Congratulations! You’ve been accepted into the Pi Delta intracampus honor society! Due to your decent academic standing and the intelligence you’ve demonstrated by reading Pipe Dream, you are now invited to join the illustrious brothers and sisters of Pi Delta! Just send us a check for $75, and your induction packet and membership pin will be in your mailbox within the month!

We know you’re all excited about your invitation to join Pi Delta (PD for short), but a strong student like you (after all, you go to BU, right?) must get invited to honor societies every year. Maybe even multiple times a year. And as long as you send them all a check for the moderate fee they request, you could belong to hundreds (well, maybe hundreds is a bit of an exaggeration) of these honor societies by the time you’re ready to leave our fair University.

So congratulations … most of you out there have probably been invited to buy yourselves a resume booster.

Now, before you all get indignant about how you’ve earned those greek letters you’ll be including under the “membership and awards” subcategory on your resume, ask yourselves what it is, exactly, that you’re paying these organizations for. Do you go to meetings? Do you complete community service projects, or partake in other societally beneficial activities as a member? Do you actually come out of the experience with anything more than a membership certificate and a cheaply manufactured pin?

Unless you’re one of the very few who actually put effort into these honor societies and manage to turn membership into a positive experience, we’re willing to bet the answer to all of the above is a resounding “no.”

So why do we keep giving them our money?

Sure, take it as a good sign that you meet the GPA requirement to be invited, but remember that we shouldn’t have to give anyone money to recognize our accomplishments. The dean’s lists put out by the various schools and colleges here are already a FREE public acknowledgment of your abilities. And as far as your resume goes, your GPA and transcript will speak for themselves.

We’re not so cynical that we think all of these honor societies are complete frauds. Some of them, like Golden Key International Honour Society, offer extremely beneficial networking opportunities, and if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, can be a great chance to do some resume-worthy (not to mention character-building) community service.

So before you part with that precious $50 to $100 the mystery organization requires as a membership fee, do your homework. Some simple Internet research is usually enough to tell you if you’re going to get more than an empty membership title out of the organization … and out of your money.