13 Tips for Being Accepted Into an Academic Honor Society
Did you know joining an academic honor society could help you get better grades? Did you know it could also help you get a great job later on? And did you know it could even help you make new friends and network with those in your field?
For each of these reasons, you should look into trying to get accepted into an honor society during your academic career. There are lots of different types of honor societies. But no matter which one you choose, you’ll find that joining one will work wonders for your life as a whole.
You will, however, need to prepare to work hard to get accepted into an academic honor society. There will be certain steps you’ll have to be ready to take to join and begin to benefit from it.
Here are 13 tips that’ll increase your chances of landing in this society sometime soon.
1. Excel in School
If you’re going to get accepted to an academic honor society, you’ll need to have decent grades. In fact, you’ll need to have more than just decent grades. Your grades will likely have to put you somewhere near the top of your class.
With this in mind, you should work on getting your act together in the classroom before you even think about applying for an honor society membership. Work hard in school so that you’re able to rack up every single academic achievement possible.
2. Find Honor Societies
Once you get your grades up and feel like you’re ready to apply for membership in an academic honor society, the next thing you should do is decide which one you’d like to join. There will be more than a few options for you out there.
One of your best options will be the Honor Society. Go to honorsociety.org to get more information on what this particular honor society will bring to the table. It’ll show you why you should consider it above all the rest.
3. Research Honor Society Requirements
You will usually need to check certain boxes in order to get approved to be a part of an academic honor society. For example, you might need to have above a certain GPA or be a major in a certain field.
Don’t be afraid to browse through the requirements for a bunch of different honor societies so that you know whether or not you’ll meet them. The last thing you want to do is fall in love with an honor society, go through the application process for it, and find out that you don’t meet the requirements it has in place.
4. Look at Honor Society Values
In addition to having different requirements, most honor societies are also going to have a different set of core values. Ideally, you’ll want these core values to match up with your own core values so that you feel good about joining this organization.
If an academic honor society has much different core values than you do and you don’t realize it until it’s too late, it could put you into a tough spot. You’ll either need to bow out from consideration for this honor society or join a group that doesn’t share many of your most important beliefs.
5. Connect With Honor Society Members
If you happen to know people who are part of an academic honor society that you’d like to join, don’t be afraid to try to connect with them. In a perfect world, you should attempt to sit down with them for a few minutes so that you can pick their brains about this honor society.
They’ll be able to give you the inside scoop on what an academic honor society is all about. They’ll also be able to shine a light on the privileges that come along with joining this honor society.
They might even be able to put in a good word for you if they feel as though you would be a good fit for their honor society. You can form a very important connection with honor society members that could improve your chances of getting accepted.
6. Choose the Right Honor Society
When you get to this point, there should be one academic honor society that’s standing tall above all the rest. This will be the honor society that you should try to apply for as long as you meet all the right criteria.
Joining an honor society might not seem like one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. But who knows? It could impact everything from your academic career to your professional pursuits once you’re out of college.
Because of this, you shouldn’t make a decision lightly when choosing the right honor society. Put plenty of thought into it and select the one that you feel will benefit you the most.
7. Apply for Honor Society Membership
When you’re ready to do it, you can go ahead and provide your chosen academic honor society with an application. You should be able to fill out an application within a matter of just a few minutes online.
Take your time while completing this application and see to it that you fill in all the necessary fields correctly. If you do something as simple as skipping a field, it might give an honor society the wrong impression of you and cause them to overlook you as a potential member.
8. Provide Information to an Honor Society
After submitting an application for an academic honor society, this honor society might ask you to provide them with some additional information. For instance, they might need to secure a transcript from your school or proof that you’ve earned certain academic achievements over time.
You won’t always have to set up an honor society with information like this. But if they do ask for it, you should send it to them quickly so that they’re able to review it fast. The longer you take to send it their way, the longer it could take for you to get accepted.
9. Interview With an Honor Society
Some honor societies will take things to the next level and ask you to come in for an interview. This might not sound great to you, but you should look at it as an opportunity to show an academic honor society what you’re really made out of.
The honor society might be on the fence about whether or not to accept you after looking at your application. But you will have the power to put yourself over the top by making a great impression on whoever it is that ends up interviewing you.
You should dress for the occasion so that you’re able to wow an honor society with your appearance. You should also bring along anything that you think might help you look like a great addition to an honor society.
Treat this interview just like you would a job interview and you should be able to get great results.
10. Ask an Honor Society Questions
While you’re at an interview for an academic honor society, you’re obviously going to be asked a bunch of questions. You should be prepared to answer each of them to the best of your ability.
But you should also know that there will probably come a point when you’ll be able to ask questions of your own about an academic honor society. You should have at least a few in mind.
You might want to ask questions like:
- What do current members like most about being a part of this honor society?
- How would joining this honor society help me on both a personal and professional level?
- What would be expected of me throughout my time in an honor society?
The simple fact that you ask questions like this will make you sound like someone who is interested in joining an honor society and being an active participant in it. It might make you look like a much stronger candidate overall.
11. Wait for a Decision From an Honor Society
After you’re all done applying for an academic honor society and possibly even interviewing for it, the only thing left to do will be to sit back and wait. It might take an honor society at least a few weeks to determine if they’re going to accept you.
In the meantime, you should continue to hold your head up high and do whatever you can to show an honor society that you’re worth taking a chance on. You should keep on getting good grades and avoid doing anything that could jeopardize your application.
In theory, an honor society could look into things like your social media activity to see if they have anything to worry about on that front. It’s why you should clean up your social media pages before applying for an honor society and keep them clean all throughout the application process.
12. Accept an Honor Society Invitation
If all goes according to plan, you should be able to gain acceptance to an academic honor society in the end. They’ll contact you at some point and let you know that they would love to have you.
Your only job at that point will be to touch base with them and tell the honor society that you would be honored to accept their invitation. You might also want to see which steps you’ll have to take next so that you’re all ready to go.
Some honor societies have dues that members will have to begin paying from the start. These dues should be on your radar if they apply to you, and you should be prepared to pay them ASAP.
You might also need to take part in a special induction ceremony for an academic honor society. If there is going to be one, find out when and where it’ll be so that you can circle the date on your calendar and start getting mentally prepared for it.
13. Take Advantage of an Honor Society Induction
Joining an academic honor society can be a long process. You might spend months putting together a strong enough resume for an honor society and weeks working your way through the entire application process.
As a result, you shouldn’t be shy about taking full advantage of honor society membership if you’re able to get inducted. From the second you first become a full-fledged member of an honor society, you should play an active role in it and use it to your benefit at all times.
In some cases, this will mean attending networking events that are only open to those who are part of an honor society. In others, it’ll mean getting special discounts on things like health insurance after college.
You’ve earned the right to take advantage of these benefits, so see to it that you utilize them. It won’t be long at all before you’re singing your honor society’s praises and wondering why you didn’t decide to join it even sooner.
You’ll also be able to take things a step further by helping your honor society recruit new members in the years to come. You should keep a close eye out for anyone who might be a good fit and work to put your honor society on the map for good.
Try Joining an Academic Honor Society Today
Joining an academic honor society might be one of the best decisions you make while you’re in college. It’ll be so beneficial to you both when you’re in school and when you graduate.
Use everything we’ve talked about here to pick out a great academic honor society so that you can work on joining it. You’ll be so glad you did after you start getting access to the perks that’ll come along with becoming an honor society member.
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