Honor Society? PTK, PBK, Beta(x3), Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Theta Tau, Golden Key???

[sunnyjohn]

What honor society do you belong to???

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[Indryd]

What honor society do you belong to???

Would someone please explain how useful these are? Of course, like everyone else here, I have been invited to join countless "honors societies" by mail (I even get letters in the mail addressed to 'The parents of xxx xxxxxxxxx' which is funny because my parents are dead and I have supported my self since 18). It seems like a total racket, though. Don't my GPA and MCATs speak for themselves? Doesn't my paying the hundreds of dollars in fees to join "societies" only show a) that I am a sucka and b) that I have so little confidence in my own abilities that I need to join an elite club to speak for me?

Ok, I know I'm sounding a little bitter here, but seriously, what is the point? Will adcoms, etc, really see a person's 3.85 and really not be impressed, but then say "oh, but wait, he/she has paid to join the National Dean's List, and the Golden Key Club, holy **** he/she is in!"

Really, am I wrong about this? I just don't get it. Person X got a 3.8. Person Y got a 3.8 and had his/her mom/dad pay to join several honors societies. Is person Y a better candidate for jobs etc?

 

[Amorphisgirl]

What honor society do you belong to???

If by Beta(x3) you really mean Tri-Beta, then yes--among others.

 

[Larsitron]

There's been threads on this before, but I'll put in my two cents.

I belong to Phi Beta Kappa. It has a local chapter at my school where we do things and it hasn't to sell me anything. Moreover, the invitation to join came from within my school and not from a company trying to sell me something.

Honors societies only matter if you do something in them. Phi Beta Kappa organizes guest lecturers and other stuff at my school and so its kind of fun. But if its a letter trying to sell you a book with your name in it, then they're totally fake and don't mean anything. Other people will disagree with me and say that all honors societys are dumb, but there are a few that are actually worth joining if you get invited. Phi Beta Kappa is one of them. If you'd like more information about it/why I think it's worth it let me know.

 

[UCLAstudent]

I'm in Golden Key and was just invited to join PBK yesterday. I'm excited about PBK. I haven't really been involved with Golden Key.

 

[Scrub MD]

Tri-Beta, Blue Key, Red Cross, couple others

I am only going to put the ones down that we actually did stuff in.

 

[PostalWookie]

These don't make a difference unless you're an officer, so there's no advantage to putting like 4-5 honor societies on your AMCAS. If anything, it makes you look like a tool

 

[MollyMalone]

I basically said f*** them all. I feel like my academic accomplishments will stand on their own merit and it's clear from my GPA and other work that I could have joined had I wanted to. I really didn't have extra cash on hand to blow and I coordinated all my own volunteer community service work so I didn't think they had anything to really offer me. YMMV, of course, no disrespect to anyone who's a member, but they weren't right for me.

 

[SEUPATTY]

I'm not amember of any of those. Never even heard of a few of them. My grades are good, and I still got into medical school. But I think if you are going to join something, make it worthwhile, not just to write something down. I'm sure some of these honor societies do good things.

 

[sunnyjohn]

Phi Theta Kappa gave me ascholarship big enough to finish two years of undergrad, so I really liked them

Even paid for room, board and books!!!

 

[16hoursleeper]

I just did PBK and Tau Beta Pi (engineering equivalent). Things like freshmen only honor societies seem particularly stupid to me. But if you have millions of dollars, sure, join them all. At least it makes you feel good for an hour.

 

[drguy22]

Alpha Epsilon Delta, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key, Psy Chi

 

[MDposer]

who cares!!!!

 

[chaeymaey]

National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Sigma Tau Delta (hey, not all STD's are bad).

 

[DrBowtie]

who cares!!!!

Some of those can be important if you go seek a job somewhere. There was a link around here that with government jobs if you were in your fields honor society you got a pay raise.

 

[Medinsane]

Umm National Society of Collegiate Scholars. I'm hesitant to add this as one of my activities though. Seems like a waste of space.

 

[Shredder]

i think these things are all ******ed

 

[TaalMasti]

truthfully, phi beta kappa (PBK) is the only one that really counts. even if you aren't an officer, it's one of the only honor socities that will stick with you and is more than just 'i have a 4.0 GPA.' if you ask most scholarship directors and most med school adcoms, they will tell you that PBK is the most highly regarded in the academic community.

 

[Larsitron]

truthfully, phi beta kappa (PBK) is the only one that really counts. even if you aren't an officer, it's one of the only honor socities that will stick with you and is more than just 'i have a 4.0 GPA.' if you ask most scholarship directors and most med school adcoms, they will tell you that PBK is the most highly regarded in the academic community.

This is true. I got letters from the president of my university, college, and honors college saying congratulations. Its the oldest society and has counted many presidents, nobel laureates, supreme court justices, leaders in research and business among its members. My grandfather was in it and that was probably the leading reason why I joined.

 

[Darth Asclepius]

Here's what the honors program at my school said about this...

If you've joined one or two, there is no point in joining any others. The only reason to join another after you are in a couple is if it's something difficult to get into (like Sigma Xi) or if it's Phi Beta Kappa. They sent an email to the honors listserv to tell everyone invited to join PBK to seriously thing about doing it.

 

[Haybrant]

none; and proud of it!

 

[brynn7]

they give you pretty cords to wear at graduation. so that gives you something to play with during those 2-3 hours.

 

[ShyRem]

How about Kappa Mu Epsilon?

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

The only honor society worth a damn is Phi Beta Kappa, in my opinion. The others are just there to bilk you for a few hundred bucks.

 

[ShyRem]

The only honor society worth a damn is Phi Beta Kappa, in my opinion. The others are just there to bilk you for a few hundred bucks.

KME didn't cost anything. It's a math honor society you have to be nominated for by faculty (along with other things like so many hours in math, so high a GPA, etc.).

 

[Scarletbegonias]

truthfully, phi beta kappa (PBK) is the only one that really counts. even if you aren't an officer, it's one of the only honor socities that will stick with you and is more than just 'i have a 4.0 GPA.' if you ask most scholarship directors and most med school adcoms, they will tell you that PBK is the most highly regarded in the academic community.

I agree. With my experience with the other honor societies and from what i've read/heard about PBK, it really is the only one that really has substantial merit.

 

[synapse]

Here's what the honors program at my school said about this...

If you've joined one or two, there is no point in joining any others. The only reason to join another after you are in a couple is if it's something difficult to get into (like Sigma Xi) or if it's Phi Beta Kappa. They sent an email to the honors listserv to tell everyone invited to join PBK to seriously thing about doing it.

hey darth, what do you know about Sigma Xi??? i just got an email to join it. ive never heard of it. is it worth joining??

it's hard to get into?!

 

[iwutitan]

hey darth, what do you know about Sigma Xi??? i just got an email to join it. ive never heard of it. is it worth joining??

it's hard to get into?!

Sigma Xi is the research honor society. I wasn't going to join it until my advisor told me to... I think you have to be nominated by a professor so yeah it is worth joining.

 

[funshine]

Sigma Xi is the research honor society. I wasn't going to join it until my advisor told me to... I think you have to be nominated by a professor so yeah it is worth joining.

honestly, I don't think so. i just got an email about sigma xi as well, but i'm pretty sure most of my class got it too. I think everyone who does research gets invited. If you've done cool research, then you should be able to talk about it. Being in some research honor society isn't going to mean anything.

 

[nekrogg]

im in golden key, phi kappa phi, and beta beta beta.

im the president of my golden key chapter and am running for beta beta beta office.


ya and i also got some all american scholorship award thing in my mail and actually paid 50 dollars to join that thing. does any1 also have this?