Today's Mailbag...

The other day I received this invitation from The National Scholars Honor Society.




I have to be honest with you guys...

I felt a sense of ~pride~ wash over me.

In fact, I felt my head starting to swell a bit.


I think that is what brought me back to earth. An emotional chord had been struck.

And I am ashamed to say, it was struck fairly easily.


When I pulled my a**...

ahem...

What I meant to say is that when I pulled my head out of the clouds I seriously began thinking about this opportunity and the consequences that it could present.

So, I decided that I would see what would happen if I "applied" for membership.


I went online to their website at www.collegehonors.org.

I was wanting to see how they compared to other vanity type opportunities such as Metropolitan Who's Who, Cambridge Who's Who, et.al.


There was a section provided for me to write in my "accomplishments", biography, and all of that stuff.


All I did was put in a ~one liner~.

This is what I put in the little box:

Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges

I don't remember how long it was before I received an e-mail reply.

(Time just seems to get away from me.)


I had planned on writing a post about all of this as well as portions of the e-mail, but I got busy again and put it on the back burner.


Well today I received another e-mail from them. So that gave me the impetus to write the post.


The e-mail states (bold is my emphasis):

Thank you for your interest in The National Scholars Honor Society. The membership committee has reviewed and approved your application for membership.


It is my honor and privilege to extend congratulations on your acceptance into The National Scholars Honor Society. Our membership of over 60,000 university scholars and students welcomes you.


Your Membership Acceptance Key is:
** **** ****
(You will need this to complete your membership.)


As a member of The National Scholars Honor Society, you gain the right and privilege of listing your membership on applications, professional credentials, curriculum vitae, and resumes. Upon accepting your membership, you will receive The National Scholars Membership Document, a parchment document suitable for framing. You will also receive a complimentary copy of "The System. The tools you need to get the grades you want."


After an initial review of your file, you have not been selected to receive a scholarship.


You have two options for accepting your membership and submitting the membership fee: Online (for credit card payment), or regular mail (for check or money order). There are no additional fees or dues.


If you choose the Online option (pay your membership fee via Visa or MasterCard), you may follow this link http://www.collegehonors.org/ccpsystem.htm to complete an online Membership Acceptance Form and pay your membership fee via Visa or MasterCard.


If you choose regular mail (pay your membership fee via check or money order), then your next step is to complete, print and return the Membership Acceptance Form along with a check or money order for $85.00, payable to The National Scholars. This link will open the printable Membership Acceptance Form http://www.collegehonors.org/MembershipAcceptanceForm.pdf


I personally welcome you to The National Scholars Honor Society, and wish you continued success.

Kevin Wakeman MD
President , The National Scholars Honor Society

I have to say that deep down I was disappointed. Not only had I been rejected for a "scholarship", but I felt that it was just someone else trying to get some of my hard earned money.

And what would I have in return for the $85 fee?

I don't really know. Perhaps it would look good on a resume`?


And besides...

I can dream up just about anything I want and place it on parchment paper at Kinko's for a lot less money.


In researching this opportunity on the internet I discovered that there are a whole slew of "scholastic scams".

For some reason I was surprised. I suppose that I had mistakenly thought that scholastics was somewhere in the same neighborhood of integrity, honesty, and achievement.

But I guess I was wrong.


A few universities have warnings on their school websites and offer advice.

They tell you to ask yourself questions like this one:

If I put the honorary on my resume, and a prospective employer asks me about it, how will I respond?


I also found out that there are scholarship scams. These people ask you for money in order to give you money in the form of a scholarship.

Does this make sense to you?


UCLA has an interesting resource site that tells you where you can report scams and stuff like that.


And Williamette University has a helpful page about scams that is entitled Scholarship Information.


I then ran across the Association of College Honor Societies. These people basically say that if the society isn't one of their members then it could be a scam.

Could that be true?

Who knows. The National Scholars Honor Society isn't on their list.

But neither is Alpha Sigma Lambda. An honor society that I was inducted into at the university that I attend.

Alpha Sigma Lambda does seem to meet their criteria and standards that the ACHS have listed in their How to Judge the Credibility of an Honor Society page. However, I didn't have to pay Alpha Sigma Lambda a dime for anything. Not even for the little finger sandiches that I ate at the special induction ceremony.

Could it be that you have to pay an enormous membership fee as a society to be a part of ~their~ organization?


Interesting.


Sounds like this scholastic thing could be fairly lucrative.


As far as The National Scholars Honor Society goes they do have a satisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau.

And they've almost been in business for 5 years and are upfront about the things that they don't do.

They don't write letters of recommendation.

They don't issue press releases.

They don't host public ceremonies for induction or graduation.

And they don't sell or distribute honor cords.



I guess whether or not you choose to join any of these organizations is solely dependent on what you expect to receive from them.

After you write your check out of course.


later...