My kid is in the theater honor society. It’s a ton of work, but that’s where he’s pointy and being part of it is just hanging out with his friends. I wanted him to run for the board this year, but he wanted a gruntwork position. He’s head of PR and Marketing, which doesn’t take him to meetings or retreats. I’m kind of bummed because that doesn’t sound like much, but on the other hand PR is where the program has fallen down in the past, so if he can improve their advertising and boost attendance at the plays, it will be a good point for the brag sheet.
I know that NHS doesn’t mean a whole lot on college applications, but since D won’t have a lot of clubs or ECs I was happy she finally motivated to o the application. Our school offers it at the end of the year to sophmores and juniors. Since we missed the end of last year I thought we would have to wait but they just offered it again last month. From what D told me pretty much everyone was accepted last year (at least of her friends who applied.)
I helped her with the application last week and it wasn’t too bad - just like a mini college application having to list all of your ECs, volunteer hours, leadership positions. I thought it was good for her to see what she has so far (and why I bug her so much to join some groups!) It said right on the application that juniors needed 40 hours of community service and seniors needed I think 50-60. It did not say anything about it being with different groups. The thing I thought was weird was that they didn’t ask for teacher recommendations this time. I went over and over the application and couldn’t find it anywhere but I am nervous we missed it.
Oh, and I had a funny encounter with a neighbor yesterday. She has a senior and we were talking about how she is in the middle of application time. She also has a freshman and she said how she is showing him the EC page on the common app and explaining to him why he has to join every singe club he has time for because they need to fill up all 10 lines in that section! I wanted to say, well on CC I learned it is better to have meaningful ECs rather than a ton of them but I kept my mouth shut. :))
S19 joined the music honor society this year - it doesn’t seem like it will be a lot of work. He doesn’t have any volunteer hours that I can think of (other than tutoring a younger student in music), nor does he have any leadership (unless you count being “section leader” of a four-person bass section and having no resulting responsibilities).
He’ll have a lot of blank lines on his Common App for sure. I’m not sure anyone will care about all his music ECs if he applies as a math or engineering major, but he’s not interested in any other ECs. Hopefully he’ll get a job and a regular volunteering gig some time in the next year.
I also worry that none of his teachers will know who he is when he asks for recs and I even dread writing the parent brag sheet for the guidance counselor (“He’s a nice, spacey kid who is fairly bright and likes stringed instruments. The cats are very fond of him. Give him five years and he’ll probably do something cool.”)
I know he’ll end up somewhere in the fall of 2019, but I hate the pressure to be so well-rounded and involved.
@homerdog I don’t think the NHS will sway acceptances one way or the other. I think it shows that the kid had some free time and chose to use it volunteering, as opposed to working more hours, joining another club, etc. It’s just an activity, but it’s one that serves a good purpose.
If your son doesn’t do NHS maybe see if he can tutor someone at school once in a while. or do Earth Day stuff, whatever. I think schools just like to see the kids thinking about someone/something else, they’re not necessarily concerned with the number of volunteer hours.
My son19 has a limited amount of time with sports, clubs, soccer ref job, that I don’t know if he will even want to join NHS.
My older son joined National Business Honor society, so maybe son will join National Math honor society and there might be a Science Honor society too. He’d probably rather do those anyways.
@eh1234 has your son joined any math teams or clubs or asked to to tutor other kids? That’s a good way to meet some teachers for LOR’s. Sometimes the guidance counselor office has lists of tutors needed and other volunteer stuff at the school. That way maybe your son could get a LOR from a math teacher which would help him if he applies to math/engineering schools.
@eh1234 I have the same worries about recs for my kid. Throughout the years in parent teacher conferences I kept hearing that he never opens his mouth in class but he always smiles and all the kids seem to like him. I wonder what they will write on a rec. Similar problem with the parent brag sheet. D’s was easy to write since she was so hardworking and enthusiastic about everything. But for S - he’s quiet, laid back and just goes with the flow. He has lots of friends - can I brag about that?
I had no idea that NHS was all about volunteering. When I was in high school, it was just an honor bestowed upon the best students. I don’t remember the cut off but there were maybe 100 of us in our class of 600 kids. S19 has other volunteering things he can put on his list. And the colleges will obviously see grades and assume he could have been in NHS if he had any time. I’m just thinking (like everything else at his crazy competitive school) he will want to check that box since “other kids” will do it. My husband and I will have to say no if he doesn’t have the time.
On a happy note, I just dropped S19’s painting at school since he left in a blur this morning. He met me down at the front office to grab it and said the calc test went pretty well. Last night, you’d think he was going to fail it. I think he exaggerates when he’s feeling stressed. Next time he is acting all wigged out about a test, I’m not going to let it get me.
@homerdog Definitely don’t let kid’s stress get to you. Glad to hear calc test went well.
@eh1234 My STEM kid, S17 had 4 lines of violin in his EC list on Common App. Violin has been big part of his life and we did not have much else to fill in 10 lines in Common App, LoL. :)) It was fine.
S17’s sophomore NHS application was rejected not because of lack of service hours. The GC letter said he could work more to show “leadership.” 8-| He never bothered to apply again in the following two years. They allow sophomores to apply but take more juniors and seniors.
@eh1234 I keep saying our kids sound similar but they do! Everytime you describe him I crack up. D is also book smart but very spacey, loves stringed instruments and the dog likes her! I also worry about teacher recs because she is so quiet at school. Last year her AP World History teacher gave out joke awards at the end of the year, she got the “Just Here for the Credit Award”!
We had to double up on the NHS app because she didn’t really have anything for leadership. She volunteers at a one week camp in the summer but that was what gave her enough volunteer hours to sign up. I had to put that for both volunteer and leadership - I just listed her as a counselor (which she was, but she wasn’t elected or anything, just picked that as her job for the week.)
I was wondering about those honor societies (math, science…) - I thought maybe you had to get picked for them? But last night the neighbor told me she should sign up for all of them! 
I think I have finally talked her into starting her own club -I told her it would be good for her and for her sister in the future because she could take it over when D graduates. Only problem is she has;t gone to ask anyone about how to start a club so I hope it’s not too late.
@payn4ward @momtogko Thanks for the reassurance - glad I’m not alone. S19 has the same math teacher for the second year and might have the same physics teacher for 2 years if he takes AP Physics 2, so that’s his best hope. He’s just not a kid who seems to develop a rapport with his teachers. I guess he could get a rec from the orchestra director.
I’m sure no one really cares about our fieldhouse SAT saga but, just to put an end to the story, here it is:
The principal called me. He explained that the SAT that is administered at school in April is for the state of Illinois. It’s mandatory. The state has a contract with SAT that they will use the SAT for the purpose of judging how students are doing in the state. So, because that test date is set with every public school in Illinois and it’s a Tuesday, all kids will be in school which means classrooms are not available for the junior to take that test in classrooms. That SAT will be in the fieldhouse. They administered the PSAT there so the kids could “get used to” the environment. I didn’t even know where to start. The school board should have made sure that Tuesday was a non-attendance day for non-juniors. Too late to do anything about that.
When I asked about the “no water or snack” issue, he said they didn’t want kids eating or drinking in the field house and there wasn’t time to get 700 kids out to hallways to grab their water bottle or snack during the five minute breaks. Again, give me a break. These are 16/17 year olds, if you tell them to keep their food under their chair until the break and then make sure they don’t make a mess, this shouldn’t be a problem. There was a proctor per 25 students. Surely, that person could keep an eye on them.
Then, we discussed that this mandatory SAT is longer and kids will have to be allowed to drink or eat. I think he understood that and the staff will revisit that when they meet next week to talk about how this testing day went.
I also found out that S19 HAS to take this April SAT in order to graduate according to the state of Illinois. It is an official test through College Board and, if he has a school that wants to see all tests, it will be on the report. Right now, he only has one (Macalester) but he will flip if he thinks he has to restudy for this test again. He was so glad to be one and done. 
@homerdog Just read about the field house incident. I get what your admin is trying to say. However, what your school did was to make things easier for the staff…the students are supposed to come first. If my kids were close to NMF based on prior testing scores, I would have been adamant that they be tested in an environment that followed the rules. Matter of fact, this is the 1st I’ve heard of these “communal” testing environments! I will also commiserate with the test administrators, since I am always a test administrator myself. Spills will and do happen even with adequate supervision. The kids still need to be hydrated, so it is what it is…they need access to their water. My campus hired a bunch of subs on this day. They are not allowed in the testing classrooms. However they do the support jobs (hallway monitors ) so that we have more teachers supervising test takers.
Also I wondered about the what happens when a student doesn’t show up to a campus wide SAT admin. I asked the head counselor on my campus. He said nothing. Just like nothing happens when you no show on a SAT you paid for…nothing shows up anywhere when a student is absent. I actually asked this question last week because I was wondering in the case my son does really well this last SAT then he may not sit for the school wide admin in April…
Oh and if it is tied to CCRS (career college readiness standards) for graduation, I am 99% sure that your son’s previous SAT from August satisfies that requirement. If I were you, I would call the district’s head counselor for more info on that.
Each school handles the NHS differently. Whether one joins or not is a personal decision . No need to dismiss or minimize its importance in college acceptances .
@4MyKidz thanks for all of your comments. I did ask what would happen if S19 didn’t show for the April test. The principal said he would have to retake it two weeks later on a Tuesday. In that case, he would be in a small conference room with the estimated 12-15 other kids who didn’t make it to school for the first test. The only downside is that he would then be missing class that day. I’m certainly considering calling him in sick for that first test and having him take the make up.
I think I will email my district contact and see if there really isn’t a way for him to use his first test. The only kicker might be that he didn’t take the essay on that test and it sounded like the state needed that part of the test.
@homerdog Good point about the essay. My son didn’t take the SAT with essay either. The schools we are interested in do not require it.
@carolinamom2boys if you feel NHS is important and your son wants to join then great. But It is a fact that my D was not in it and that it didn’t adversely affect her college acceptances. She got in everywhere she applied including her reach school. I’ve heard many similar results. The general consensus where I live is that it is not important at all and many high stats kids here choose not to participate. I think this information is helpful to others who are trying to decide whether or not their kids should join.
Regarding NHS. As I stated earlier, we’re not sure if S19 will join if he gets in. We’ll see based on his prior commitments. He volunteers for organizations that support children with T1 diabetes, not because of college chances but because it really means something to him & he’s been volunteering since he was 10 yrs old. My D14 who graduates from college in the Spring chose not to join NHS in high school even though she was invited because she was just too busy including completing 200 hrs of volunteer work in the local hospital (health care admin major). My youngest D20, falls in the 3.0-3.5 range so does not qualify for NHS. Every child is different 
@homerdog That stinks about all the problems with the PSAT/SAT! It’s bad enough to put them all in the field house, but then to not let them have water and snacks!!
@carolinamom2boys I hope I didn’t minimize NHS’s importance for college. I was so mad when D missed the deadline last year. Then I found CC and relaxed a little because I read that it was not the end of the world. I still made her apply again but if for some reason she doesn’t make it I was glad to know that it was not the end all/be all for college, that other things could be similar to NHS.
Also - I see meaning to ask you a question about COC! I have looked online and at the campus map but it is hard to tell, is there any quad/green space there where kids hang out? I would love D to look there but am worried about the more urban campus. She has only seen a few northern schools so far and she always loves the quads and seeing where the kids hang out between classes.
My son’s school doesn’t even have NHS…they do require volunteering directly with organizations supporting those in need, but no NHS or other “honors” type designation.
@ThinkOn Obviously he won’t be penalized for not joining NHS.
S19 joined NHS last year as a sophomore. At his school, it’s mainly another volunteer avenue. For him that’s good, since he’s not too motivated to do other volunteer stuff. He generally knocks off all his required hours with a week-long trail building outing each summer. Mainly he has friends in it and he likes doing the volunteer stuff with them. I’ve prodded him to start a math club, but that’s gotten nowhere so I am happy he is doing some school volunteering activity, however minimal.