Is National Honor Society worth it?

[Anonymous]

My kids say that it is boring and useless, but I can't get them to quit. Only upside is they service requirement which has them do stuff other than video games that fills up slots on the college application.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't really require much effort, so why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO it is expected if your stats bear that out. So I would encourage DCs to participate

Curious on your thinking. Do you think if you are ranked in the top 1% of your class that a college sits there and wonders why you aren't in NHS?

Like other posters, my kid never joined and is at a Top 5.

New poster here
NHS is about more than grades. There are students at my kid's school who were denied NHS because of discipline issues or not enough leadership experience/interest.

I'm surprised it's $60 for a year at OP's kid's school. That's pretty steep. It's only $20 at my kid's school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't really require much effort, so why not?

I resent paying $60 for b.s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO it is expected if your stats bear that out. So I would encourage DCs to participate

Curious on your thinking. Do you think if you are ranked in the top 1% of your class that a college sits there and wonders why you aren't in NHS?

Like other posters, my kid never joined and is at a Top 5.

New poster here
NHS is about more than grades. There are students at my kid's school who were denied NHS because of discipline issues or not enough leadership experience/interest.

I'm surprised it's $60 for a year at OP's kid's school. That's pretty steep. It's only $20 at my kid's school.

That is school dependent. At my kid's school, it's administrative...but anyone that has the CS hours and the grades is admitted. Might also need a teacher rec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't really require much effort, so why not?

I resent paying $60 for b.s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No.

Colleges care about what you do. If the NHS club at your high school engages in activities that your child is interested in doing, then they should do that. If not, then no.

This. DS performed lots of community service projects and spent many hours during lunch peer tutoring that he got an award for his efforts and was able to cite to this experience to get paid positions at a tutoring company and science camp over the summer. So if your kid is going to do something with it, go for it.

[Anonymous]

To echo what's been said above, NHS requirements vary from school to school. You might think about it in terms of how it might fit into your kid's Common App, which permits 5 honors/awards or 10 ECs. As an honor/award, it has little value but it's better than nothing. As an EC, it again depends on the school and what the kid makes of it. My DC's school requires NHS members to create, execute, and present on year-long volunteer projects their junior and senior years. My DC did a pretty cool and time-intensive project over both years. Consequently, DC listed it in the EC section somewhere between activities #7-#9. Anyhow, NHS could certainly help bolster the application of a kid who doesn't have much in the way of ECs or volunteer experience. It can also be a fun, rewarding experience.

[Anonymous]

Might be good for lower car insurance on the family policy if your kid drives. That's about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our school, NHS basically requires that you report service hours you earn elsewhere, as long as they fit certain parameters (like peer tutoring). Much of what mine were already doing counted towards the hours. They supplemented with a bunch of peer tutoring sessions. It didn't add much to their workloads, was kind of low key. I'm sure that differs by school

+1. My DC’s school required more service hours for graduation than NHS did. So it was an easy “check the box” thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't really require much effort, so why not?

I resent paying $60 for b.s.

But you don't mind paying 300K for a university degree.

[Anonymous]

We don’t pay for it at our school and it’s very active. Required meetings and required service. Lots of drives to raise $, peer tutoring, etc.