<p>Oh I’m in the NHS. I too only really wanted it for the addition to my resume. I really couldn’t care less about it. Pretty much everyone who applied to it was accepted, and pretty much half of our school is in NHS. So it’s really nothing special at my school. No one really cares if you’re in NHS or not. No one thinks that being in NHS makes you superior.
And yeah it does involve people with a lot more SSL hour-earning opportunities than they would have without NHS.</p>
<p>I quit NHS after a few weeks because it required members to meet a number of “volunteering” hours. I wanted to volunteer because I wanted to give back to my community, and I felt that having to fulfill a quota to stay in NHS took away the meaning of volunteering. I attended a non-HYP Ivy for college and one of HYS for law school.</p>
<p>@StoneMagic You have me all wrong. I don’t care at all about taking a stand or standing out in anyone’s eyes. If I do, that’s great, and if I don’t, that’s ok too; at least I know I won’t have compromised myself and my interests to try to impress others.</p>
<p>And about kids in NHS doing better in college: Correlation is not causation. If you think joining some club in HS makes you a better college student, then you’re more ignorant than you’re trying to tell me that I am. And I do take AP classes and have excelled in all of them; however, I took ones that I am interested in rather than trying to pack my schedule with a bunch of random ones to “stand out.”</p>
<p>I don’t need to “suck it up,” because I can accomplish my goals by being sincere. That’s something that I value in life.</p>
<p>Please don’t assume that I am challenged with working in a diverse environment. I don’t know where you got that claim, but I’m white, and at my high school, I am technically a minority.</p>
<p>Also, it’s not that I’m trying to insult everyone who does that kind of stuff; that’s your choice too. I would just rather not. I think if more people did things they are genuinely interested in rather than just trying to get ahead of the next guy, we would be in a much better place. But hey, to each their own.</p>
<p>I did not join, and will be attending Middlebury. My brother, who also did not join, attends Harvey Mudd. The valedictorian of his class, who dropped out of NHS, attends Princeton. The NHS presidents from both of those years attend our local State U. Anecdotal, but I think a lot of adcoms realize that people join them for another club on their list. I did not see the point in taking away time from my other ECs, so I did not bother, and I don’t think it hurt me.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone is saying that you’re screwed if you’re not in NHS. At least I know I’m not. But being in NHS gives you an extra qualification whether you want to acknowledge it or not.</p>
<p>I think the main issue is what statement you are making about yourself if you choose to join or not. </p>
<p>Most students with a good GPA and some volunteer work and ECs can get into NHS. It’s no big deal. So college adcoms may view the choice to participate or not as an indicator of compliance or non-compliance with what is normative. This could be considered an asset or a deterrent depending on how you want to present yourself. </p>
<p>Choosing not to attend may suggest an independent mindset, laziness, non-conformity, rebellion, etc. The adcom may not know why someone chose to not participate, but may get some idea from the rest of the application. Similarly, participation is also a statement, suggesting some conformity to what’s expected. Either way, it’s still a statement about your values.</p>
<p>I believe you mean VP of the United States of America.</p>
<p>"So college adcoms may view the choice to participate or not as an indicator of compliance or non-compliance with what is normative. This could be considered an asset or a deterrent depending on how you want to present yourself. "</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s possible to fairly judge whether someone joined the NHS just because or because they truly believe in what it stands for, just by looking if their a member or not.</p>
<p>I did not join NHS b/c I felt that it would be meaningless to me and rather focused on other extracirriculars that mattered more. A lot of people were all like “Why didn’t you do it? it looks so good!” and the simple response to that question is that I only do things extraciriccularly if I am interested in them and want to make an impact on what i’m doing. It doesnt matter if youre a simple member… now if you’re the president that might be different but for me i saw no personal benefit in joining.</p>
<p>I joined NHS and was rather cynical about it initially like the OP was. Then I simply got used to it- I didn’t agree to mandatory service hours (doesn’t it detract from the service???), but that doesn’t mean I won’t do community service.</p>
<p>I am now the VP of my NHS. Go figure.</p>
<p>I’m sorry that people at your school acted like this. Our NHS is not very selective. All you need is a 3.5 GPA to get in. We focus largely on charity, and you don’t have to be very involved unless you’re an officer. Whether colleges look at it or not, I feel really good about the charities I was able to help through my involvement with NHS. Obviously, I can’t speak for others. </p>
<p>Best wishes,
Emily</p>