Golden Key honours society

AussieTina · Aug 13, 2008

I am a member of this society. It looks really good on your CV as you can only join if you are invited. And they only invite the high acheivers

So congrats on your invitation :yeah:

gogirlgo · Aug 14, 2008

I have been invited to join this a couple of times, because I was in the top 15% of students.

I posted a query about this on our university chatboard and the consensus was that it was a waste of money, bordering on a scam. It was suggested that I google them and find more out.

So I just plan to put something like "invited to join Golden Key Honour Society (top 15% of students) on my CV. Same result, but no cost!

MicStar · Aug 16, 2008

it not bordering on a scam!, well i dont think so, this institution recieved our information from our uni's; if there was any suspecious goings on, wont you think the uni wouldnt be passing on our address, name etc?

ANyway, use it for what it is...you recevie a v. nice certificate and your a life long member...put it on your CV!! no big deal!

MicStar · Aug 16, 2008

This Is What The Certificate That They Send You Looks Like.....

gogirlgo · Aug 17, 2008

suggest you google wikipedia - golden key international honour society. there is a section titled controversies and below is a cut and paste of the first paragraph:

quote

there have been some claims that the society is little more than an elaborate scam. articles in ubc's student newspaper the ubyssey have examined the society's finances and scholarship practices. in 2003, the ubyssey questioned the society's spending practices based on information obtained from its submission to the internal revenue service. although the society claims to "return 75 per cent of each membership as benefits and services to local chapters and their members [while the] other 25 per cent is used for administrative expenses," the ubyssey found that in 1997 salaries, management and general expenses totalled $2,997,827, almost 47 per cent of the $6,430,054 in total expenditures. a second article found that golden key spent just $289,461 (us dollars) on scholarships, less than 5 per cent of their total expenditures for the fiscal year ending june 30, 1997

unquote

read it, and make up your own mind as to whether you think it offers you anything valuable for your money. if you are interested in networking, check out exactly what is offered at your uni - but networking is probably more useful to other study areas, not nursing.

MicStar · Aug 18, 2008

suggest you google wikipedia - golden key international honour society. there is a section titled controversies and below is a cut and paste of the first paragraph:
quote
there have been some claims that the society is little more than an elaborate scam. articles in ubc's student newspaper the ubyssey have examined the society's finances and scholarship practices. in 2003, the ubyssey questioned the society's spending practices based on information obtained from its submission to the internal revenue service. although the society claims to "return 75 per cent of each membership as benefits and services to local chapters and their members [while the] other 25 per cent is used for administrative expenses," the ubyssey found that in 1997 salaries, management and general expenses totalled $2,997,827, almost 47 per cent of the $6,430,054 in total expenditures. a second article found that golden key spent just $289,461 (us dollars) on scholarships, less than 5 per cent of their total expenditures for the fiscal year ending june 30, 1997
unquote
read it, and make up your own mind as to whether you think it offers you anything valuable for your money. if you are interested in networking, check out exactly what is offered at your uni - but networking is probably more useful to other study areas, not nursing.

i dont wont to get into a debate about this but to say i would be very careful about wikipedia, anyone can edit information on it; and where the source came from and if it's verified. these days were trained to critique information, question and not accept things that are written on the internet.

aussiemumj · Aug 19, 2008

Oh what a can of worms I have opened :argue: Agreed micstar that wiki can be so so wrong (and often it is right) so I think all that has been achieved here is that I am more confused - I think it will be a financial decision in the end... if I can afford it I will join - I feel like it is a risk worth taking rather than regretting it later. Thanks so much for all your help and opinions!

xovimat57 · Aug 23, 2008

I suspect Golden Key is a scam.

Back when I was in college, I got the invitation, and sent in my money (40 US dollars at that time). They did send me the pretty certificate.

Between the time I joined and the time I graduated, they had only one chapter meeting. I missed it because I had to work that night.

A couple of years after I graduated, someone from GK phoned to ask me if I was satisfied with my membership. (This person was unaware that I was no longer a student.) When I explained how disappointing my experience was, he hung up. Later I conjectured that he was just trying to get a donation.

I've gotten several credit card offers explaining how I can impress the clerk at the neighborhood convenience store by paying with a GK credit card.

Now for the interesting part: I was a student at Georgia State University in Atlanta, where GK was founded. One would think that if GK would be done properly anywhere, it would be at the campus where the organization was started.

The GK administrators do like to spend money. For its headquarters GK bought a big, fancy old house in one of Atlanta's priciest neighborhoods and (in 1994) built a large addition.

My GK membership was somehow recorded incorrectly, and it has shown up only intermittently when I have tried to check it on their website. Thus I can't mention the membership on a job application, because the employer might contact the GK headquarters on a day that their computer is balky, and no evidence of my membership would appear. Then I would look like a liar and not get the job.

Keep your money.