As seniors wade through college acceptances to make their critical final choice, many students just behind them are stressing about a different approval or rejection — National Honor Society selection.
Students are receiving final word on whether they will be inducted into the leadership and service organization.
But amid the pressure to make it, some have also questioned the motive behind student involvement in the race to improve college prospects.
Gwyeth Smith, a retired guidance counselor from Long Island who speaks and does private consulting with students applying to college, said NHS is not a make-or-break consideration.
"To get in is wonderful," he said. "To not get in has nothing to do with where one can go to college."
Though parents and students may get stressed about adding it to a list of accomplishments, that is not the reason to be involved, Smith said. Instead, students should seek to discover and develop their passions.
"I often use the phrase, do things and do them for the right reason," he said.
Smith said he is not disparaging kids but knows many do service for their resumes.
"I truly believe that it is more powerful when a young person is doing service because they want to make that kind of contribution," he said.
Still, he said students today also face tremendous pressure.
"It's taken on a life of its own," he said.
Stephanie Bonga, a junior at East Stroudsburg High School South, found out recently she was accepted into NHS. She said she already enjoys volunteering regularly at a soup kitchen and Head Start.
"I just love the kids there," she said of Head Start.
But Bonga said she knows friends who will pack their senior year with service to try to impress colleges, and some have approached her for suggestions on where they could go to get hours.
Bonga said she knows her time spent will improve her applications, but that should not be the only motive.
"You have to do it for the right reasons, not just your resume," she said.
At Stroudsburg High School, getting into NHS means first completing an application, including gathering signatures for any previous and current job or volunteer activity, and completing an essay.
Stroudsburg guidance counselor Theresa Muth said the signature process verifies the activities. Students must be sophom*ores or juniors, have at least a 3.4 GPA and be enrolled in higher level classes to qualify for NHS.
About 20 percent of sophom*ores and juniors receive letters to apply; 30 to 40 percent of applicants are admitted each year, she said.
Muth said she believes the students who get involved value NHS.
Principal Jeff Sodl agreed, and said NHS does not cause "undue anxiousness."
"These students are top-notch, with big hearts and a ton to give the community," he said, adding that the idea that NHS is used to "pad" resumes is somewhat insulting.
"It may appear to look good on an application, but (neither) I nor any NHS adviser or staff member has ever heard that come from any member," he said.
Wallenpaupack Area School District invites qualified students, most of them sophom*ores, to apply each October. About 90 to 95 percent of applicants make the cut.
East Stroudsburg Area School District admits about 96 percent of applicants, while Pocono Mountain School District admits about a third, representatives said.
For East Stroudsburg University admission officers, at least, NHS does not stand out specifically on applications, spokeswoman Brenda Friday said.
Grade point average, class ranking, course selection, SAT and ACT scores and attendance are the main points of focus as the admissions team reviews transcripts "as a whole," she said.
But that does not detract from the value of NHS and other groups, she added.
Admission staff believe every extracurricular achievement "is important and in many cases helps them to be better prepared for a collegiate experience," Friday said.
