it is fake or you think the paperwork is bogus shows what kind of work ethic you have and the kind of person you are. It is the “fake” stuff that says a lot about someone as a person.</p>
<p>lmkh70, please explain how taking a shower is fake?? “Fake” stuff says nothing good about a person, unless you consider “suck up” a compliment. People with real, genuine interests are generally much more successful in life, not to mention college admissions. Willingness to join clubs that don’t align with your personal goals/morals just demonstrates pettiness and a lack of self confidence.</p>
<p>As far as NHS goes, I’m pretty sure it won’t make a difference either way in college admissions. It varies widely between schools, at mine everyone who fills out an application gets in.</p>
<p>I’ll be honest, I applied for NHS only to put it on an application.</p>
<p>Call me “fake,” but I’m a white middle class American male trying to get into Stanford. I’ll take any help I can get.</p>
<p>At my school, NHS isn’t really that elitist because there are 80 kids out of around 300 in it in my class (pretty much anyone who gets a 93% GPA is in it). NHS at my school plans things like homecoming carnival and prom expo (in addition to the service hours required). I don’t know about everyone else, but where I go, most kids probably wouldn’t have as much community service if they weren’t in NHS. So I guess I’m just trying to say that NHS isn’t really a horrible thing to be in (at my school, at least).</p>
<p>I do agree that it’s not an absolute must for college though. I know a senior that was accepted to Cornell without NHS.</p>
<p>I said no to NHS. The teacher who runs it at my school is over the top. Plus, you have to do all this stuff (community service, join at least x clubs) to do NHS, and then once you are in, nothing else can come before NHS. So joining would mean giving up clubs that I’m dedicated to and care about and have leadership in. I felt that it was unnecessary for me to give up things I enjoy for a college app. Plus, many of the kids in NHS blatantly cheat at my school, so I have my own values against that.</p>
<p>@UNCCH94, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion, but you’ve got a lot to learn about life. Apparently you think “taking a stand” will set you apart from the followers and make you stand out as a leader - and you would be dead wrong when it comes to NHS. You see, it’s a proven fact that kids in NHS do better in college, just like kids who do well in IB/AP Classes - and that my friend, is far more important than some 18 year old’s opinion about being fake to the admissions department. Nobody ever said joining NHS was a requirement, but good luck taking a stand against against proven established cultural norms - from the military to the Fortune 500, you will discover that you may win the battle only to lose the war. It also has the opposite effect, making you seem like an elitist who has challenges working in a diverse environment. To quote Patton, “suck it up son, you are here for a greater cause.”</p>
<p>And congrats eefens44, good to know common sense prevails…do everything you can to put yourself in the best possible position, as long as it isn’t unethical, illegal or immoral.</p>