I’ve recently gotten a letter from a group going by the name of “Who’s Who Among American High School Students.”
In this letter, they go on saying the normal stuff you’d expect, “You’ve achieved outstanding scores,” yadda yadda, “Only the best are even considered,” yadda yadda, finally offering to publish an academic biography and stuff like that.
But, looking back on my schoolwork, I was never a great student. My grades are in the low 90’s, but only because the work my school hands out is mind-numbingly easy.
So, here’s my question, how reputable IS this organization, and is this thing really THAT prestigious?
I got one of those back in the 1980s. They want you to fill out some information to be “listed” and then plunk down $49.95 for a copy of the book to show gramma and grampa.
Another thing: I’m reminded of such things as Poetry.com (or some such) when I hear of this. Not saying it IS a hoax, it just sent up my red flag. It doesn’t require a fee to submit the form, but you can buy a book with your thingamagigger in it for about $80.
In short, no. It is a form of self-publishing (although I think I signed up for it once). Somehow they infiltrated schools with this idea, get teachers involved to make “nominations” and then (here is the key), have you pay a hefty fee to own a copy of their registry. What you are really doing is paying to be listed in a book in the first place.
It isn’t something you should really put on a college application or god-forbid, a later job application. If you like seeing your name in print though, they can arrange it for you.
Well it isn’t really a hoax - they’re just saying that they got your name and will put it in a book which they happen to be selling. I don’t know if teachers or anybody supplies information, I got mine after taking the Achievement tests, I assume that the names & addresses got sold to a marketing firm.
I’ve received similar letters from “Who’s Who in Minority/Womens’/Small Business Owners” groups over the years. The first one seemed cool, and rather a surprise, since I am hardly a Fortune 500 company!
Really, though it’s just directories that you have to pay for and in some cases pay to be listed in. No point to it and I don’t know who would read them or why it would matter.
I skipped 1st grade, so I tended to get mailings that were keyed off of birthdates about a year later than my schoolmates did.
As we were graduating, many of my fellow seniors listed “Who’s Who” on their list of accomplishments and awards that were printed in the yearbook or honors award programs and whatnot. I had never heard of “Who’s Who” and was rather confused – I had higher grades, SAT / PSAT scores, more extracirriculars, more prestigious college acceptances, etc, than most of these students – if they were “Who’s Who”, then why wasn’t I?
My freshman year of college (which, by my birthdate would have been my Sr. year in high school), I got a “Who’s Who” letter. I knew it was a bunch of bunk then – how could I be selected for who’s who in high school when wasn’t even in high school?
It’s kinda like this special club I heard of; they tell you that you have to be smart to join and then offer to let you join if you pay their membership fee…
~
I remember getting a mailshot from some “genealogy publishing house” offering me the not-to-be-missed opportunity to feature in their forthcoming Who’s Who of People Named <Surname>.
Yes, for just £39.99 I could be listed among such luminaries of the <Surname> family as Bob <Surname> of Greytoad, Mississippi, Jethro <Surname> of Trecobblers, Cornwall, and Dr Philip J. <Surname> of London W1!
I passed on it, I’m afraid. :rolleyes:
They want you to buy a book with your name in it. Then they will send a pitch to your grandparents, etc., to try to get them to buy a book with your name in it.
Who’s who is not entirely a scam: they are selective about the students the send a letter to (it doesn’t go to everyone) and will list you whether you pay or not. But it is basically a useless honor – no one is going to care if you mention it.
My poor little Fifo hasn’t no ears.
And I never thought he has barked on years.
All he is sit on my bed
Like a book that hasn’t ever been in red.
But Fido has secret
One I never told noone yet.
He cuddles as I sleep
And bites his fleas
I’ve gotten piles of these things: Who’s Who Among (fill in appropriate–or even inappropriate–group here). It ain’t $49.95 any more. The last one I got wanted over $200 for a copy of the book.
I was told of a person who was sent one of those letters informing him he was in Who’s Who among American High School Students. He actually did have very good grades and SAT scores, and he was probably sent the letter because the company bought names from the SAT people of those with high scores. (I think there was a question in the preface to the test asking if you minded having your name sold to other groups.) However, he had absolutely no extracurricular activities. On the form you send in allowing your name to be in the book, they asked you what extracurricular activities you were in. They have no way of checking if what you say is true. He told them he was in a huge number of such activities, and they just went ahead and printed them under his name.
I have a relative who went in for something very similar to that and it eventually ended up in my hands. It turned out to be several generic, pages about genealogy, followed by several more pages of listings from public phone books of people with the same last name. This was before it was trivially easy to compose such a list for free on the Internet, but still was not worth any money at all.
I once got one of those too. In my case it would have been an exceptionally short book, since according to my own research there are about 25 people with my surname (an American misspelling of an uncommon Swiss name) in the world, most of them in my own extended family.