Honor Societies? Beta Gamma Sigma

[jgatz2280]

Is there any merit to accepting invitations from these organizations? Beta Gamma Sigma boasts that it only recognizes the top 10% of business students at the undergrad level. I thought that maybe this would strengthen my app b/c I am an economics major. Still skeptical though and would appreciate any insight

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[hownowmauvecow]

not really. the only medical society that will count (and I use this term loosely) is phi beta kappa (which you are elected to based on grades your junior/senior year of college). There are a lot of other honor societies out there and for many its easy to join just by paying some dues, so most are a waste of money. since this one sounds selective I would consider it but my opinion is it doesn't count for much on your application. again just my opinion (and I did make the mistake of joining some BS honor societies...)

 

[Ismet]

1. Don't join if you're just going to pay the membership fee and say you're a member. Like the poster said above, PBK is really the only society worth mentioning.

2. If you want to join in order to take part in the chapter's activities and/or try for a leadership position, or if there are other perks to joining, then I'd say go for it as long as the membership fee isn't outrageous. I am definitely not familiar with this honor society, but if your school has an active chapter that you want to get involved in, it would be no different from any other student organization. I joined NSCS for like $75 and got a rather nice scholarship out of it, plus did several service activities with the group. It's still not a very strong addition to the app, and I just lumped it with a few other things in an "Honors and Awards" entry, but it's a bit more substantial than just paying the membership fee and saying you're a member.

 

[volcomx]

Does your school have Omicron Delta Epsilon? It's the economics honor society, and induction is free. You have to be nominated (top 10% of class or so).

 

[whatbout2morrow]

I researched this just a couple of weeks ago and ultimately decided not to since I won't be applying for their scholarships (I am close to graduating) or really using their member benefits. I figured my transcript speaks for itself, and graduating with honors pretty much sends the same message about my grades.

I guess it is pretty much the business major's equivalent of the science major's Phi Beta Kappa, but I doubt it will carry as much weight.

 

[Meihua]

I guess it is pretty much the business major's equivalent of the science major's Phi Beta Kappa, but I doubt it will carry as much weight.

Phi Beta Kappa is for liberal arts and sciences - individual sciences have their own honor societies (e.g. Phi Lambda Upsilon is for chemical sciences) which generally don't carry any weight.

 

[Geebeejay]

Is there any merit to accepting invitations from these organizations? Beta Gamma Sigma boasts that it only recognizes the top 10% of business students at the undergrad level. I thought that maybe this would strengthen my app b/c I am an economics major. Still skeptical though and would appreciate any insight

These organizations are usually money-seeking scam groups that are open to anyone with a certain GPA willing to pay dues. I think they are BS, but if you join one, become a leader and save the world, then power to you. I think it's a waste of time and ADCOMs will probably skip right over it if they see it in your application.