Pegasus Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 (edited) How do you determine the value of the various honor societies? Some are genuine honors that are worth pursuing but they seem to be outnumbered by other organizations that are meaningless. . .like the "Notable High School Student" books that you pay to have your student's name published in. DD recently got an email invitation to join "Honor Society" (honorsociety.org) which sounds bogus to me. Wouldn't genuine honor societies have more descriptive names? This one is $100 per year and I want to tell DD to ignore/delete their invite, not worth pursuing. However, I wanted to check with the Hive. Is there a list somewhere of the honor societies that are well known and a true honor to be a member? EDITED TO ADD: Ok, a quick Google search confirms my suspicions on this particular honor society. They have been described as misleading and deceptive, if not an outright scam. My basic question still stands, how to determine a worthwhile honor society? Edited July 9, 2017 by Pegasus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 Since this is on college forum, I'll keep it to college level You might like this article with some basic guidelines http://college.usatoday.com/2017/03/07/how-to-tell-sketchy-honor-societies-from-legitimate-ones/ And then read up on ACHS (Association of College Honor Societies) (this has an easy to follow list) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_College_Honor_Societies or the official site https://www.achsnatl.org/ Remember also, that not all legit groups apply to join that network though. So you may still have to do case by case look up. If you meant high school level.. uhh.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 There used to be a somewhat local one through a homeschool group that I heard good things about. We didn't join because it was an hour each way twice a month. They did a lot of worthy service projects. Unfortunately the adult spearheading it had to step back, and last I heard, they were considering shutting it down. But an honor society that is just on paper, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann.without.an.e Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 (edited) Ok, here is my opinion, take it for what it is ....one person's opinion. I just don't think it is worth the hoops to jump through unless your student will have nothing better to put on their resume. The common app only has a few slots for extracurriculars. Honor societies, etc are what every other kid lists. It says, "I did what was practically handed to me easily" (a simple application and few service hours). It may take a certain GPA or test score to join but here is the thing .... admissions sees your student's test scores and GPA already, they don't need an honor society acceptance to prove that. Focus those extra curriculars on things that matter - on service or special interests that make your student unique. Edited July 9, 2017 by Attolia 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 So far, I've stuck with departmental honor societies and the school wide honor society. I did get a fancy invite to, I think it was the one you listed above, and checked it out and didn't feel it was legitimate enough for me. I did pay to get into the two I am in, but they cost less than the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 9, 2017 Author Share Posted July 9, 2017 My apologies for confusing things with the high school example. DD is a college junior. I appreciate the input. I agree that sticking with the groups directly associated with the school is a safe bet. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann.without.an.e Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 My apologies for confusing things with the high school example. DD is a college junior. I appreciate the input. I agree that sticking with the groups directly associated with the school is a safe bet. Thanks! The high school example totally threw me. I assumed you meant high school honor societies :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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