Hot Lava Mama Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 (edited) Ds took the ACT earlier this year, as well as the PSAT in October. He is in 11th grade, so we had him fill out the "extra" stuff on those tests for information about colleges, what his interests are, etc. As such, we have been getting a lot of things because of that information. He recently received a packet from the "National Student Leadership Conference." I have never heard of this before. It appears to be some kind of camp-type thing for engineers. They said he was "chosen" to represent "Home School Clearing House" at the 2016 conference. Thing is-I don't know what the "Home School Clearing House" is! The "camp" is at a very good college that is relatively close (UC Berkeley). He is very interested in engineering and did get a pretty good score on the ACT (33). So, is this a scam? Has anyone ever heard of this before? I was thinking of calling up UCB to see if it is for real. I could also call the place that sent this packet (as they have a number on it), but I wasn't sure if I would be able to tell if it was a scam or not. Any suggestions? Thanks! Hot Lava Mama Edited November 21, 2015 by Hot Lava Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjbucks1 Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 These are generally not the "honor" that they seem and cost a lot of money. My ds received several of these so called honors, and all but one required lots of money to paticioate. The one that was legitimate was geared more towards a liberal arts major, and he was not interested. You can google the name of the institution and find out what others have to say and how much the camp will cost. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 There are some threads on College Confidential about this. Google the name of the group & "scam" and follow the links. Looks like it could be really fun & rewarding, but it is really pricey. Many people point out that it isn't a resume/transcript booster. Apparently, there are some scholarships available for some of the programs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 (edited) NSLC: Not a scam per se but more like Who's Who. If you have to say it... Or pay to be in it, it says less about achievement and more about a desire to be recognized. That said I actually went to one in high school, not realizing that it wasn't that meaningful, and had fun. It wasn't far from home and didn't cost a lot, but I would advise my kids to spend their money and time on more focused activities. Edited November 22, 2015 by Tsuga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 My son had similar offers last year. All very costly. No thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Lava Mama Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 Thanks for all the responses. Yep, my gut feeling was correct. I don't trust these types of "honors" that show up randomly! Thanks for all the help. Hot Lava Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 FWIW--Home School Clearing House is the name that the College Board gives to a homeschooler's "high school" based on the 97000 code. Sometimes it has a state designation attached. That name shows up on College Board stuff and anything else that uses that 97000 CEEB code. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 (edited) Semi-scam. It is not that they take your money and disappear. It is that they give you a trip that does not even come close to meeting its promises. Like you go to DC for the innaugration and then watch it on tv in your hotel (or hostel) room. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/education/edlife/leadership-t.html?referer=&_r=0 Edited November 23, 2015 by Alessandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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