Golden Key

[obfuscator]

An accredited campus wouldn't allow them to invite people and run as a group on their campus if it was a scam.

Perhaps the campus doesn't know. How did you get the invitation? (@ OP)

[Ginger_Warrior]

This makes for interesting reading: http://en.wikipedia....ety#Controversy

 

Perhaps not a scam exactly, just not a balanced trade either.

[the-whisky-bar]

no, i'm going to ahead and say it's probably a scam. i'm for you just keeping the letter.

[stevepole]

It doesn't sound like a scam, it mostly resembles the university equivalent of the nation honor society in high school.

[The Dark Lord]

An accredited campus wouldn't allow them to invite people and run as a group on their campus if it was a scam.

Perhaps the campus doesn't know. How did you get the invitation? (@ OP)

 

The campus sent it. A professor is in charge of the local chapter.

 

It's legit, but there's apparently a controversy because the people who actually run it seem to just keep most of the money and only give out a pathetic sum of money for scholarships.

 

The only value is for the CV, but I have read on various forums that people who are on admittance committees for grad school "don't give two shits about stuff like that."

[obfuscator]

An accredited campus wouldn't allow them to invite people and run as a group on their campus if it was a scam.

Perhaps the campus doesn't know. How did you get the invitation? (@ OP)

 

The campus sent it. A professor is in charge of the local chapter.

 

It's legit, but there's apparently a controversy because the people who actually run it seem to just keep most of the money and only give out a pathetic sum of money for scholarships.

 

The only value is for the CV, but I have read on various forums that people who are on admittance committees for grad school "don't give two shits about stuff like that."

Personally, I wouldn't bother with it.

[Baffler]

In Australia they have the same thing, but I believe it's the top 10% of your course over here.

 

I was offered it after my first year, but I declined as it seemed that I would have just been paying for the right to put a mention of it on my resume.

 

I'm sure it's not a scam per se, but it's certainly a revenue raiser for someone :P.

[fastortoise]

So I was trying to get a summer research job in my favourite prof's lab. I sent my student transcript (grades)+CV to my supervisor, and he me sat down and interviewed me. He said my grades were very impressive ect. ect., how I got an A+ in a course nobody should be getting A+, checked my other jobs held.. and asked me why I wasn't part of the Golden Key Society. He had half a smile when he asked, so I told him that I'm on the honour roll and deans list (he also noted this) and that any body who knows what they're doing would know that those honours trump any title bought for 80$.

 

He smiled and told me that's exactly what he told his son, studying Physics at university. I was like <3: and he was all like <3: and gave me the position. I could imagine the grilling he would have given me if I said I was invited to join the GKS and not pay to join, which was the point I was making 2 months ago. Anyways, I didn't get the job because of that little anecdote; I know the prof really well and he was really impressed with the research I'd done in another lab last year but the point is I was right about GKS (when it comes to dealing with senior professors who've been in the business for 30+ years) so deal with it.