DS’s class has about 650, but I don’t know how many NHS members they accept. The NHS accepts applications from sophomores and juniors. DS didn’t apply last year because he knew this year was going to be really busy and to be a member in good standing you need to have NHS tutoring hours, service hours, attend all meetings every month, etc.
He will apply this spring. It’s not a sure thing, even if you meet all the criteria.
Criteria:
Minimum unweighted 3.7 gpa
Participation in and significant accomplishments achieved in extracurricular activities (Eagle Scout rank achieved, All-State in Chorus, etc)
Three letters of recommendation, including one from outside school.
Personal statement about why you want to be in NHS and what you can offer.
Then, if you are accepted, you need to attend meetings each month, maintain a 3.5 gpa, and have 25 hours of community service each semester, 5 of which are required to be hours tutoring and 5 of which have to be in a group setting. You also need to participate in all the NHS service projects throughout the year. It’s a really big commitment at our school.
D18 got into NHS this year. Definitely isn’t what it used to be (or, at least, what I remember it being). Someone can get As in on-level classes and get in. I remember it being a place for exceptional students. D18 also got into Science NHS and National Technical Honor Society. I think those were more meaty in their requirements.
I don’t know what any of these will do for D18’s college applications. Her ACT and GPA won’t be a limiting factor at any college but her ECs are weak except for one upcoming summer college experience (which was difficult to get into and has great potential, if she’ll grab hold of it).
@RoonilWazlib99 Wow, that’s quite a stringent list! Ours was a certain number of verified volunteer hours in school groups or the community (across at least three things), three different leadership positions and a short essay. There was no requirement for “significant achievement” - it was all about service hours and leadership positions - and the leadership positions didn’t have to be school related such as team captain. For example, my daughter listed organizing the ballet school’s t shirt fundraiser as one of her leadership positions. The GPA cutoff to get an application was 3.5 unweighted.
It’s interesting to hear about different NHS requirements at different schools - no wonder the colleges don’t really take membership or non-membership too seriously.
DD’18 was inducted into NHS at the end of sophomore year. there were a lot of sophomores and some juniors. There is a required GPA plus a faculty recommendation. Along with the honor comes a volunteer service requirement - 50 hours. DD spent a lot of time in a home for very young moms cleaning and sorting clothes, etc.
D18 was inducted into NHS last spring…her requirements are very similar to RoonilWazlib99’s DS, D18 needs to get some more volunteer hours under her belt soon. D18 has registered for Jan SAT and Feb ACT. Hoping she will be able to access the PSAT results online in early December. Last year the school did not hand back the score results until late January.
D18 has finished some college campus tours recently…SFASU (Stephen F Austin State University) and LSU (Louisiana State University). I think SFA has come off her list. There was nothing wrong with it, it just didn’t really click. LSU was much nicer than I expected (although we did tour one dorm that was absolutely, by far, the worst dorm room we have ever seem and we saw a lot with D16). LSU will stay on the list as a safety…she will likely be an auto admit. Only thing that worries me is the school size.
@3scoutsmom , thank you! I can’t remember…but do they have to have some special access code (other than their log in) I seem to recall that there was some barrier to viewing her score last year?
nope if they can get on to their college board accounts it should just show up, the problem was with kids that didn’t already set up their CB accounts. I have ds18’s log in and password saved on my pc;-) When I log on with his info I can see all of his SATs, SA2’s, PSATs, and in a different link APs.
The school did put his last SAT on his Naviance account before it was up on the CB account which was a nice surprize but I doubt that they’d do the with the PSAT (but I’ll still be checking!)
I know that’s how it works with SAT scores but not sure if it works that way for PSAT. In any case the excuse is so that they will be able to explain the scores to the students. In my school there’s no way the GC will pull up any score a second before the kid is sitting in front of them asking questions.
That’s good to know, since his school put up the OCT SAT early on Naviance, before the CB had it maybe they’ll put up the PSAT early. The best early Christmas gift would be a score that I wouldn’t have to worry about making NMSF in our state;-)
Aren’t the cutoffs going to be unpredictable, though? Logic would say they’d be higher than last year, as this class had a practice PSAT with this new format.
I think they’ll be about the same, at most a point or two higher especially if you are in a high cut off state. I really can’t see them making it get much higher, if they start requiring perfect scores there’s going to be a lot of backlash.
228 is the highest selection index score possible and the highest cut of is currently at 222 I just can’t see it going past 224. We’re in TX and last year’s cut was 220 I’m thinking 222 and up will be safe anything under that I might be biting my nails.
I just had the stray thought that our Christmas Advent Calendar could look very weird this year with a combination of PSAT (for D18) and college acceptances (or rejections! for D17) coming fast and furious next month…
I usually do something weird for advent calendars, but this one may beat the year I did advent socks.
If I am remembering correctly, when my daughter took the PSAT last year as a sophomore she had the scores online way before her guidance counselors. The GCs passed out the scores a week or so after she already had hers. That could just be a quirk of our school, however.
Unlike others here, I am not expecting anything close to a qualifying score for anything.
It’s going to be very hard for me to not contact the GC to get my D’s score early. I never do that, but I’m worried she’s going to be on the bubble. Finding that out a week early won’t help, I know, so I will likely wait.
I believe the CB website says that GCs get the PSAT scores on 12/5 and students get them a week later, 12/12. D18 just got her Nov SAT score and it was 1480 (EBRW:750, M:730). If she did similar on the PSAT then she would have an Index of around 223, which is just above the projected NMSF cutoff of 219 for our state.
Just got D18’s Math 2 subject test score - 800! Yay - something is done! I hope her good fortune continues when the PSAT scores come out. She had a tough time with the reading section on her SAT. Hoping, hoping…
