1. Where can I get detailed information about the selection process?
Information can be found in the Student Handbook, the Parent Handbook, and also by following the ?Selection Process? link on the left.
2. I was a member of NHS at my old school. Do I have to go through the selection process again at ISB?
No. Transfer students automatically become members of ISB?s chapter as long as they can provide evidence of their membership at their old school. For evidence, a letter or email from the previous school?s NHS advisor or principal is sufficient.
3. Are ISB?s NHS selection standards higher than other schools??
Yes, but only for the ?Scholarship? criterion. ISB requires a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 to be eligible for induction; other schools may set the minimum as low as 3.0. The NHS Constitution allows individual schools to set the GPA requirement wherever they wish, as long as it is no lower than 3.0.
4. Why is ISB?s minimum GPA higher than what the NHS requires?
The intention is to make the process more selective, by limiting the number of potential members. Even with the higher GPA standard, however, approximately 35% of ISB?s 10th, 11th, and 12th-graders are academically eligible each year.
5. Do grades at my previous school count in my GPA calculation?
Yes. The calculation is done using semester grades beginning in the student?s 9th-grade year. For students who have attended high schools other than ISB, the NHS advisor goes through all transcripts and then combines those grades with grades at ISB in order to produce a cumulative GPA.
6. What should I do if I think my GPA is above 3.5, but my name wasn?t on the list of eligible students?
Contact the NHS advisor immediately.
7. What is the Faculty Council?
The Council consists of five ISB high-school teachers who are chosen each year by the high-school principal in consultation with the NHS advisor. The Council?s primary function is to select new members; from time to time it may also be involved in revising the selection process and in disciplining current NHS members.
At ISB, an effort is made to ensure that the council members represent five different academic departments, although there is no requirement that this be the case.
8. Is there a limit on the number of students who may be selected each year?
No. The Faculty Council may select as many ? or as few ? students as it wishes.
9. Is there any kind of quota system in place in the selection process?
No. Quotas are forbidden by the international NHS guidelines.
10. Why has ISB recently had so many more girls selected than boys?
In the last three selection years, the ratio of girls to boys has been 12:2 (in 2006), 12:2 (2007) and 12:6 (2008). This has been due at least in part to a gender imbalance in the group of academically-eligible students, and also in the group of students who choose to be considered for induction.
For example: In 2006, there were 199 ISB students with GPA?s of 3.5 or better. Of these, 136 were girls and 63 were boys. From this group, 59 chose to participate in the selection process by giving information forms to the Faculty Council; 41 were girls, and only 18 were boys.
As long as these numbers remain consistent from year to year, it is likely that induction classes will continue to have more girls than boys. However, gender is absolutely not considered when the Faculty Council makes its selections.
11. Do current NHS members have any input in selecting new members?
No. Induction into NHS is an honor bestowed solely by ISB?s high-school faculty. Students? opinions, parents? opinions, and administrators? opinions of potential members are given no weight in the process.
12. Why doesn?t ISB pick a higher cutoff GPA (like 3.75, or 3.9) and just allow all students above that GPA to become NHS members?
This is specifically forbidden by the NHS governing body. The Faculty Council must take into account all four criteria ? Scholarship, Leadership, Character, and Service ? when making selection decisions. To go to a ?GPA-only? selection is to ignore three of the four criteria for membership. Schools that do this are in danger of having their NHS charters revoked.
13. How are the faculty rankings on Leadership and Character used? Is there a ?minimum score? necessary to be selected?
After collecting the faculty ranking forms, the NHS advisor calculates each student?s average Leadership & Character score, and then ranks each student compared to both their class and to the overall pool of candidates. The Faculty Council sees three numbers for each student for each criterion: the score, class rank and overall rank.
There is no minimum necessary, and there is no score that guarantees selection. The Council uses these numbers as additional pieces of evidence in creating an overall picture of the student.
14. How is ?character? determined? Isn?t it highly subjective?
Character is by far the most difficult of the criteria to define. ISB follows the NHS-recommended procedure, which is this: The NHS Advisor distributes a list of positive character traits (from the NHS Handbook) to the high-school faculty before they give scores to each student. Each teacher is responsible for reading the list of traits, and using their best judgment to be as objective as possible in their student rankings.
15. What if I do lots of community-service, but I usually don?t turn in the verification forms because I already have enough hours to fulfill ISB?s graduation requirement?
You should turn in the forms anyway if you wish to be considered for NHS. The major purpose of community-service forms is to have an adult supervisor (a teacher, a Scout leader, etc.) verify your involvement. NHS requires that students show a ?commitment to service,? and the verification forms are a simple way for you to demonstrate your commitment.
16. Is there a minimum number of community-service hours necessary to be selected?
Again, there is no minimum requirement, and there is no number of hours that will ?guarantee? selection. The number of hours served is one piece of a large puzzle.
17. I?ve read the Student Handbook, the Selection Process webpage and this page, but I still have questions. Whom do I contact?
You can email Cameron Macky, the NHS advisor, at cameronm@isb.ac.th
