National Honor Society (NHS) in High School - Did you get into it back in HS? If not, why?

I honestly still don't know what the point of NHS is, other than to have on your record for college admission.

HS: small Catholic girls' school, NHS junior year, was in the honors group throughout HS. Graduated probably 10th or 11th out of 86 students (approximately - it's been a while!)

The thing that makes me remember my NHS induction the best is because my friend dyed my hair pink about a week before the induction ceremony and my mother went ballistic. She tried to wash it out and when there was still some traces of it left, she cut out small sections of my hair. So apparently NHS was more important to my mom than it was to me:)

I was in it for my three years of high school, and I thought it was lame. I tutored math one year as well, but I got out of it because it was a struggle (tutorees not showing up, etc.). I was only in NHS because it looked good to college admission folks. Other than that, it was pretty boring.

This used to be a sore subject for me, but I think (hope?) I've moved on.

High School:

Upper middle class public suburban school in Northern Virginia. Graduated top 5 out of 700+ students. 4.0+ GPA (straight A's and a bunch of AP classes), 1510 SAT (before the addition of the writing section). Captain of XC team as well. When I was first eligible for NHS (sophomore or junior year, I don't remember exactly), I applied and was rejected because I didn't have enough community service. I didn't have a lot, but I had a few hours here and there. What really pissed me off was that people who didn't deserve to get in made it. For example, I had a friend who forgot about the application until the day it was due, stapled a blank sheet of paper to the back of the application, tore it off, and later told the committee that they had lost his essay. He got in, and I didn't.

By the time senior year rolled around I was obviously one of the most accomplished students at the school and the committee kept asking me to join (maybe it made them look bad, I don't know why else they would care), but I refused. I wanted to be the only person in the 4.0 section at graduation who didn't have an NHS sash. I guess it was my immature way of making a statement. Anyway, I succeeded and actually felt good about it at graduation.

College:

Attended a top 10 private engineering school, graduated with an engineering degree, a 3.9+ GPA and a sub 15:00 5K.

Moral of the story: You don't need things like the NHS to be successful. If you want to play the game, go ahead, and it might actually help later in life to know how to play it. Just remember that it, like a lot of things in life, is really just a game.

Maybe it's still a sore subject. Thanks for opening old wounds.

Looks like we have a frontrunner for Douche of the Century.

Seriously, you sound like an awful person to ever want to be around. Holy sh*t.

HS:

I was a member of NHS. Graduated in top 5% of my class of over 500 people, yada, yada a bunch of other great achievements. I just did it for extracurriculars on college apps. I did not understand the point of the whole thing. We just met once a month, did some volunteer hours, and maybe a couple other things. When I look back, the only purpose of NHS was to garnish college apps. I never got into clubs or that kinda shit in high school. I generally found NHS, student government and some other high school clubs as things for power hungry high school kids to pursue their dreams of domination of other people. The NHS has no purpose except to perpetuate its own existence.

As the OP, I am to this day pretty pissed I didn't get into NHS even though I graduated high school 6-7 years ago...mostly because NHS invited me to apply by letter, and I think this was because anyone with a 3.4gpa and up and some accomplishments outside of academics was invited. And I was invited only to be rejected. I took a lot of time and effort filling out the application and even had my dad help proofread it. When I didn't get in it was like a slap in the face on what I worked for and stood for. To me my grades and running were most important and I even had a dot-com business on the side where I did a community service project to raise money for memorial scholarship for my xc teammate who died while I was xc captain - he was tragically killed in an accident.

Most of my xc/track teammates also didn't get in (I remember one -he went to BU honors program - said that the NHS committee does not understand how much hard work, time, effort that distance running entails).

Meanwhile say you have Sue Crabtree who gets in. Say she might have a 3.8gpa in high school, but her class rank is middle of the pack because her classes are lower level - like maybe she never took Trig or Calc (topped out at Algebra 2 in 12th grade) and spends much of her time selling cookies at the school store and helping out with SAAD/MAAD drunk driving and the red cross blood drive stuff. And most importantly the NHS teacher commitee loves her and she's in. Usually the Sue Crabtree type attends a pretty mediocre college - I mean maybe 990-1100 avg incoming SAT at such college.

Goddamn I forgot how elitist and obnoxious distance runners are.

Why on Earth does anyone even care about this stuff. ESPECIALLY after you're out of high school.

If you accomplished good things in college and beyond, great. I wait for the day someone says to you "oh, you know what Mr. Skinnyass, you're pretty well qualified for this job, but I don't see NHS on your resume. Next."

No one cares.

I got in (2nd in class out of 320), 4.24, 1390, 9 varsity letters, many other activities).

Ours was weird because it was for juniors and seniors only, and they only let in about 11-12 people a year in a school that had 1300. So about 1% got in. Our valedictorian did not; she was an academic machine with nothing else on her resume. The lowest GPA from my class to get in was maybe 25th out of 320.

We met once a month and offered tutoring to other students. The rate was $9 an hour and we kept $7 of it, so that was sweet at a time when minimum wage was $3.35.

It has no impact on how people do in life, but it matters on resumes up through maybe senior year of college. After that, nobody gives a shit.

You need to let go.

NHS is a minor checkbox for your college applications. I'm astonished anyone would even care once they got accepted to college, let alone after college graduation.

Well.... wrote:

You need to let go.

NHS is a minor checkbox for your college applications. I'm astonished anyone would even care once they got accepted to college, let alone after college graduation.

Bingo. I haven't given all those fancy HS accolades a second thought since graduating high school (until opening this thread). And that was almost ten years ago.

Did not even try it`s just a club for smart kids and I was in enough clubs by then. Home Economics Club was best me and 23 girls. Ate some mighty fine cookie that year.

Again, as the OP, I am laughing at it now, yeah. I realize NHS makes no difference after...probably enrolling in undergrad frosh yr actually.

I probably should not have gotten in, but it was just one of those things that kind of left a sting in me because I felt betrayed by the teachers on that committee, felt like they didn't respect me. I knew it was competitive to get in and I knew at some level my chances of getting in were borderline, so I made every effort I could to make the application good. But in the end it didn't matter. I know the superstars ahead of me (the ones they actually wanted to admit no matter what) spent 5minutes on the application and got in, and I probably spent 3-4 hours trying to get down what little I had and making it sound good. again they invited me to apply. (Pretty much invited anyone having the minimum gpa requirement of like a 3.4...they probably weren't sure what the application turn out would be, so they just invited like 100 and accepted 20-30 for the nhs induction ceremony) the nhs ceremony is like a light the candle thing (you see pics of it in your yearbooks too). Seemed important to me at the time I guess.

It's waste of time. When you are 16 you can go to Middle College and take real college courses. Do that and you will me much more challenged.

Did you contemplate the possibility that you may have been turned down by the NHS becuase of your juvenile humor, Mr. ShortsLiningDiarheaExplosion?

BTW- the correct spelling is diarrhea. Apparently you weren't a stand-out student in your English classes.

Never heard of NHS before this thread. My high school didn't have it.

You're right

I was not

Not even close

I already said I was barely top qtr

Luckily I haven't had any experience using the word until letsrun msg boards came

Yourself?

Yes I was in NHS. At a very good HS, class rank was 31/367. Quite good but not super, but combined with good-but-not-spectacular SAT's went on to a prestigous college. Only a so-so student there, but I graduated.

Nope didnt get it ladies more important

DUDE A 1220 IS NOT DECENT, THATS SHIT. YOU ARE A TERRIBLE STUDENT - 3.4 GPA IS A JOKE. I'VE GOT A 2340 AND A 4.3 UNWEIGHTED. COME AT ME DUDE, YOU SUCK LOL.