The National Honor Society - Is It Outdated Hype or Still Relevant?

The National Honor Society (please, notice it's not Honors!) is a well-respected organization with years of cemented reputation surrounding areas in leadership, scholarship, service, and character, its four pillars. Who wouldn't think that's commendable? Aren't those the areas of development we want for our young students today? Of course! But, will applying to and being selected into your school's NHS benefit you in college admissions?

Once again, the dreaded answer is, "That all depends." I've worked with so many students over the years, and when it comes to the Honors section of the Common Application, we debate whether mentioning NHS is even worthwhile. The question becomes, "How does your school award NHS membership, and, as members, what do you DO?" Although applications consider the community service the student has been involved in and include teacher recommendations, the biggest factor separating NHS contenders from the rest of the high school's students is GPA. Many schools have two entry points into NHS. Typically, if you have a 3.8 GPA as a junior, you can apply in your junior year. If you have a 3.5 as a senior, you can apply in your senior year. Personally, if you can't do it for the full spectrum of time offered at your school, what's the point? Acceptance is up to the committee. Whether being selected into the NHS is uber competitive or not at your school, you need to consider some questions in advance when considering to accept your membership, if offered.

Service

NHS is supposed to be an organization that gives back to the community. It should be a well-organized machine that delivers a clear and measurable impact to the cause the members have chosen to serve. The majority of the time, when I ask my student-clients what they do in NHS, they respond with a disappointing "I don't know, I just go to meetings. Sometimes I show up at a gas station and wash cars." 🤔 If your NHS Chapter can't provide you with fundraising numbers over the past five years, if you can't actually measure the impact of your NHS, then stop. Don't join. Do something else on your own that can answer those questions. If you're involved with community service already, outside of NHS, DO MORE OF IT! You don't need NHS to serve any community or make an impact! Just make sure it's measurable and shows year-over-year growth, either in membership or fundraising dollars.

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Leadership

Of course, there are the roles that get divvied out: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and so on. But a title is simply that, a title. If you don't have meat behind that bone, colleges will know it! Many times, the votes become popularity contests - the most capable and most deserving rarely take the prize. So, unless you can state how your role contributed to favorable outcomes that helped the cause meet or exceed goals, it's just a title with no substance. But that is what the NHS does for students who go to schools where leadership positions are hard to come by. It does give way to having a title, but you do have to own it. You have to do something with it, then colleges will sit up and take notice. NHS is the vehicle that makes the opportunity for you if you are able to get it, but it's what you do with it that will count the most. Again, you don't need the NHS to be a leader. Start your own club and lead its members, instead! You might actually have more fun.

Scholarship

This goes without saying: if you're a NHS member, you obviously have academics on your side. The only problem is that it's typically based on GPA as the bar, not on the rigor behind the GPA. A student who achieves a 4.0 in lower-level classes, although commendable, is not the same scholar who achieves a 4.0 taking all APs. This is especially true across the country when comparing core curricula of many schools. In the Cleveland area alone, there are 4 private schools within a 10-mile radius of each other. Parents pay college tuition-level numbers to have their kids attend these prestigious schools. Guess what? None of them have a NHS. None!

Well, Lilly, how about the scholarships that are available to NHS members? Good point, but unless your chapter is nationally highlighted within the organization, I wouldn't count on getting awarded the big one! There are currently 1.4 million active NHS members. This year, the NHS awarded $2 million dollars in scholarships to 600 students. That's about $3,000 per student. You'd be better off focusing on a merit scholarship from your intended university that could yield at the very least $10,000 per YEAR in scholarship. Given the number of hours required to even be considered for such an award, that's about $30/hr. Ask yourself, is it worth it, and what are your chances, anyway? Evalute your opportunity cost. What could you have been focusing on instead of all the hours you spent as a NHS member?

Character

A person's character comes through, not by what they say, but rather by what they do. NHS isn't the only way to demonstrate character. There are a multitude of ways you can do this. Besides, speaking about your character will typically come from a teacher, advisor, employer, coach, etc. It's uncouth if it comes directly from you. Will your school's NHS Director write 60+ recommendation letters for each NHS member? There are a lot of members in NHS. Standing out will be tough unless you're an officer. And, even then, if you lead in title only, there won't be much to write about anyway. To display this part of you well on a college application, concentrate on showing your character to others so they are in a position to write a killer rec letter on your behalf when the time comes!

Bottom Line

If you've read this far, you may think I'm opposed to NHS. As a pin-carrying member myself, I respond with "Hogwash!" It all depends on who YOU are as a person. Do you NEED NHS to cozy into an already existing cause where it's already primed for you to take the lead and make a difference? Do you think you could snag a leadership role within your school's NHS? Are you borderline academically and a membership into NHS would make you a contender amongst your more scholastically strong peers? Do you not have many honors you could claim on the Common App? As an NHS member, do you plan to take it futher, beyond your school, and participate in the many seminars and conferences on the subject of leadership sponsored by NHS? Colleges know NHS is derivative - be sure you show how you can elevate impact through NHS. That's the interesting part to colleges.

If you qualify, at the very least go ahead and apply for NHS membership at your school. Even if you don't plan on accepting the invitation, there is something you'll accomplish with your application: testing your recommenders. If you're a junior right now, you're working with those teachers that will likely write your letter of recommendation for college. Test the waters! A student-client of mine did this and we learned a lot after he didn't get selected into his school's NHS despite meeting all the qualifications, and then some. When he was shocked he wasn't offered a place, he went to his guidance counselor to review the "evidence." She couldn't speak in detail or show him anything, but stated the recommendation letter wasn't very strong! Well, we won't be using that teacher for college rec letters when the time comes! I'm glad that was exposed early on.

When you Google NHS, there's a part in the search results that just makes me cringe: "[The four pillars of NHS], these principles were established in 1921 by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) to foster well-rounded student leaders." Today, the well-rounded student is no more! Pointy is the game, pointy should be the plan. If you think NHS will provide the field you need to display those pillars best, then join NHS if invited. If you think you have other avenues in accomplishing those four pillars despite NHS membership, then do it! You don't need NHS despite how competitive membership may be at your school. With as busy as students are today, they should take a good look at what actually matters to them in helping to make a difference beyond themselves, whatever that may be, and become more invested in that. If that happens to align with your school's NHS commitment to a particular cause you can get behind, then you know what to do; get those sponges and buckets ready!