Phi Beta Kappa honor society worth joining?

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The criteria for PBK is "magna cum laude or better". When I put "Magna Cum Laude" on my resume, I'm pretty sure people will get the drift. PBK only matters if you are active in it, otherwise its $75 to prove something that you can prove elsewhere in your CV.

Being selected for PBK is nowhere near the prestige of getting into school. In the med application process, they examine our grades, scores, EC's, and personality (through essays and LORs), PBK evaluates you on GPA, so joining it proves nothing that your GPA alone cannot.
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One of the things they look at when they select is the Liberal Arts GPA. They are looking for students that have done well in all aspects of their education. Not only, for example, science courses. Every professor, faculty and administration I have talked to, including my dad (retired professor), former dean of the medical school, and the dean of admissions has told me that this is no small deal, and, frankly, I believe them and take stock to what they say over anyone else. The coolest thing is that my chapter, I only had to pay $25 dues.
 
clab1707 said:
The criteria for PBK is "magna cum laude or better". When I put "Magna Cum Laude" on my resume, I'm pretty sure people will get the drift. PBK only matters if you are active in it, otherwise its $75 to prove something that you can prove elsewhere in your CV.

Being selected for PBK is nowhere near the prestige of getting into school. In the med application process, they examine our grades, scores, EC's, and personality (through essays and LORs), PBK evaluates you on GPA, so joining it proves nothing that your GPA alone cannot.
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Wrong, first of all, you have to attend a college or university that has a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, and only about ten percent of the colleges or universities in the USA have been awarded a chapter by PBK, many schools are turned down by PBK. And then you have to be nominated by your faculty based upon your performance in a broad cross section of liberal arts course work. Being a science wonk with a great gpa will not cut it. Many students at my school who graduated Summa Cum Laude or Magna Cum Laude were not elected to Phi Beta Kappa because they did not excel in a broad liberal arts course of study.

Maga or Summa Cum Laude is not equivalent to PBK although everyone in PBK has one or the other on their diploma.

Again, if you are fortunate enough to be in the top one percent of the graduating seniors in the USA to be elected to PBK, do it, and make your parents happy, if not, be gracious and not a di#k.

And if girls pay for your drinks on Friday night when you are in med school, well, it probably has nothing to do with PBK, but count your lucky stars
 
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clab1707 said:
The criteria for PBK is "magna cum laude or better". When I put "Magna Cum Laude" on my resume, I'm pretty sure people will get the drift. PBK only matters if you are active in it, otherwise its $75 to prove something that you can prove elsewhere in your CV.

Being selected for PBK is nowhere near the prestige of getting into school. In the med application process, they examine our grades, scores, EC's, and personality (through essays and LORs), PBK evaluates you on GPA, so joining it proves nothing that your GPA alone cannot.
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I don't think this is 100% true. I know a person who only got cum laude and got invited to PBK.
 
RapplixGmed said:
I'm curious, if some honor societies are worth joining and some are not, where should we draw the line?

I considered Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi worth joining but passed on Golden Key. Now, I've been invited to join Alpha Eta Mu Beta (Biomedical Engineering Honor Society), which I have never heard of (and their website is pretty bad) but is supported by a number of my faculty members and fellow students. Do you guys think this is worth joining? (I'm probably going to join regardless because one of my best friends is the vice prez :laugh:)
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Absolutely not. They invited like a third of the seniors in my BME class to AEMB, talk about dilution.

I'm with Cegar on the PBK issue. "But se2131, PBK means you needed to have a broad course-load in liberal arts." K. How on earth is that more impressive than saying you graduated summa cum laude from your university? Are residency directors going to be extra impressed by the fact that you're good at philosophy and english and psychology and whatever else? I can't fathom why they would.

Honor societies (and fraterneties) are good for one thing: MAKING CONNECTIONS. If I had plans to continue going into engineering after undergrad, you'd better believe that I wouldn't have turned down my TBP invitation. But I'm not. So I did. I'm not going to waste my time (three essays) and money ($75+) on something that is worth absolutely nothing to me (of course worth varies from person to person), and is useless for my career as well. The summa cum laude distinction is more than enough.

And if you tell residency directors that you graduated summa cum laude, they'll be as impressed as if you had told them you were in PBK. Probably even more so honestly, everyone knows what summa cum laude means, not everyone has heard of PBK. And even fewer have heard of TBP.
 
spanamit said:
So I just got invited to join this honor society: Phi Beta Kappa. It has a $75 initiation/joining fee.

For those who know about this society: is this something that is going to ever in my life help me (for residency, jobs etc), or is this pretty much a waste of money?

The society pamphlet claims it to be the "most prestigious honor society." But the funny thing is that pretty much every honor society junk I have ever received has made similar claims.
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Phi Beta Kappa is to a certain effect the "most prestigious honor society". It is well-resptected. I'd join if I were you! 😀
 
PBK is the ultimate. Goodness gracious join.
 
dArroway said:
PBK is the ultimate. Goodness gracious join.
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Agreed.

Be proud, make your family proud. Your school will hold a very nice initiation ceremony, and PBK will follow you for your entire life (and if you go into academic medicine especially, it will be part of your identity).
 
flip26 said:
Agreed.

Be proud, make your family proud. Your school will hold a very nice initiation ceremony, and PBK will follow you for your entire life (and if you go into academic medicine especially, it will be part of your identity).
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Absolutely. I agree. It is a very nice culmination of your college career and your parents will be very proud. The people that bitch about PBK on this forum are the ones who did not get invited with few exceptions, and the few exceptions are the odd folks anyway who have, well, issues in their personal lives, anger issues, mom issues, self confidence issues, well, issues. Just be a normal healthy bright college kid who is graduating from college and go to the ceremony with your parents and ignore the weirdos and the naysayers who lurk in the shadows of SDN.
 
searun said:
Absolutely. I agree. It is a very nice culmination of your college career and your parents will be very proud. The people that bitch about PBK on this forum are the ones who did not get invited with few exceptions, and the few exceptions are the odd folks anyway who have, well, issues in their personal lives, anger issues, mom issues, self confidence issues, well, issues. Just be a normal healthy bright college kid who is graduating from college and go to the ceremony with your parents and ignore the weirdos and the naysayers who lurk in the shadows of SDN.
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Period. It's a huge honor. I am very happy I spent 75 bucks on it. Don't let the haters talk you out of it.
 
searun said:
The people that bitch about PBK on this forum are the ones who did not get invited with few exceptions, and the few exceptions are the odd folks anyway who have, well, issues in their personal lives, anger issues, mom issues, self confidence issues, well, issues.
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Talk about elitist nonsense and generalization. If you join PBK just because everyone tells you that it's a great honor without actually thinking about it, that basically makes you a lemming.

If making it into PBK actually is important to you, then by all means join (for personal reasons, for professional reasons, for whatever). If you're paying the $75 and spending the time doing the application just because you feel obligated to, well, then you're a tool. People should learn to think for themselves.

Not everyone believes that PBK or TBP are the be all and end all of honors, sounds like you have some insecurity issues yourself searun to feel the need to post such wild generalizations.
 
se2131 said:
Talk about elitist nonsense and generalization. If you join PBK just because everyone tells you that it's a great honor without actually thinking about it, that basically makes you a lemming.

If making it into PBK actually is important to you, then by all means join (for personal reasons, for professional reasons, for whatever). If you're paying the $75 and spending the time doing the application just because you feel obligated to, well, then you're a tool. People should learn to think for themselves.

Not everyone believes that PBK or TBP are the be all and end all of honors, sounds like you have some insecurity issues yourself searun to feel the need to post such wild generalizations.
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LULzzz. You sound way more insecure than the poster you quote.
 
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se2131 said:
Talk about elitist nonsense and generalization. If you join PBK just because everyone tells you that it's a great honor without actually thinking about it, that basically makes you a lemming.

If making it into PBK actually is important to you, then by all means join (for personal reasons, for professional reasons, for whatever). If you're paying the $75 and spending the time doing the application just because you feel obligated to, well, then you're a tool. People should learn to think for themselves.

Not everyone believes that PBK or TBP are the be all and end all of honors, sounds like you have some insecurity issues yourself searun to feel the need to post such wild generalizations.
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Ahh - clearly from your ignorance of the process you have revealed that you are not only NOT a member of PBK but also you never were invited to join, so why should people who are contemplating joining listen to you?

Searun was dead on - most of the people on SDN and at college who bitch about PBK never got the chance to join, so they run it down as a worthless or meaningless thing - and despite your protest to the contrary, you seem to fall directly into this category of haters, too...

There is NO APPLICATION. It is by INVITATION ONLY. You fill out NOTHING. You ask NOBODY about it - you can't campaign or lobby for it. You get a written invitation from the faculty rep for PBK who is him/herself a member.
 
flip26 said:
Ahh - clearly from your ignorance of the process you have revealed that you are not only NOT a member of PBK but also you never were invited to join, so why should people who are contemplating joining listen to you?

Searun was dead on - most of the people on SDN and at college who bitch about PBK never got the chance to join, so they run it down as a worthless or meaningless thing - and despite your protest to the contrary, you seem to fall directly into this category of haters, too...

There is NO APPLICATION. It is by INVITATION ONLY. You fill out NOTHING. You ask NOBODY about it - you can't campaign or lobby for it. You get a written invitation from the faculty rep for PBK who is him/herself a member.
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You're absolutely right, I was never invited to join PBK. You know why? Because I'm an ENGINEER. We are not eligible for PBK.

If you look back on my posts in this thread, I wrote earlier that I was invited to join Tau Beta Pi, which is the exact equivalent for engineers (look it up). It is also by invitation only, you pay dues, etc. etc. For our chapter, after you're invited, you have to write three essays which probably nobody looks at anyway.

So who's the ignorant one here?


From http://www.pbk.org/AM/Template.cfm?...emplate=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=2109 (I stole the link from wikipedia). A speech by the secretary of the PBK society at the 2006 meeting:

The data show a generally heartening, but not entirely untroubled picture. At about a third of our chapters, essentially no one turns down the invitation. At almost another third, the acceptance rate is above 80%. But at the remaining chapters, almost 100, the rates are lower. At a small number of chapters, the percentage of invited students who are subsequently initiated is as low as 40% and 30%. Some who have seen these figures question the viability of those campuses as sheltering institutions.
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That's a lot of people turning down PBK membership, supposedly all of them having mom issues, anger issues, etc. etc. if you'd believe what searun says. Strange that PBK would offer membership to so many of these types of folks...
 
se2131 said:
You're absolutely right, I was never invited to join PBK. You know why? Because I'm an ENGINEER. We are not eligible for PBK.

If you look back on my posts in this thread, I wrote earlier that I was invited to join Tau Beta Pi, which is the exact equivalent for engineers (look it up). It is also by invitation only, you pay dues, etc. etc. For our chapter, after you're invited, you have to write three essays which probably nobody looks at anyway.

So who's the ignorant one here?


From http://www.pbk.org/AM/Template.cfm?...emplate=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=2109 (I stole the link from wikipedia). A speech by the secretary of the PBK society at the 2006 meeting:



That's a lot of people turning down PBK membership, supposedly all of them having mom issues, anger issues, etc. etc. if you'd believe what searun says.
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Pshh. Exact? I wouldn't say PBK more prestigious (wouldn't know how to make such a case) but I would say it is much more widely known and well respected.

BTW. For someone who is making such a case I find it odd that you slam your MDapplicants profile all over your SDN username. I'm proud of my stats too but...
 
dArroway said:
Pshh. Exact? I wouldn't say PBK more prestigious (wouldn't know how to make such a case) but I would say it is much more widely known and well respected.
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More generalizations. In the engineering world, nobody gives a damn about PBK because membership in that is useless to firms. In the liberal arts world, nobody gives a damn about TBP because few ppl in that area have heard of it. The fact that there are more ppl involved in liberal arts does not make it automatically more prestigious (but more widely known, yes).

To the respective people who matter (and sorry, you are not one of them), yes, they are exactly the same.

dArroway said:
BTW. For someone who is making such a case I find it odd that you slam your MDapplicants profile all over your SDN username. I'm proud of my stats too but...
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Just like many other people on this site, I was looking for constructive criticism on my application process while I was going through it (I used to have more information on my EC's, which I considered just average, so I wanted opinions on them specifically). I guess it's only ppl with bad stats who are allowed to ask for opinions according to your logic?

You're right though in that I don't need to have it in two places anymore, considering that my app process finished about a couple of weeks ago. I am SOOOO sorry for not having gotten around to changing that immediately. It's fixed now, I'm keeping it in one place so that other ppl applying to the same schools and with similar stats can have an extra data point to compare their app with.
 
se2131 said:
More generalizations. In the engineering world, nobody gives a damn about PBK because membership in that is useless to firms. In the liberal arts world, nobody gives a damn about TBP because few ppl in that area have heard of it. The fact that there are more ppl involved in liberal arts does not make it automatically more prestigious (but more widely known, yes).

To the respective people who matter (and sorry, you are not one of them), yes, they are exactly the same.



Just like many other people on this site, I was looking for constructive criticism on my application process while I was going through it (I used to have more information on my EC's, which I considered just average, so I wanted opinions on them specifically). I guess it's only ppl with bad stats who are allowed to ask for opinions according to your logic?

You're right though in that I don't need to have it in two places anymore, considering that my app process finished about a couple of weeks ago. I am SOOOO sorry for not having gotten around to changing that immediately. It's fixed now, I'm keeping it in one place so that other ppl applying to the same schools and with similar stats can have an extra data point to compare their app with.
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You seriously need more poetry in your life. I would suggest that you start with Dylan Thomas. Why so shrill and angry because some people value what you do not? Chill my friend or you will find yourself sitting alone on that bar stool, muttering to yourself.
 
searun said:
You seriously need more poetry in your life. I would suggest that you start with Dylan Thomas. Why so shrill and angry because some people value what you do not? Chill my friend or you will find yourself sitting alone on that bar stool, muttering to yourself.
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Muttering to myself about my mom issues I'm sure.

If you had even read what I wrote, I did say that IF you have a good reason to join these honor societies (PBK, TBP) for personal reasons (if it makes your family happy, you did mention how your father teared up at the ceremony in another thread, but not everyone's parents consider this to be a great distinction compared to other honors that usually come with the required academic record) or professional reasons (if you really do think that it will be a boost to your career, actually adding to your resume instead of merely re-iterating the same things that are already on it), then by all means go ahead and join. If not, then save your money and your time.

And if following your advice above makes you say ridiculously ignorant things like:

The people that bitch about PBK on this forum are the ones who did not get invited with few exceptions, and the few exceptions are the odd folks anyway who have, well, issues in their personal lives, anger issues, mom issues, self confidence issues, well, issues
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I think i'd rather avoid listening to your wisdom. You're making a ridiculous generalization of all the ppl who turned down the honor societies (look at the quote from the secretary of PBK). Don't make such wild statements and expect that you've come out looking like an angel.

From your quote, aren't you also guilty of being shrill and angry because some people don't value what you do?

I'm done with this thread, nothing productive is being said anymore by any of us. Y'all can add more personal attacks about my emotional issues and how I need to go with the flow, about how I'm just jealous that I wasn't invited to join a prestigious honor society(false), about my MDApps being associated w/ my username. Or you can continue to attack other ppl who agree with me, telling them how they sound like the girl who didn't want to go to prom anyway. All very good points about the argument at hand, very useful. Don't worry, I won't bother responding.
 
se2131 said:
More generalizations. In the engineering world, nobody gives a damn about PBK because membership in that is useless to firms. In the liberal arts world, nobody gives a damn about TBP because few ppl in that area have heard of it. The fact that there are more ppl involved in liberal arts does not make it automatically more prestigious (but more widely known, yes).

To the respective people who matter (and sorry, you are not one of them), yes, they are exactly the same.



Just like many other people on this site, I was looking for constructive criticism on my application process while I was going through it (I used to have more information on my EC's, which I considered just average, so I wanted opinions on them specifically). I guess it's only ppl with bad stats who are allowed to ask for opinions according to your logic?

You're right though in that I don't need to have it in two places anymore, considering that my app process finished about a couple of weeks ago. I am SOOOO sorry for not having gotten around to changing that immediately. It's fixed now, I'm keeping it in one place so that other ppl applying to the same schools and with similar stats can have an extra data point to compare their app with.
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1. what i said

2. LOL, i mean, LOL. If they wanted to compare their stats they'd do an MDapplicants search. I don't think they'd go around clicking on every SDNer's profile....

3. People like you make SDN worthwhile. ie hilarious, extremely defensive, and full of it
 
I invoke the opinion of LizzyM on this one to get a perspective from medical admissions.
 
LovelyMD said:
Agreed.

I certainly wasn't eligible for PBK, but if I was eligible to join, there's no way I'd turn it down.
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Sorry for the late quote, but what you have said is very honest. To the OP who is actually not sure to pay 75 to join:The anti PBK is generally for this reason. I think even among the engineers this is the reason they are so hostile. They are not eligible, except for their TBk or whatever (im too lazy to even find its title), and thus they lash out against this honor society. I was inducted in my junior year and I do not regret it. It is something I will carry with me the rest of my life. My recommendation is to join.
 
Down in Miami, it was only $25 to join. I think the University payed for the rest.
 
pride4jc727 said:
I invoke the opinion of LizzyM on this one to get a perspective from medical admissions.
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Phi Beta Kappa is a nice way to cap a college career. Nobody is contending that it will gain you admission to med school. If you blow the MCAt, PBK does not matter. It is a worthy honor, nothing more, nothing less.

Everything is life cannot be valued by its relationship to med school admissions.
 
PKB really doesn't matter i don't think. The only case where it would matter is if two people had exact same EC/app/scores/gpa/went to same school, and one guy decided to shell out the $75 and the other didn't. But even then, the school would know that the other guy was probably offered PKB but just didn't join.
 
searun said:
Phi Beta Kappa is a nice way to cap a college career. Nobody is contending that it will gain you admission to med school. If you blow the MCAt, PBK does not matter. It is a worthy honor, nothing more, nothing less.

Everything is life cannot be valued by its relationship to med school admissions.[/quote]

Agreed. It's a nice thing to have on your resume, no matter what you're doing. Also, at our school, it's not just about GPA, it's about personality/motivation, so in order to get even nominated, a professor has to recommend you, and then you have to be approved by the committee based on what you have accomplished overall, not just with grades. I got into med school before I even heard that I got into PBK and I'm still joining just because it's a great honor to have at our school - acceptance rate here is less than 1% of senior class.
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Sorry to beat a dead horse, but how about this:

It's 150 dollars at my chapter (for the key thing i think), and I guess I missed the email last year but I've got one now inviting me to join, but I have already finished pretty much all my applications this year, not to mention I have already graduated. Join or no?
 
How does one get inducted into AOA? Do you just have to ball up your third year of med school? I thought that the grades/marks you receive during that year are based on a subjective evaluation by your higher ups.
 
Kaydubz said:
Sorry to beat a dead horse, but how about this:

It's 150 dollars at my chapter (for the key thing i think), and I guess I missed the email last year but I've got one now inviting me to join, but I have already finished pretty much all my applications this year, not to mention I have already graduated. Join or no?
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I'd still do it. Tell them you have a financial hardship and don't want the key - maybe you'll be able to join for less.
 
enjoydrywax said:
How does one get inducted into AOA? Do you just have to ball up your third year of med school? I thought that the grades/marks you receive during that year are based on a subjective evaluation by your higher ups.
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Each chapter has its own criteria, but you are right that subjective evaluations will play a large role.

My school did not have a chapter, and was opposed by the student body for this very reason.
 
lord_jeebus said:
Each chapter has its own criteria, but you are right that subjective evaluations will play a large role.

My school did not have a chapter, and was opposed by the student body for this very reason.
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If that's the case then why is it such a big deal with applying to residencies? Do the residency programs take the factors you mentioned into consideration or is it just another injustice in the cluster**** that is trying to become a doctor?
 
enjoydrywax said:
If that's the case then why is it such a big deal with applying to residencies? Do the residency programs take the factors you mentioned into consideration or is it just another injustice in the cluster**** that is trying to become a doctor?
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They need to narrow the field somehow. I agree that it is lame.
 
Too bad I'm an engineer and PBK hates us.

Anyway, coming from a member of Tau Beta Pi, I've got to say that this is worth it. It is nice for family and it is an honor. You're crazy not to jump on it.
 
My opinion: honors societies are circle jerks.
 
britishmafia said:
Too bad I'm an engineer and PBK hates us.

Anyway, coming from a member of Tau Beta Pi, I've got to say that this is worth it. It is nice for family and it is an honor. You're crazy not to jump on it.
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I don't get how engineers can't be PBK - I am in both TBP and PBK. Neither of them has ever said anything about the exclusivity you mention.
 
Every year or so there is another thread about honor societies and PBK, among others. I'll make two comments. First, many schools award graduations honors based on a research and thesis submission. At such a school, therefore, there is no correlation between graduation honors and GPA. Next, as someone who worked in the "real world" for 7 years prior to medical school, I can tell you that a high percentage of people interviewing me for various jobs mentioned it (in a good way). People commented on it during residency and fellowship interviews. If you don't think it means something, you are mistaken. That $75 will be the best investment you ever made.

Ed
 
medking said:
I don't think this is 100% true. I know a person who only got cum laude and got invited to PBK.
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I graduated with Cum Laude and PBK, though I was invited when I had Magna Cum laude status. I'm sure there are many other non-Suma or Magna PBK members.

enjoydrywax said:
I don't get how engineers can't be PBK - I am in both TBP and PBK. Neither of them has ever said anything about the exclusivity you mention.
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I'm also an engineer. I don't think your major has any bearing on your invitation. You just need to take some certain Humanities and science/math classes.
 
duh, join it. It's recognized and it's only $75 (a drop in the bucket in comparison to what you'll be dishing out in due time). But don't expect it to improve your chances or anything. It means you have a good GPA, are a strong student, blah blah blah. I think adcoms can see that from your numbers. I guess you could put it on amcas, but it might just seem like you had "nothing better" to put there and were just trying to use up a space.
 
In Vino Veritas said:
Just do it. The more Latin on your resume/CV, the better.
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Um, "Phi Beta Kappa" is Greek. But you are correct, there is much Latin that's good on a resume like summa cum laude. God, that would make my application that much sweeter. 😎
 
I was about to ask something like this. At my school, a new co-ed fraternity Phi Sigma Pi is inviting the Honors Program students to apply. It is an Honors fraternity. Is it worth joining? I'm not sure if I should look into it or not
 
I feel TOTALLY shortchanged! When I was inducted into PBK they told us that we had to buy our own keys if we wanted them, and then told us to get in touch with one of the local PBK officers if we wanted to learn the handshake...😡

But anyway, I think that even if for people of our generation it seems to be just another money-grubbing honor society, it does still hold sway out in the real world. Just after my initiation, several people in the audience came up to me to talk up their businesses, make connections, etc. Obviously, I wasn't overly interested in the wide world of business, but it was still pretty amazing to me that those three little greek letters could open up so many doors and forge instant bonds with some pretty successful people. Unless $75 means that you will starve for a month, there is no reason not to join.
 
URHere said:
I feel TOTALLY shortchanged! When I was inducted into PBK they told us that we had to buy our own keys if we wanted them, and then told us to get in touch with one of the local PBK officers if we wanted to learn the handshake...😡

But anyway, I think that even if for people of our generation it seems to be just another money-grubbing honor society, it does still hold sway out in the real world. Just after my initiation, several people in the audience came up to me to talk up their businesses, make connections, etc. Obviously, I wasn't overly interested in the wide world of business, but it was still pretty amazing to me that those three little greek letters could open up so many doors and forge instant bonds with some pretty successful people. Unless $75 means that you will starve for a month, there is no reason not to join.
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I have to buy my own key too. I'm waiting until I get my own office. 😀 I didn't realize there's a handshake. My school's chapter didn't tell us about that.

PBK made it onto my dean's letter in my "unique characteristics" section. Join.
 
You can google the handshake.

If I recall, you extend your pointer and middle fingers together, and use your other two fingers to grab the other person's extended fingers.
 
Artimacia said:
I was about to ask something like this. At my school, a new co-ed fraternity Phi Sigma Pi is inviting the Honors Program students to apply. It is an Honors fraternity. Is it worth joining? I'm not sure if I should look into it or not
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I am a member of Phi Sigma Pi and I would say it is definately worth joining. The people I have met through the organization are wonderful. You get a wide variety of community service and good leadership experience (if that is what you are looking for) with the Chapter.
 
Sorry for thread resurrection, but is PBK worth joining (ie paying them $55) AFTER getting accepted to med school? My initial gut feeling was no, but then I saw early posts saying some residency directors would be mildly impressed and Ill take all the help I can get....

If I dont pay the fee can I still put it on my CV? Haha.
 
PBK is pretty respected in many circles. For example, my grandfather was super excited/proud that I was invited to join, and my dad called me stubborn for not being willing to pay the $75 to join.

And come to think of it, he's a PD...not that he is really interested in what his fellows did during college or even med school as much.

Then again, my school ended up paying for it anyway, which was just a bonus. Plus people do not see your GPA when you apply for jobs later, but they will see the PBK and might see it as establishing a consistent academic record.
 
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