Members are discussing the benefits of joining Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) at community colleges, focusing on GPA requirements, scholarships, transcript notations, and potential advantages in job applications and transfer to four-year programs. Some users have received scholarships and opportunities through PTK, while others question the value of membership and the exclusivity of the organization. Overall, opinions vary on the worthiness of joining PTK and the impact it has on academic and professional opportunities.
I was recently invited to join Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) and was wondering if anyone who has experience with this honor society has found it beneficial other than it looking nice on resumes. My thinking is that most nursing students qualify for this honor due to the grades that must be maintained/acquired for nursing school. How would this make someone stand out in the field of nursing if most nursing students probably qualify?
Has anyone found that it helped them get any new-grad positions when they graduated? Did it help with scholarships? Did it look good when you wanted to transfer to a university? Did you find it helpful in terms of networking? Did it apply to any or none of the above?
I was also wondering what the GPA cutoff is? How low can your GPA fall before they kick you out? I could always ask this at the orientation meeting, but that isn't anytime soon.
I had also heard of Sigma Theta Tau (specifically for nurses) and was wondering what one would need to do in order to be invited to join?
I've received numerous honor society offers and have turned them all down. I'm not going to pay $100 so I can list them on my resume. If I wanted to do volunteer work, there is plenty of opportunities within my nursing program. And if I wanted to show that I did well in school, I would just list my GPA on my resume and save $100.
I personally didn't bother with it, I thought it was something meant to separate people from their money more than anything else. I already have a Bachelor's so I wouldn't have been eligible for any of the scholarships they offer. When a potential employer or RN-BSN program wants to see my grades, I can show them a transcript for free, rather than pay $100 to put "phi theta kappa" on my resume.
Yes, by all means, JOIN! I have been a member for the last 1 1/2 yrs, and was the VP of scholarship in my local chapter last year. It's about $70 to join, but that's all you will ever pay, and it is totally worth the investment. You will always be a member once a member, even if your GPA falls. It looks great on a resume and at my school at least, is the only honor that is actually listed on your transcript. There are lots of volunteer activities, if you like that, but you can be as active or nonactive as you want. Obviously, you will get better referrals if you are somewhat active, though. They take trips to places, and at my school if you go on a trip with them, they pay for EVERYTHING - air fare, hotel, food, ect. We went to a conference in Austin last year and spent some time at the conference and alot of time sight-seeing and having fun. The conference was cool, too - all kinds of intellectual discussion on interesting subjects. It's cool to have a place where I can hang out with other overachievers. And yes, when I graduate, I will have my gold cord and sash and will graduate with honors, which looks REALLY awesome! At my school, too, we get a certificate every year at the honors convocation, just for being a member, even if you're not active. Oh, and some universities are starting a sister group to Phi Theta Kappa for the four-year school. I know our local university is. And, yes, lots of scholarship opportunities out there for tranfer students, just for being a member. I have been awarded several academic and nursing scholarships and an externship and I really believe that being a member (esp. being an officer) helped.
You will always be a member once a member, even if your GPA falls.
This is not what I was told. I was told you would be dropped from the society if your GPA fell below a certain amount.
This is directly from the application
"After becoming a member, an individual is required to maintain the minimum GPA for membership as established by the local chapter and must notify the chapter advisor immediately if at any time their cumulative GPA falls below that standard. Failure to provide notification may result in membership being automatically revoked. A member is given one term to raise their cumulative GPA to minimum standards."
GPA requirements depend on the school. I have to maintain a 3.25 to stay in.
This is directly from my chapter:
When a member's cumulative G.P.A. falls below 3.25, he/she has one academic term in which to bring the average up to 3.25. If he/she fails to raise the cumulative G.P.A. to 3.25 after one academic term, the member shall have his/her name stricken from the local chapter roll and the Phi Theta Kappa headquarters shall be notified to strike the name from the international roll as well. Once a student's name is stricken from the roll, all privileges of membership are revoked.
I joined PTK and what it did for me was put me on a ton of college transfer student mailing lists. I already had a BA (and a BSN now!) and joined PTK while doing my prerequisites at the local community college. I was not eligible for most of their scholarships because I already had a BA, and joined right at the end of my time doing prerequisites so didn't really have an opportuity to get involved with the school chapter.
I think in other situations it would be helpful though. There are a ton of scholarships advertised if you don't already have a BA and if I'd gone to the nursing program at the community college I'd have been able to wear the PTK honors paraphenaila at graduation. If I'd stayed at the community college, I'd also have been around to get involved in the community service stuff with my chapter.
I just joined STTI and plan to be actively involved with my chapter too. I think these types of organizations are always about what you make of them.
Weird...maybe my chapter is more lenient, because I know that even a past president of my chapter had a bad semester once and it dropped below the accepted GPA, and they didn't kick her out. That was specifically one of my concerns when I was trying to decide whether I should join, and I was told that once you are a member, you are always a member.
Now that I've read your post a little more closely, I see that you are given one semester to bring it back up, so maybe that is what our ex-president did. But I have never heard my group say anything about anyone being dropped from the rolls if this happens. I will have to ask them about that next time I'm at a meeting.
Yeah, my chapter's literature states that if a member's GPA falls below 3.5, they no longer hold membership. There is no clause or verbiage pertaining to a probationary period for GPA improvement. It's all or nothing.
I would like to join mine, but the GPA requirements is 3.85!! I have a GPA over that right now, but I'm only in my first semester of nursing school LOL!!
I entered Phi Theta Kappa while taking pre-requisites at a community college and joined. I did not participate in anything while going to the community college. now that I finished my nursing program (2 year ADN) at the community college, I am attending Kaplan university online and am enrolled in the BSN program. as a benefit, I got a $3000 scholarship because I was/am a member of phi theta kappa. also, I am able to take two classes per term instead of one which is great considering a few space fillers (things like humanities, bioethics, etc) are part of the program. things will go buy much quicker!
tokyoROSE, BSN, RN
1 Article; 526 Posts
I've received numerous honor society offers and have turned them all down. I'm not going to pay $100 so I can list them on my resume. If I wanted to do volunteer work, there is plenty of opportunities within my nursing program. And if I wanted to show that I did well in school, I would just list my GPA on my resume and save $100.