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Anyone else a member of the Golden Key Society?

aunty establishment

aunty establishment

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Hey dudes,

I've been invited to join the Golden Key society which has something to do with academic merit. Is anyone else a member and if so is it worth joining? It's not like it's expensive or anything, but I did notice that it's "student-run" which might be code for "load of old wank".

Anyway I've had bad experiences with reward schemes in the past (free six-inch sub my arse - what do you mean "with medium soda purchase"?!) so please let me know your thoughts. It's only bumping my Scientology courses off the "Achievements" section of my resume if I join ;)
 
I didn't join, and don't see any reason to waste your money. It's only worth the effort if you plan to utilize your membership to the utmost extent in terms of community service. Otherwise, it's one of those dime a dozen things that people just place on their resumes. And of course it doesn't have meaning when everyone has it listed, but no one has activities that stand out from participation in it. Besides, there is very little prestige attached to it. I think it's something like the top 10-15% is invited to join...?

The only requirement is a certain gpa, I believe, and your gpa can stand on its own. There is no need to pay to be in a good-gpa society.

The only honor society worth joining is Phi Betta Kappa, which is well recognized. It actually pay grade increases/better promotion opportunities based on membership. It's the oldest honor society in America, founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Past members have included Alexander Graham Bell, Bill Clinton, Justice William Rehnquist, and others.
 
Thanks for the info :)

Actually I studied in Australia, where the concept of "honour societies" is a little foreign. It certainly wouldn't make any difference to me professionally, as I've already graduated and started my career. The only thing that really appealed to me was the graduate scholarships. Mmm, free money. And yeah you're right - they let the top 15% of all students in so it's not like you have to be some egghead. I just thought it could be a good networking (shudder) opportunity.

When you say community service, what do you mean? I do a lot of volunteer work - do you know what sorts of projects they take on?
 
Mr.%20Richoz%20and%20nerds.jpg


nerds!!!!
 
I got solicited membership from the Golden Key society, but opted not to join. I'm pretty disillusioned with the "you got good grades. Now, pay us!" honors societies.

ebola
 
I joined, but only because I thought it would look good on my resume (and I'm a little paranoid about resume padding). I get their e-newsletter, but I never read it, nor have I ever been to one of their functions.
 
The word on tha street (that is, with my academic advisors) is that honors socities only matter up to the first 3...then, people don't really pay attention to the extra padding. Make those 3 good ones.

ebola
 
I joined - in large part because of the resume padding, and special perks we got on campus because of membership. As a side benefit, members of Golden Key got to wear honor cords at graduation. And, maybe I'm focused too much on appearances, but the more decorations I got to wear, the prouder I felt walking across the stage.
 
I decided to join since there are no other Honour societies in Australia as far as I can tell, and since there are no drugs in Singapore to spend my money on. I'm assuming it's a huge load, but I will attempt to hit them up for a scholarship when I do my PhD.
 
Is that the club where married guys throw their keys in a bowl, then their wives pick out random keys and sleep with the owner of said key?
 
ebola! said:
I got solicited membership from the Golden Key society, but opted not to join. I'm pretty disillusioned with the "you got good grades. Now, pay us!" honors societies.
Click to expand...


That sort of put me off, being a bit of a poor student!

Anyway, bumping this to see if anyone else has any feedback on the Golden Key as I got a letter from them the other day.
 
Well...
my undergrad career is now over.
I got invited to phi beta kappa (prestigious).
joined psi chi (national psychology honors society).
joined alpha kappa something... (sociology honors society).

all this seemed to allow me entry into the sociology grad school of my choice.
ebola
 
Actually, I think the system of credentials is out of control in the US.
At most institutions, you can earn departmental honors by writing a thesis. And then you can also graduate with some sort of latin honor based on grades (summa cum laude, etc.) And then there are these honors societies that you can join, with their own criteria. Some of these societies are scams, some are not.

I should mention, I guess (I don't want to move into braggart territory), that I also had departmental honors and summa cum laude.

ebola
 
I recently received an offer to join the same society as Aunty and I'm considering joining. Is it worth it Aunty? Have you derived even the slightest benefit from doing so? (Hi BTW :))
 
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