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"National Society of High School Scholars" Anyone ever heard of this org.?


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My dd received a "Congratulations" letter today. It said, "Based on your outstanding academic achievement at your high school, you have been nominated......" Well, obviously I didn't nominate my dd. Of course, the big warning flag for me was the membership card to be returned and the $45 fee for membership.

 

Have any of you ever heard of this organization and is it for real? If so, I wonder how they were made aware of my dd since we homeschool and I don't have to report scores to anyone? PSAT maybe?

 

Thanks for your input.

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I have heard that it is a bit of a scam. My understanding is that you pay some money in order to say that you are a member, but you don't really get anything for it.

 

Here is the address of a thread on Collegeconfidential.com (a group that has provided lots of helpful information for us) about the society:

 

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/39022-national-society-high-school-scholars.html

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We got one of those letters, too. I asked the head of the Honor Society at my dd's school, and she told me it was not legit. My dd is part of the National Honor Society through school. She not only had to have good grades, but she also had to put in a lot of community service hours as well as taking part in service-oriented projects at school.

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  • 3 years later...
Guest Sahady

NSHSS is definately a scam... they said that they gave me this thing cause my grades were outstanding... last time i checked failing grades were NOT outstanding...

if someone sent one of those to you, report it to your school...

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 years later...

LOL - my twins each got one in the mail today.  Before I even opened it, I said, "It's going to be one of those 'pay us some money and we'll put your name in a book with a hoity-toity title alongside other rubes who paid us money' scams"  Yep, nailed it.

 

I like the extra touch of hand-addressing the envelope including the name of their high school in the lower-left corner.  Makes it seem more 'prestigious', huh? :rolleyes:

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I actually remembered this original thread when the envelope came, and though isn't that....?

 

When I looked through it, it was very clear that they wanted $$$ without verifying eligibility or anything else.  The testimonials cracked me up -- obviously name-dropping right and left.

 

A sucker born every minute!

 

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We were cracking up at the enclosed bumper sticker ... "proud parent of a scholar"

 

If you received a letter, you can put "National Society of High School Scholars nominee" on the transcript/application/resume to recognize the achievement without paying the fee.  

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Hey - we got ours today... and the price has gone up to $60!  I guess even "scholars" get hit with inflation.  :D  

 

It does make one wonder just how much they make off of this... and ponder the thought (not literally - just theoretically) of starting a similar publication as my "next job."  ;)

 

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It does make one wonder just how much they make off of this... and ponder the thought (not literally - just theoretically) of starting a similar publication as my "next job."  ;)

 

 

This made me laugh! My son got one of these invites the other day, too, and I showed it to my dear hubby after his long, frustrating day at work. He immediately said, "Now, why didn't *I* think of this!?!? We could rich!" lol!

 

As an interesting side note...our local cover school allows students to wear garb from this organization at graduation (a medal, I think)...and some students DO. So there are probably zillions of families who send in that $60 plus the cost of the medal to wear. A brilliant scheme...yes, indeed.

 

My poor ds will NOT be wearing a NSHSS medal at graduation. :-)

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This made me laugh! My son got one of these invites the other day, too, and I showed it to my dear hubby after his long, frustrating day at work. He immediately said, "Now, why didn't *I* think of this!?!? We could rich!" lol!

 

As an interesting side note...our local cover school allows students to wear garb from this organization at graduation (a medal, I think)...and some students DO. So there are probably zillions of families who send in that $60 plus the cost of the medal to wear. A brilliant scheme...yes, indeed.

 

My poor ds will NOT be wearing a NSHSS medal at graduation. :-)

 

Maybe we should seriously consider it?  Medals are cheap...  I was thinking that if only 1% sent it in (1 in 100 students) we'd do ok.  With higher rates of return - yes, of course we can send medals along with a book and certificate!

 

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Oh my gosh, I know I'm a newbie with a low post count, but can I help with this venture? I'm a graphic designer and could make up a really nice brochure, and welcome letter. Please?

 

Hmm, we'd have to come up with a catchy name... then I suspect there could be enough profits to easily make it a group  "business" or I suppose "organization" sounds better...

 

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This is so funny. We got ours a couple of days ago too. My comment to ds was, I could create a group, name it anything I want, buy lists of high schoolers and send them out. I don't see how they have qualified us in any way, so pretty much it is just a money making thing. Even as I was telling him that, I felt tempted. Now here you all are beating me to it.  :lol:

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It does make one wonder just how much they make off of this... and ponder the thought (not literally - just theoretically) of starting a similar publication as my "next job."  ;)

 

 

It does sound like "easy money".  Wouldn't it be nice to just send out some mailings and get money back?  What a deal!   :party:

 

It just seems as if they are pulling off a clever fraud.  People are not promised anything other than a bumper sticker, medal, and the opportunity to say they are in this honor society.  Grades and achievements have nothing to do with it - even though the letter states it was sent out due to "outstanding grades".

 

I think it preys on people who want to show their child excels in something - even if they don't.  It seems as if it would appeal to the ones who might need more on their list of achievements to show a prospective college (stated by the person who came right onto the board to see if this was legit when ds received it :001_smile:).  I wonder if the colleges look at this and and think "What suckers"?

 

How did they get my son's name and address?  ACT or AP testing? 

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  • 1 year later...
Guest dennisrizelleruiz

A while ago I got a letter saying and calling to me that congratulation due to the higher gpa and AP testing, the one that I've not yet taken it was a scam I called the FBI a while ago then if they ask you money after they gave you a congratulation letter it was actually a scam

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  • 11 months later...

My dd received a "Congratulations" letter today. It said, "Based on your outstanding academic achievement at your high school, you have been nominated......" Well, obviously I didn't nominate my dd. Of course, the big warning flag for me was the membership card to be returned and the $45 fee for membership.

 

Have any of you ever heard of this organization and is it for real? If so, I wonder how they were made aware of my dd since we homeschool and I don't have to report scores to anyone? PSAT maybe?

 

Thanks for your input.

Nm. Old thread

Edited by TranquilMind
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  • 2 years later...

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