I recently received a postcard from “The National Scholars Honor Society”, with a web address of http://www.magnacumlaude.org. This postcard invited me to join this ‘exclusive’ society, which would allow me to network with other scholars.
I decided I would apply for the website, and see if I got accepted. I have read other places that this is not at all similar to National Honor Society for high school students, or related to your school based on their high latin honors.
So I applied, and received an email notifying me I was accepted. Big surprise, as I have a 3.7 and pretty much every honor society would be lucky to have me in it. So I was also notified that to get in, I have to pay dues of $85.00.
This doesn’t seem like much, but they said they have 75,000 members. If each member paid that amount, this organization would have collected 5,950,000 dollars. That is a lot of money, and they are giving very little out in scholarships and grants.
After further research, it appears that this is a Doctor running this organization out of his house, and place of business. Its very similar to the who’s who scam.
So yesterday, my doubts were finally confirmed. My roommate received one of those letters, and he has a 2.8. That’s not particularly bad, but it’s not too great either.
UPDATE 9/26/2008: Another mailing has gone out of the Magnacumlaude, and I have noticed due to increased traffic here. It is indeed a scam. Be vigilant.
The average GPA for college undergrads is about 3.2. So many honors societies wouldn’t accept you…they often specify that only students in the top 10% of their class (which is about a 3.8) are eligible. Some are also looking for specific majors, a record of community service, moving essays, or other attributes…
Thanks for the heads up, though. I’ve never looked into honors societies before, but I might do it my senior year for possible career help after college.
I’m not really sure about all this talk about http://www.magnacumlaude.org being a scam? I signed up for the site, paid the $85, and proceeded to write 12 $50 articles for the site, to the tune of $600? The site paid off very well for me? It’s not a scam!!!