Written By Zahra Khan
The National Honor Society may sound familiar to high school students: it’s an nationwide organization for high school students in the United States. Some of us have probably even been a part of them. Some students at Brooklyn College received letters from The National Society of Leadership and Success (Sigma Alpha Pi). Humza Ahmad, a Brooklyn College Student received a letter and realized it wasn’t the same thing.
Ahmad, a student studying TV and Radio, posted on the Brooklyn College In the Know 2 Facebook page stating, “Just a heads up that the National Society of Leadership and Success is a SCAM.”
Ahmad was approached by the organization because of his high GPA. According to the National Society of Leadership’s website, candidates are selected “based on GPA and/or leadership potential.” The organization seemed sketchy to other Brooklyn College students. Ashira Z. Silver posted on the Facebook page, “the same semester that I got invited, my GPA was right under 3.0.” For Ahmad, the organization seemed sketchy when they asked him to pay a one-time installment fee of $90.
“I got the most recent invitation on February 7th, 2020 and the first one on February 15th, 2019. It was definitely suspicious because the e-mail is not from a Brooklyn College e-mail I recognized,” Ahmad said. “Also, Brooklyn College usually talks about honors if there are any.”
The National Society of Success and Leadership isn’t certified by the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS). When you search NSLS online, most of the stuff that comes up are bad reviews of the society. A comment posted on Better Business Bureau® Website said “I have called the customer service line 3 times now. Each time I am told they will look into and escalate it. Today I spoke with supervisor Kay, she told me they cannot access my son’s account either and they will not refund my money”. The website had many complaints dating from 2019 about how it’s unreliable and isn’t exactly selective with who they let in.
“I first felt like it was a scam when I read how the e-mail tried to talk me up by making me feel special,” Ahmad said. “No official e-mail would be trying so hard to get you to join their organization. It seemed unprofessional.”
So what does this mean? Is the organization a scam? Although the organization claims to promote leadership skills and give out job opportunities, a different story emerges to a student who does their research. Most of the comments associated with the organization claim it is a scam and how it’s not beneficial to apply. Ahmad recommends that students do their research before committing to any organization.
“I would say it’s really upsetting that innocent students might fall victim to such organizations if they do not read online reviews,” he said.
So Brooklyn College students: do your research and don’t just commit to the first place that’s willing to give you an opportunity.