Welcome to the web page of
Rho Gamma Chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha
The state-wide chapter of the National Home School Honor Society
Membership in Rho Gamma is open to all SC students, grades 7~12 who are being educated under options 1 ,2, or 3 of the state home school law.
“The purpose of Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society shall be to recognize and encourage scholarship among home school students. To achieve this purpose, Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society shall provide opportunities for the development of leadership and service. Eta Sigma Alpha shall encourage the development of an intellectual climate that will stimulate the exchange of ideas and ideals, foster scholarship, and promote academic excellence. Eta Sigma Alpha shall also advocate homeschooling as a viable and successful educational methodology and act as a liaison for homeschooling to the general public, colleges/universities, and the media.”
— from the mission statement of the national organization.
- NEW Application forms and policies
in hopes of making the process easier
- NEW membership pins
in hopes of building membership identity
- NEW deadlines
in hopes of accommodating some Fall testing
The goal of all the new is to make the application process easier and to build the Chapter organization. If we’re not doing that, we want to hear from you: rhogammaHSA@gmail.com
Membership Requirements: (nothing new here)
- Testing - any one of these four: 1800 on SAT; 26 on ACT; 180 on PSAT; 90th percentile on complete battery of nationally normed test, e.g. Stanford or Iowa. [This is a national organization standard and cannot be waived by local chapters.] Testing must have been completed within one year of application (NOTE change below) ALL testing must be performed in a group setting.
- GPA – 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Applicants may need to recalculate if the transcript of report card included only a weighted average.
- Service Hours – members must complete 20 hours of volunteer work during the school year. These hours should be service to those outside their immediate family.
What’s new:
- Members will receive a certificate and pin when they initially join. Letters will be sent to new and renewing members. [Additional pins are available for $5, plus postage; or may be purchased at the State convention for $5.]
- Applications are now due mid-Nov. For 2010, that will be November 17th. This should allow those testing in October time to receive results. Service hour records will still be due in April.
- Renewal applications will not need to include new test results if the student previously joined using SAT or ACT scores. [Those who submitted grade-level test scores, such as Stanford or Iowa, or PSAT will still need to resubmit scores annually.]
- Academic record (report card or transcript) must reflect ALL academic work, not just high school credit classes. If a student is taking a mix of credit and non-credit courses, a report card may be preferred to a transcript that reflects only the credit courses.
- Service hours record should be in letter format from the supervisor of the service activity. This letter may serve as a substitute for a log sheet. Applicants need not include ALL service activities, as they need only 20 hours to qualify for membership.
- Beginning this year, students will receive a membership number. Eventually, this will be needed for renewal, but we’re adding this on a trial, phase-in basis which should not affect the process.
The Rho Gamma Chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha was chartered in 2002, with the central purpose of providing a chapter for those home schooled students that do not live close enough to participate in a local South Carolina Eta Sigma Alpha chapter. Another purpose is to put the various South Carolina local chapters in touch with each other at an annual Eta Sigma Alpha recognition ceremony held at the SCHEA-sponsored South Carolina state home school convention each June.
Eta Sigma Alpha members will be considered by colleges and universities to be on equal footing with National Honor Society students when applying for college admission and when competing for college scholarships.
Click here for the 2007-2008 Uniform Grading Scale in pdf format. (19.4K)
Click here for the 2006-2007 Uniform Grading Scale in pdf format. (16.9K)
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