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I've read conversations about National Honor Society and some of the Youth Leadership Council invitations. My feeling is that these are mostly "for profit" businesses that students don't really benefit from by participating. What do people think about Who's Who Among American High School Students. Is it worth submitting bio info. My daughter was solicited as a Junior. If it is worthwhile, will she most likely get another offer next year? Thanks for any info.

By Hautbois (Hautbois) on Friday, May 02, 2003 - 07:46 pm: Edit

IMO: Anything that requires payment isn't worth it. With WW you can, they say, get in the book without having to purchase it. I still think, though, that it's a scam, just like those others you mentioned ... and like the National Library of Poetry contests; they are all money making ventures for people who know we love to see our names in print.

By L_Wonder (L_Wonder) on Saturday, May 03, 2003 - 11:28 am: Edit

It is a big scam.
see the thread titled
"National Honor Roll"

By Batman (Batman) on Saturday, May 03, 2003 - 08:48 pm: Edit

I agree. Wouldn't (and didn't) waste our time with it.

By Youthscam (Youthscam) on Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 07:10 am: Edit

Scam, also check out the discussion on the national youth leadership forum on technology, they are run by the same company that runs national youth leadership council and several other youth programs.

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?70/2904

By Soozievt (Soozievt) on Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 10:33 am: Edit

Here are my thoughts and questions. My kids also have gotten the National Honor Roll thing in the mail and the Who's Who thing and the Who's Who in Sports things. I could tell immediately by looking at the literature that this was along the lines of things we have gotten in the past....like get your poetry in this collection, etc....and asks you to fork out bucks to buy the books and other merchandise. Seems like just a money making proposition. So, the way we handled it the first year was to just send in the information but not buy anything. You can do that. None of it seemed like that big of an honor as I am not sure how they got selected so to speak.

On the other hand, my older daughter got nominated/selected twice for National Youth Leadership Forums...one on Law and one on Medicine. I know for a fact, in HER case (not sure this is the case elsewhere, I have no idea) but in our school, the faculty were allowed to select ONE student for each of these forums. So, in that respect, she was truly selected. The invitation that came was amazing looking...like a formal wedding invitation and with Clinton's name on it, etc. The list of faculty was well accomplished, etc. My daughter chose not to go to the law one for two reasons....one is she would have had to miss school for a week which she finds hard to do with her level classes. Secondly, she responsibly said that she knew how very expensive it was and we were not sure how to afford it given she attends a very expensive summer program as it is and other activities all year and she did not think it was worth the hardship cause she felt she did not want to go into law, though acknowledged it could have been an interesting week nonetheless. For the medicine one, she might have considered it but besides the great cost, it overlapped by a day or two her six week teen tour out west and it was not possible to go. As an alumni interviewer for Tufts, I have interviewed students who attended the medicine one and the law one and both had some good things to say and I would say it did attract good students and had some worthwhile things. I do not think these programs fell into the same "scam" money making category as the National Honor Roll and Whos Who ....both of which have no intrinsic value in terms of learning, plus do not seem overly selective if at all and only seem to be about making money. Perhaps the leadership forums are about making money as well but they are educational and sound like a good thing for kids who might want to explore a career field they are interested in pursuing in college. I do not think anyone should attend these sorts of things so "it will look good on a college application"....I feel that way about ECs too. A kid should do what he/she is interested in, nothing more. Colleges will see the committments and the rest will follow.

Lastly my question....I am wondering if it actually looks BAD to list in the list of award type things on the application: selected to Whos Who, National Honor Roll, National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine and on Law? I mean I would not want my child to list these if it would actually be a negative thing to list. Just wondering on that.
Susan

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 01:50 pm: Edit

Well, just what kind of impression do you think it makes when you list such dubious honors on an application?

I suspect that the admissions people think, "...either the applicant is dumb or naive, or thinks we are!"

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 01:53 pm: Edit

.

By Youthscam (Youthscam) on Monday, May 05, 2003 - 12:58 pm: Edit

Susan,

As a former employee of Envision EMI, the parent For-profit company of NYLF and NYLC. I can tell you that it is not exlucive and it is not an honor. Teachers can nominate as many students as they would like, your childs teacher decided to limit the selection him or her self. Teacher nominated students is only one way kids are invited. Envision also buys lists from test administering organizations. Your kid says they are interested in Medicine, tech, gov't, etc....they'll get a gold embossed invitation.

Check out this discussion, decide for yourself, call the numbers and ask tough questions.

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?70/2904

By Soozievt (Soozievt) on Monday, May 05, 2003 - 09:22 pm: Edit

Thanks for the information but it is not like I am considering my child participating in any of these. Yes, when she got the invitation for the leadership forums, she was told the school could select just one child for it. Clearly that was not random. I understand your saying that that is not how it is done elsewhere. The students I interviewed for college admissions who went to the law and medicine forums were also very high end students themselves. Other than that, I truly have no experience. The other stuff, like Who's Who and National Honor Roll and all, I could tell just by opening it that it was simply about money. The forums were not only about making money but could be worthwhile for a student to attend if she/he wanted to learn more about that career field. No harm in that, though they do seem quite costly. So that one is not just about whether you regard it as an honor or award but more about if you wish to attend workshops with people in your career field...not necessarily a horrible thing.

In any case, I get the picture about it all and did all along but was only wondering if someone were to list any of these things on a list of awards or so forth, would it actually be totally frowned upon to even list.....you have offered your opinions and I was asking just for that, thanks. I have no idea if my child would even list these things at all, as she has not done applications or so called brag sheets yet. But I would never want to list a selection to something, such as the leadership forum, if an admissions committee actually saw such a thing as a negative so it is good to be informed of this stuff. I have to say in my interviews of prospective students who have shared their attendance at these leadership forums with me in the interview, I certainly did not frown upon them! They explained what they learned and so forth. One critiqued certain aspects of the organization of the medical forum, for example. I never viewed their participation in a negative light. I was even curious as to how they enjoyed the forums since my daughter had turned them down and they did appear interesting in the literature sent to her. But in any case, I would never want to have a kid put such a thing on an application if the admissions comm. saw it as negative to do so. So, thanks for your input.
Susan

By Valley_Girl (Valley_Girl) on Wednesday, May 07, 2003 - 01:45 am: Edit

i was sent an invitation to be in the "national honor roll", "national society of high school scholars", and "who's who...". i haven't sent them a dime but i'm pretty sure it all gave me a boost on my college applications and resume. i even recieved the memory book from "who's who...". don't ask me, how?

By Lkirkla (Lkirkla) on Saturday, February 07, 2004 - 05:17 pm: Edit

Greetings all: National Honor Roll is a vanity press. You send them money; they print junk in their "commemorative yearbook." Doesn't mean a thing. Please see my posting at http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?6/35760 Hope this helps.