NSHSS: Is the National Society of High School Scholars Legitimate, and Does It Help With College Admissions?
By Rona Aydin
What Is NSHSS?
The letters stand for the National Society of High School Scholars. The organization’s website says it was established in 2002 by Claes Nobel and James Lewis, and that it was co-founded by the grand-nephew of Alfred Nobel. James W. Lewis is its president.
The society reports large numbers. Its website lists more than 2,000,000 young scholars in its member community since 2002, members at more than 26,000 high schools, and a presence in more than 170 countries. It also reports more than $2,500,000 in scholarships awarded each year by the society and its partners.
Most families first hear of it through an invitation addressed to the student. The invitation asks the student to accept membership and pay a one-time fee of $90.
Is NSHSS Legitimate?
Yes, in the sense most parents mean when they ask. It is an operating organization that has existed since 2002, it publishes its fee and its membership criteria, and members receive what the website describes. An invitation in the mail is marketing to students who appear to meet one of the criteria. It is not evidence of fraud. Oriel Admissions gives families a two-part answer: NSHSS is a real organization, and membership is not a selective honor.
The second part is the one that matters for college planning. An honor carries as much weight as the selection behind it, and that depends on how members are chosen.
How Are Members Chosen?
The membership page states that students must meet any one of the following criteria.
| Criterion | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Cumulative GPA | 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, or 80 on a 100-point scale |
| SAT | 1280 |
| PSAT | 1150 |
| ACT | 26 |
| PreACT | 26 |
| AP Exam | A score of 4 or higher on any one exam |
| IGCSE | A grade of B or higher |
| Class rank | Top 10% |
There are three ways in. A student can accept an invitation, ask an educator for a nomination, or apply to be invited. No school chapter votes, no faculty committee reviews the student, and the criteria set no limit on the number of members.
A 3.0 GPA is a B average. At a strong independent school or suburban public school, most of the class meets that criterion, so most of the class is eligible for the same invitation. Oriel Admissions reads the criteria this way: a student who meets one of them is a capable student, and the bar is still far below the record that selective colleges expect. For Ivy League admission, a student needs nearly all As in the hardest classes the school offers.
What Does NSHSS Membership Include?
The fee is paid once, at the time the student joins, and the website states that it goes toward member communications, benefits, technology support, and more. Membership does not have to be renewed.
The benefit the organization places first is scholarships. Members can apply for the scholarships that the society and its partners offer, with no fee to apply, and the website reports more than $2,500,000 awarded each year. Members also receive communications and access to the events and programs the society runs.
A family that wants to judge the scholarships should look at them one at a time. The total is large, and so is the number of members who can apply. The useful figures are the amount of each award, the number of awards given, and what the application requires.
Do Colleges Care About NSHSS Membership?
Selective colleges do not count it as an academic distinction. Admissions readers know which honors involve selection and which are open to any student who meets a basic standard and pays. A membership open to students with a B average tells a reader nothing that the transcript does not already show.
In the reading of Oriel Admissions, the honors that move a file at a selective college share one feature: someone chose the student from a larger group. A faculty council chose the National Honor Society inductees, a state cutoff chose the National Merit Semifinalists, a judging panel chose the science fair winners. NSHSS chose everyone who met a B average and accepted. That is the whole difference, and readers see it at a glance.
Can Listing the Membership Hurt an Application?
Not on its own. Readers at selective colleges see the membership on many applications and pass over it. Two costs are real, though.
The first is space. The Common App honors section holds five entries, and an entry spent on an open membership is an entry not spent on an award that involved selection. Our guide to the Common App honors section explains how to rank honors.
The second is the impression. When the membership leads the honors list, or is described as a national award, it tells the reader that the student had nothing stronger to put first. Oriel Admissions advises that if it is listed at all, it goes last and is described plainly as a membership, never as an award or a selection.
Is NSHSS the Same as the National Honor Society?
No. The names are similar and the two organizations are separate. The National Honor Society works through chapters inside schools. Students in grades 10 to 12 are considered by a faculty council, which looks at scholarship, service, leadership, and character. A family cannot join it directly.
The National Society of High School Scholars is a national membership organization that a student joins directly, with no school chapter involved. Our guide to the National Honor Society covers its requirements and how colleges view it.
Should a Student Accept the Invitation?
Cost should not decide it. The question is what the student will do with the membership. A student who intends to apply for specific member scholarships or attend an event can accept it for that purpose. A student whose goal is a selective college gains nothing in admission from it, and the family should not read the invitation as a sign that the student has been singled out.
Oriel Admissions suggests three questions for any honor that arrives by invitation. Who selects the members? How many students are chosen? What did the student have to do to earn it? Honors with real selection answer all three clearly. For a sophomore or junior, time is better spent on results that are earned in competition, such as National Merit Semifinalist standing, and on the activities described in our guide to extracurricular activity tiers.
Frequently Asked Questions About NSHSS
It is a real organization founded in 2002 that publishes its fee and membership criteria. Membership is not a selective academic award.
A student must meet any one of eight criteria, including a 3.0 GPA, a 1280 SAT, a 1150 PSAT, a 26 ACT, a 4 on any AP Exam, or a top 10% class rank.
Membership costs a one-time fee of $90. The organization states that there are no fees to apply for its scholarships.
No. The National Honor Society works through school chapters where a faculty council selects members. The National Society of High School Scholars is a separate organization that students join directly.
Not at selective colleges. No school, committee, or cap selects the members, so the membership tells a reader nothing the transcript does not already show.
Not on its own. Oriel Admissions advises listing it last, if at all, and describing it as a membership rather than an award, so that it does not displace honors that involved selection.
Invitations go to students who appear to meet one of the criteria. At a strong high school most of the class is eligible. A student can also be nominated by an educator or apply to be invited.
Only for the member scholarships or events. Oriel Admissions advises against treating it as an honor, because it does not strengthen an application to a selective college.
Sources: National Society of High School Scholars: Membership, National Society of High School Scholars: About, National Society of High School Scholars: Scholarships, NHS: How to Become a Member
About Oriel Admissions
Oriel Admissions is a Princeton-based college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy. Our team brings deep expertise across every dimension of the application, and our distinctive 360 approach develops strategy, positioning, activities, essays, and interviews as one coherent whole. To discuss your family’s admissions strategy, schedule a consultation.
