I hadn’t seen that one in quite a while. But as I perused the resume of someone who is newly graduated from college, I looked down at the bottom and saw it listed among the three accomplishments the applicant had noted: “Who’s Who Among American High School Students”.
I’ve pretty much always regarded Who’s Who Among AHSS as a scam. “Scam” in the sense that although you’re not obligated to pay to be in the book, you pay for your photo if you want it in there and you pay if you want a copy of the book. In itself, that’s fair enough but inclusion in the book is touted as exclusive and prestigious; a special honor. There’s no rigorous criteria to meet or standards as far as getting your bio in the book. It’s memorabilia and doesn’t hold any real, meaningful value as far as prestige or accomplishment.
According to the company that publishes and sells these books, the criteria are:
*Must currently be in high school grade 9-12, early graduates eligible
*Students must have a B or better GPA
*Students should be involved in school or community activities
And that’s pretty much it. I noted the use of “should” with regards to school or community activities. The criteria state that students must have at least a B grade point average but that they “should” - not “must” - be involved in school or community activities.
Several years ago, a cow-worker brought a brand-spanking new copy of Who’s Who Among AHSS to work to show off her daughter’s bio. Photo and listing of her daughter noted three accomplishments: Debate team, drama club and FFA, though she mentioned they were sending a corrected copy because her daughter was on the swim team, not debate team.
Not to cast aspersions on anyone’s accomplishments, but being listed in Who’s Who Among AHSS isn’t - an accomplishment, IMO.
Have any of you been listed? Come on, I know some of you all have been in it. What’s your perception of being listed in Who’s Who Among AHSS? Accomplishment or embarrassment?
I’ll admit it. I was in it. My parents paid for it. I even had it on a resume for a very brief period of time before I wised up and figured out that yes, the entire thing was and is a scam. I feel so dirty.
Not only was I in the book the year that I graduated, I bought one of their mugs.
Of course my parents and I knew that it was meaningless, but I wasn’t the type to be academically distinguished all on my own (a solid B/B- student) so we figured “what the hell.” I never bragged about it or listed it on a resume/application, it was just kind of a private joke. I have no idea what happened to the mug … I graduated in '89, and I imagine that it got broken at some point during the following years. For all I know, though, it might still be in my mom’s kitchen cupboard!
I wouldn’t hire somebody with that on their resume. I would be thinking:
“Damn, if they fell for that scam what’s going to happen when somebody calls him on the job and asks what model copier we have in the office?”
I got that. I don’t think I ever actually filled out the questionnaire thingy and sent it back, though. And even if I had filled it out, I wouldn’t have shelled out for the book. I worked hard for my money, and saved it for good stuff. Like novels and comics.
How does that Star Registry thing still manage to be around anyway? At least the WWAAHSS pretends to have standards.
Unless they’ve changed things there’s no way that’s correct. I kept getting those offers when I was in high school, and I was never even close to having a B average. I never thought of it as a scam, but I just never wanted to be in some stupid book.
I think they have indeed changed things, because it looks like one of the chief complaints over the years was that there were no real standards as far as getting your bio listed. Not that this set of criteria is particularly rigorous, and I think it’s bunk anyway. It’s listed on their site, but boy, was it hard to find.
I was never involved in community service, and my only two real extracurricular activities were being on the Academic Challenge team and serving as a library aide. However, I was automatically nominated for WWAAHHS (specifically, the regional edition) after qualifying as a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. I realized that the book was a scam, but my parents felt my inclusion was an honor, so they sprang for a copy, and I thumbed through it looking for pictures of cute girls. After I entered college, I learned some of my classmates were also in the volume, so I checked out their bios. Hmmm, if I’m ever really bored, maybe I’ll recover the book from my parents’ house (where it’s “stored”) and skim the pages to see if any now-famous or infamous folks are featured…
So, it’s like the poetry.com scam? At poetry.com you are already a winner! Everyone’s a semifinalist!
Friends of mine tried to see if they could send something to poetry.com that wouldn’t get them semifinalist status. Grocery lists, compilations of random rude words, cat walking on a keyboard, it all made it.
I was in the Who’s Who Among Junior College Students, which is probably even lamer. My honors counselor asked if I wanted to be in it, I shrugged and said sure. They sent me a certificate that I still have. I never bought the book.
They still do this at my JC, although they make a big show of shooing the WWAJCS kids away into another room for an “exclusive reception” at the annual Honors Convocation. BFD.
One of the guys in my grad program listed “Who’s Who Among American College Students” on his c.v. for a while. I bet the search committees were really impressed. :smack:
Wow, that brings back a memory. I remember reading the letter from the Who’s Who folks years ago and I was impressed that anyone had even heard of me or could find my address. I wasn’t wise enough in the ways of the world yet to realize it was a scam, but it didn’t matter anyway because I didn’t have any money to send them. At the time I had to struggle to scrape up the $60 for books for my first semester at community college, that tells you how long ago that was.
I vaguely remember some other scholarship letter that said my first year’s tuition was free at my choice of Jacksonville Bible College or some bible school in Abilene. I was wise enough to realize I couldn’t afford their version of ‘free’. I don’t know how they got my name, either.
I remember sending back the questionairre thingy, but never gave them a dime or bought a book. I certainly knew it was a scam enough to never list it on anything! I thought it was kind of funny as long as I didn’t have to pay them anything.
In college, some friends and I formed a group called the Democratic Organization of Progressive Engineers and Scientists (DOPES). Upon entry, everyone was awarded Vice President status.
Many of us used it on our resumes, at least to get our first job.
We even got official status as a club and got the Student Council to give us money, which we used for parties.
Doesn’t really have much to do with the OP, but there you go.
What’s your perception of being listed in Who’s Who Among AHSS? Accomplishment or embarrassment?