codyg1985’s Think Tank

I am a pretty good student. I don’t like to brag (I have a 3.85 GPA). I get a lot of offers to join these honors societies, and I have been getting them ever since last year.  Some are open to engineers. Others don’t discriminate based on major.  Many others are service organizations. Still others are not really so much honors societies at all as much as they are organizations that serve a purpose both inside and outside of academia.

What do all of these have in common? Well, no matter how distinguished your resume is or how high your GPA is, no matter how many clubs or organizations you are involved in, you get to pay dues to join the honors society.  Of course, these organizations have to fund themselves some way. Most of them offer scholarship money to those that are distinguished enough (read above). Some honors societies charge a one-time fee to join and that is it while others charge a membership fee to join and then an annual membership due.

Again, these organizations have to fund themselves, but it makes you wonder: are you paying someone to provide you with an impressive resume entry? After all, some of these honors societies are just that: honors societies whose sole purpose of existence is to recognize those who work hard and earn a high GPA. So the trade-off is that you pay a one-time membership fee (or yearly dues, depending on the organization) and in exchange you get to say you are a part of this honors society. It is not a lot to ask from the person paying the due; maybe it is asking too little?