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outwest
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| Joined: | Sun Mar 4th, 2007 |
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Posted: Sun May 27th, 2007 06:38 pm |
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My #3 applied and was chosen for the National Honor Society at her high school. I had to sign a paper saying I knew what the requirements were to be a member. I did a search and no one has mentioned this society here. She had to submit her transcript, write an essay and get recommendations. She volunteers for fun at local elementary and junior high and said she might as well join it since she is doing the stuff anyway. Besides, you get to wear a cool honor sash at graduation. Is this something she would write on a college application, too? She says it isn't a big deal and they won't care.
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Lynda
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Posted: Sun May 27th, 2007 09:01 pm |
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The sash stuff is cool, son looked so nice. It was a big thing at son's HS-very few were accepted. However I was surprised to read somewhere this is not the case at all schools.
Last edited on Sun May 27th, 2007 09:01 pm by Lynda
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Fireflyscout
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Posted: Sun May 27th, 2007 09:15 pm |
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I think that's amusing that you had to sign a paper stating that you knew what the requirements were. From what I can tell, they vary wildly from school to school, and I haven't the foggiest what they were when my daughter joined. For that matter, I have no idea what they were when I was in high school.
If it is considered an honor at her school, then she should definitely include that on her applications.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Sun May 27th, 2007 10:04 pm |
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Outwest, Congratulations to your daughter!
Your daughter can, and should, include National Honor Society on her college applications, but, she's right: colleges don't see it as a huge deal. In fact, a school counselor recently asked on the NACAC counselor list serve how college admissions folks viewed NHS, and 5-6 admissions officers from various schools responded to say that, because the requirements for being selected and for participating vary so much from school to school, they take it with a grain of salt, more of a "nice to have" sort of thing than a major award. However, they took pains to add that NHS is one of the few "honor" things that they do respect (others, like Who's Who in High School, etc. are viewed as dubious honors).
Still, my son will proudly wear his sash at graduation...that's assuming he keeps up his end of the bargain and does all of the hours of peer tutoring that are required at his high school for NHS members. 
Last edited on Sun May 27th, 2007 10:05 pm by CarolynLawrence
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CaneMom
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Posted: Mon May 28th, 2007 04:14 am |
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NHS was a big deal at our school also. The application was thick and bulky and the requirements many. After joining, we too heard about the differences at other schools. If I'm not mistaken, on son's college applications we put a few of the main requirements on the app so that the U would know that it was not so easy to get into. We also had the National Beta club...which was so easy to get into that I don't think son even listed it....
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WestrnMom
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Posted: Mon May 28th, 2007 03:12 pm |
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It is an honor to be admitted to NHS but it didn't work out for either of my children, in spite of being good students who did a lot of volunteer work. My daughter was a straight A student but didn't get selected because they didn't like the type of volunteer work she did before applying. They said it wasn't "diverse" enough even though she had volunteered everywhere from a battered women's shelter to helping the homeless find shelter, because it was religious based rather than community based. At S's school, students don't apply, they are asked, and it was based on a very stringent set of criteria that mine didn't have again because they didn't like his ECs. At my children's schools, admission appears to be subjective rather than based on typical criteria that most good students could attain.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Mon May 28th, 2007 05:17 pm |
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CaneMom wrote: If I'm not mistaken, on son's college applications we put a few of the main requirements on the app so that the U would know that it was not so easy to get into.
This is a great idea CaneMom. You could even ask the GC to describe what is involved or what the cut-offs are if NHS requirements are stringent at your high school.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Mon May 28th, 2007 05:23 pm |
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WestrnMom wrote: My daughter was a straight A student but didn't get selected because they didn't like the type of volunteer work she did before applying. They said it wasn't "diverse" enough even though she had volunteered everywhere from a battered women's shelter to helping the homeless find shelter, because it was religious based rather than community based.
I think this is one of the dangers inherent in the way some schools run their NHS programs, and one reason why it would be better if there was some sort of national standards that were used at all high schools. Frankly, getting in shouldn't be a value judgement on the type of EC's the student has participated in, nor should it be a "popularity" contest about which students the teachers prefer. To be honest, when my son turned in his application, I was sure he wouldn't be chosen because the teacher who is the NHS advisor is not a big fan of my son.
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outwest
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Posted: Mon May 28th, 2007 06:10 pm |
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The teacher who runs the honor society is my DD's English teacher (where she has an A+ in the class).
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mom61
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Posted: Mon May 28th, 2007 09:08 pm |
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At our high school it is a matter of having a certain GPA and turning in the application. There was some community service requirement but it wasn't much. I assume they took all who applied but I am not positive.
My oldest was in it every semester and had the special sash at graduation. My son who did qualify a few semesters never had an interest in applying.
My D did put it on her applications. Plus it appears on her transcript.
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outwest
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Posted: Tue May 29th, 2007 12:03 am |
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At our school only second semester Juniors can apply.
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HijinksAndSue
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Posted: Sat Jun 2nd, 2007 01:32 pm |
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At my DD's school, students are selected based on a combo of GPA, SSL hours and ECs ... a small group are selected at the end of their sophomore years and a larger group at the end of their junior years, so it's more "prestigious" to be a two-year member because it's a much smaller sampling (maybe 5 percent of the class? I don't think there were more than 20-25 kids her first year and she's in a class of 500) ...
But I don't know whether she should specify that on her application because there IS no uniform method so I doubt the schools would look that closely. In my DD's case, she'll write it down because it's a relevant honor and she's proud of it, but I don't think it will be a determining factor for her one way or the other ...
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Consolation
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| Joined: | Mon Apr 9th, 2007 |
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Posted: Sun Jun 3rd, 2007 04:14 am |
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outwest wrote: At our school only second semester Juniors can apply.
At our school kids are first eligible during the second semester of junior year. All juniors who have qualifying GPAs are given a form to fill out on which they list their honors, activities, sports, and volunteer work. (There may be more information, but since my son annoyingly chose to fill the form out at school rather than bring it home, I don't know.) I gather that these forms are made available to the teachers and staff, who rate all of the kids on a scale (1-4, I think) in something like 5 areas (academics, leadership, community service, character, etc). My understanding is that teachers are asked to comment only on kids they know. The top X candidates get in. I'm not sure what percentage gets in junior year, but it is quite a small number. Perhaps 15 or so out of a class of 240? A smaller group gets in senior year. They do a couple of service project during the year. They just did a blood drive, for example.
In our experience, it's one of those things that isn't a big deal unless you *don't* get in!  My son's letter literally got lost in the mail, and he was fit to be tied when his best friends got them and he didn't. Luckily it showed up after a couple of days' delay and major angst.
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Consolation
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Posted: Fri Jun 8th, 2007 01:58 am |
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I happened to come across the program for our "Evening of Excellence" at which all the awards are given out, and counted the NHS inductees. There were 23, so about 10% of the class, more than I thought.
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