Tell me about National Honor Society at your high school

[linnylu]

My ds is a junior in high school. Recently he applied for NHS and was not accepted. I thought ds was very involved although he isn't in any leadership positions. He has run for a few but wasn't elected. It seems like it is always the same kids who are elected. He is very involved in the school band program. He doesn't participate in any sports.

Anyway, I was just wondering what it takes to be accepted as a junior at your HS?

 

[trip]

If I remember correctly, at our school, gpa was the first requirement. Then school involvement, teacher recs, and lots of emphasis on community involvement.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

My 3 ds went/go to a private schoool, but they still have the NHS. Only my youngest has gotten in last year as a junior, not the other 2. I know they look at grades, teacher recommendations, and lots of extra curricular stuff and character. Also here its a religious school, so you have to have religious community service too.

My ds has a good gpa, and good character since alot of the teachers like him. He also does no school sports, but he is a lifeguard and a certified bowling coach too. and works at both jobs during the year. Also he helps at our church by being an usher, bible school youth leader and helps in the toddler nursery.

At the induction ceremony I heard them "extoll the virtues" of each child inducted. My ds looked like he did nothing compared to these kids, like one girl visits nursing homes, makes quilts for them, etc. etc. I wondered how all these kids could get good grades and do all this community service stuff and sports too etc.

Ds friiend did not get in last year. He asked the teachers why. It was an issue which was directly related to a character incident. This year he got in.

Wishing your ds all the best. I guess he could ask directly why he didnt get in and maybe work on that area for next year?

Honestly my ds is now on the wait list for the state univ. of his lst choice and being on the honor society is not even getting him in it looks like and his friend who is now got into the NHS has a 3.9 and is class president this year and on the wait list too. So in some cases it doesnt seem to make much of a difference.

 

[js]

My dd attends a private college prep HS and we live in New York. The requirements for NHS are 93 average since Freshman Year, volunteer work, and what you have done in a particular club. For instance, just because you are the President of a club, doesn't make any difference, a college wants to see what you did as president...leadership.
Letters of Recommendation and interviews are also required.
Anyway, my dd would have been qualified to submit for NHS but didn't want the extra curricular activities that come attached to it (ie., peer tutoring, etc.). When my dd went to the first meeting, they were informed the NHS is viewed at Colleges as just another "club". Colleges know that all schools have different requirements for NHS so it isn't valued as high as some may think. My dd's bff's HS has a requirement of 85 since Sophomore year and a letter from the church (she attends Catholic HS) saying she goes to mass each week. So, see, that is much different than what your school may require or my dd's school.
I also work for a private college and when my dd really didn't want to pursue the NHS I asked them the same question and was told it is viewed as another club and what is more important is what you did as a leader in any club than the name of the club.

 

[Rora]

At my HS, the only thing that determined your entrance into NHS was your GPA and the classes you had taken.

For example, a student might have a 3.7 but if they've only taken regular classes (no APs, honors, etc), then they won't be accepted. But an AP/Honors student with a 3.5 would be because they have performed well in difficult classes.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I was in NHS. I think all it took was a particular GPA and nominations from teachers. I never applied for it; I was sent a letter inviting me to join.

I didn't take any high-level classes. In fact, I was actually a bit behind - all of the other NHS members were taking trig and calculus, while I was still plugging away at algebra and geometry (junior year). I did end up on probation for a while in my senior year. Our GPA scale was based on 12 points and I dropped below the required 9.4 for a while. I also was not involved in school activities. I wasn't interested in anything offered by the school.

I did go well over the required 20 hours of community service, though.

 

[crusoe2]

From what I've been able to find out about the NHS on our campus, anyone whose GPA is high enough (don't recall what the cutoff is) is invited to apply for membership. Then they look at the applications and assign point values to things like community service hours, school activities, positions of leadership, character, etc. Students must achieve a certain point level before they can be tapped for membership.

OP, your son sounds so much like mine - and we had the same thing happen last year when he was a junior. DS got off to a slow start but has become very involved, is on advanced diploma so takes upper level courses, has never been in trouble - no disciplinary referrals EVER - great student. He has been invited to apply for NHS every year since he was a sophomore. That first year, the students had to get signed letters verifying the community service hours so we decided not to turn in the application. DS had not done anything that could be counted as community service nor was he very involved in campus activities at that point. Well, lo and behold, they decided not to weigh that as heavily and lots of kids got tapped even tho they didn't have the cs hours & such that were supposedly required. Last year DS was much more involved in school activities, holding leadership positions in some, but still hadn't done a lot of "official" community service. Based on how things turned out the year before - and the fact that they were no longer requiring the verification letters for cs hours, he decided to give it a try anyway. Well, he was turned down on the basis of not having community service OR leadership stuff. This year, he was once again invited to apply but he decided it just wasn't worth the time it takes to fill out all the paperwork - he's a little busy being editor of the paper, section leader in the band, etc. Besides, he already has a scholarship that pays full tuition for 4 years of college so we're not sweatin' the small stuff. Don't mean to sound snide but obviously the folks who choose NHS members at our school overlooked a gem. Their loss. Based on our experience and some of the other posts on this thread, I wouldn't get too worked up over your DS not getting in. Obviously NHS membership isn't all it's cracked up to be.

 

[momrek06]

Both my DS' were in NHS ... one attended a public h.s., the other a private h.s. The rules were the same. This is a "national" organization so basically all the rules will be the same. One difference is DS#1 in public; students were invited to enter beginning (Nov) Junior year ... DS#2 in private; students were invited to enter in (Jan) of Sophomore year.

Req's ... GPA, classes, school involvement, teacher recommendations, and extra curricular activities.

"National Honor Society (NHS) is more than just an honor roll. The Honor Society chapter establishes rules for membership that are based upon a student's outstanding performance in the areas of: Scholarship, Service, Leadership, and Character. These criteria for selection form the foundation upon which the organization and its activities are built."

The motto at my DS' NHS was "To those who have much, much is expected"!

It is one thing to be invited to join and then follow through the app process but there are allot of requirements as a member of NHS.

 

[Meriweather]

Both of my kids were in it.
GPA and teacher recommendations.
They were both involved in a couple school activities (DD more than DS), but neither was involved in any community activities (other that scouts).

 

[Pinkpony]

Both my jr. sons are in it at a public high school. At their high school, you had to be invited to be in it. It was a letter from the NHS director (she's an AP English teacher), but other teachers and administrators were involved in the invitation process.

From what we've gathered from being in it this past year, it was high GPA, including honors classes, extracurricular activities and community service. A certain number of hours of community service have to be met to keep your membership.

My sons are dropping out of it for their sr. year as they didn't seem to think it was worthy of their time to be in this year. It was mostly peer counseling freshmen and sophomores. Just too many other activities they're involved in to keep up with this one. Lots of their friends are dropping it too.

I wouldn't worry about getting into it. It doesn't seem to be as important as it used to be.

 

[tomi]

My daughter goes to a public high school where NHS starts in the junior year. The requirements for NHS are very clear cut. GPA above 90, involvement in 6 or more school activities since freshmen year, at least 20 hours of community service each year, 2 letters of recommendation from teachers. All students who meet these requirements go on a list. The list is then sent to the entire faculty. Teachers can make positive or negative comments about each student. Any student who gets a negative comment gets taken off the list. Pretty clear criteria.

 

[golfgal]

At our high school NHS is by invitation only. Select students are asked to apply. They pull kids out of class, unknown to them or anyone else and there is a 'process' that starts from there.

 

[ead79]

Keep in mind that it's been 12 years since I graduated from high school, but our membership requirements were based on the 4 ideals of NHS--character, service, leadership, and scholarship.

I can't remember the exact GPA cutoff, but I think it might have been around a 3.75. Also, we had to be active in numerous extra-curriculars (did not have to be sports specifically though), and could not have any disciplinary actions in the past. The list of qualified students was then sent around to the teachers who could eliminate any students that they felt lacked the character for membership.

I just googled my school's current NHS requirements, and here you go for comparison: http://waltonhigh.org/files/340704/NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY.pdf

 

[mamamary]

My son is only in middle school but he was sent a letter telling him he should apply for nat'l jr. honor society. He is a straight A student and has tons of extra-curricular activities. He did not get accepted because he had no leadership positions. I sent a note to the committee asking if they had suggestions for leadership since the letter also said to try and apply next year too. It's been over a month so I have a feeling I'm not getting a reply.

 

[Art 1]

Daughter is a senior and will graduate next month with the NHS sash. She was also on NJHS. They looked at GPA, teacher recommendations, leadership and community service. Don't know what else. Students must have 160 hrs of documented comm. service to graduate so that covers the comm. service.

Many of her friends would qualify but never bothered to apply. I don't know if it was worth being bothered with other then being recognized at graduation and awards night.

 

[missypie]

Colleges know that all schools have different requirements for NHS so it isn't valued as high as some may think

I agree. About 1/3 of our students who had the GPA made it. Some kids didn't bother to apply. Some did not have good teacher recs.

Some kids haven't done any community service and it's kind of late to get the hours in by the time the application comes out.

I remember one person telling me that at their school, it's based a lot on character, and the Val didn't get in!

 

[rie'smom]

We didn't apply, our teachers nominated us. Grades were given the most weight followed by the teachers' approval. Each of the nominated students had their nominating letter passed to all of the teachers. One blackball and no NHS. I was one of 2 who got in as a sophomore. Most nominees were juniors and a few were seniors.
OP, have him try again next year. I'm sorry that he didn't get in this time.
This was 37 years ago and I'm sure the process has changed.

 

[padams]

At our HS, only grades matter- must be top 10%, which is around a 96 average usually.

 

[klacey1]

As I recall, the years before I was eligible, NHS was a HUGE honor. There was a super high GPA requirement, and it was neccessary to have tons of involvement/community service. However, my year, there was a new advisor who didn't believe in making it an exclusive thing. Everyone who had over an 85 average was invited to apply and of the 50 (out of a class of 107) who were invited, only one person got rejected (I only remember that because it was a huge deal). It meant absolutely nothing-- they never checked community service hours (were supposed to have 20 a year) or anything. The club never did anything-- and almost half the class had the cords at graduation. I think I actually forgot to put it on my college apps because it wasn't a big deal. I still attended a great college, so I don't think forgetting to mention NHS was a big deal at all.

 

[NCRedding]

DD is a senior at a public high school. She was invited to apply her junior year, and submitted an application that included a few essays and teacher recommendations. Our NHS puts heavy emphasis on community service. The faculty then reviews the applications and accepts or rejects the applicants.

DD got in her junior year. Her BF wasn't accepted until senior year. It keeps her busy. She is an officer and plans the meetings as well as carries out many of the service projects. She coordinates the required number of community service hours that members must do.