National Society of High School Scholars(NHSS) - Impact on college applications?

So, I received an invitation for NSHSS and came across some mixed opinions about it. Do colleges actually care about being a member of the NSHSS while reviewing our applications? Any thoughts?

You're right to be cautious about the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS), as there are indeed mixed opinions about its impact on college applications. To answer your question directly, being a member of NSHSS is unlikely to make a significant positive impact on your college application. While it might seem impressive at first, it is important to understand that colleges are more familiar with the organization than students might realize.

NSHSS is sometimes criticized as a "pay-to-play" organization, which means that joining typically involves a membership fee, and the threshold for joining is rather low compared to more selective honors societies such as National Honor Society (NHS) or Mu Alpha Theta. With its relatively loose academic requirements, the NSHSS may be seen as less prestigious by college admissions committees.

If you'd like to know more about the criteria for joining NSHSS and the organization's prestige (or lack thereof), check out this blog post from CollegeVine: https://blog.collegevine.com/is-nshss-legitimate-or-a-scam

When evaluating extracurricular activities, colleges often use a scale called the 4 Tiers of Extracurriculars, and NSHSS would fall under Tier 4, the least impactful tier. Tier 4 activities are the most common and are seen frequently by admissions committees. They include general club membership, sports, or community volunteering, in addition to NSHSS membership.

If you'd like to learn more about the extracurricular tiers and how to categorize your current involvements, as well as your potential NSHSS membership, check out this blog post from CollegeVine: https://blog.collegevine.com/breaking-down-the-4-tiers-of-extracurricular-activities

To summarize, while joining NSHSS might not hurt your application, it's unlikely to significantly help it either. What will help is finding and pursuing meaningful extracurricular activities that align with your interests and passions, as these will ultimately do more to demonstrate your potential to admissions officers. Leadership positions, genuine interest, and higher levels of commitment to these activities will make your extracurricular profile stand out more to colleges than NSHSS membership or similar honors would.

Good luck with your college applications, and remember to prioritize engaging in activities that reflect your own values and enthusiasm!