Early in the fall of their junior and senior years, eligible students are identified by GPA (3.5 or greater) and are sent an application. Students have approximately two weeks to complete the application, in which they detail their contributions to the school community in areas of extracurricular activities, leadership, and community service. All activities reported on the application must be verified by signature of an adult sponsor, not a parent. Any activity that is not verified by adult signature will not count towards the student’s application. During the application process, Deep Run faculty members are asked to rate the eligible students regarding their leadership and character in the classroom. These faculty ratings also factor into the student’s application for NHS.

Once all applications have been returned, a panel of 5 faculty members (not the NHS sponsors) meet and evaluate all submitted applications. Each application is scored by the faculty selection panel and a cutoff score for membership admission is determined by the panel. Any student whose total score, including both information submitted by the student as well as the faculty rating, falls above this cutoff score is admitted into the National Honor Society. Students are notified of this decision through letter delivered in extended study.

Students who are not accepted into NHS are notified by letter and are provided feedback regarding the area(s) in which their application may be lacking. Juniors who are not accepted are encouraged to reapply their senior year. Any student, junior or senior, who feels that their application may have been scored in error may appeal the decision of the original committee by submitting a letter in writing to the NHS sponsor within 5 days of receiving the rejection. During the appeals hearing, the student appears before a different faculty committee and addresses the area of the application that they feel may have been scored inaccurately. The appeals committee will then make a final decision regarding the acceptance of the student into NHS. Juniors who appeal and are not accepted may still reapply during their senior year. (Download the printable version)