Is Beta Gamma Sigma Worth It?
I was just admitted into the Beta Gamma Sigma chapter at my school. I am graduating in May and apparently it is only reserved for the top 10% of my class. There is a membership fee but it's subsidized by my school a bit.
Is this worth the time/money? Does it help with networking at all?
beta gamma sigma honor society
When it comes to Beta Gamma Sigma, there are two important questions to ask - should I pay the money to join and if so, how do I list it on my resume.
Is BGS Worth It?
I've received an invitation as well, from my understanding it depends whether you have a full resume or not. Your GPA should speak for itself, but if you are lacking internships/extracurriculars, it might be worth the $75 or so to join.
Its an honor society for business school undergrads...and yes its worthwhile.It is comparable to phi beta kappa (obv not same plane) in liberal arts. At Uva-McIntire its the top 7% of the class so it's damn hard to get into and it is a way to differentiate your class standing in a college where there is no ranking like high school.
Def join - if you see profiles of associates on PE homepages alot of times they say "Graduated Beta Gamma Sigma from Wharton, Stern, etc."
While most users feel that the Beta Gamma Sigma membership cannot hurt on your resume, a few users feel that joining was a waste of money and not worth space on your resume.
Waste of money in my opinion. I believe membership is offered to top 10% of JR & SR business students. I'd prefer to add a bullet point to my resume that I could provide some substantive experience to justify.
I signed up when I was in school ('09 or '10) and never saw any benefit. Like others have said, its awarded to the top 10% in your business school, but your GPA should be able to stand alone. Still get emails for their "virtual career fairs" though, never participated so no idea if they're helpful.
Beta Gamma Sigma on Resume
If you've decided to put it on your resume, user @guyjer" suggested “just listing it under honors." However, you could flesh it out into a full resume bullet as described below.
I paid $30 to join when I was in my UG. The fact that even top MBA programs still nominate their students for BGS if they meet the top 10% criteria seems to at least give it 'some' credit. For $30... it's something to throw on the resume that shows you at least were top 10% of your class - kind of fights down some of the potential grade inflation if nothing else.
beta gamma sigma discounts
Some users claim that Beta Gamma Sigma pays for itself since it offers discounts to different subscriptions to members. The honors society offers discounted subscriptions to magazines, business attire discounts, and even UPS discounts. See photos from the website below. You can read more about their discounts at the Beta Gamma Sigma site.
I decided to join, and I think its worth it. You get a free year subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek and Forbes which is nice and basically pays for the cost, and the group seems to be pretty good at helping out members (I haven't gotten anything through it yet, but they have a number of meetups in NYC, job board for people in BGS, etc. I think overall it’s pretty worth it.
they send awesome deals occasionally. in addition to the Bloomberg, Businessweek and Forbes subscription, i'll occasionally receive $200 off a >$500 purchase at mens warehouse and similar discounts at other places, some restaurants, clothing, etc.
Professional Apparel Discounts
Newspaper Discounts
Miscellaneous Discounts
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Its basically Phi Beta Kappa for business school students, so it has decent recognition. You sometimes see "so and so graduated Beta Gamma Sigma"... Assuming the fee isn't too much, can't hurt..
I decided to join, and I think its worth it. You get a free year subscription to bloomberg businessweek and forbes which is nice and basically pays for the cost, and the group seems to be pretty good at helping out members (i haven't gotten anything through it yet, but they have a number of meetups in NYC, job board for people in BGS, etc. I think overall its pretty worth it
I paid $30 to join when I was in my UG. The fact that even top MBA programs still nominate their students for BGS if they meet the top 10% criteria seems to at least give it 'some' credit. For $30... it's something to throw on the resume that shows you at least were top 10% of your class - kind of fights down some of the potential grade inflation if nothing else.
they send awesome deals occasionally. in addition to the bloomberg businessweek and forbes subscription, i'll occasionally receive $200 off a >$500 purchase at mens warehouse and similar discounts at other places, some restaurants, clothing, etc.
Beta Gamma Sigma (Originally Posted: 01/11/2007)
anyone in this honor society?
Anything special about it? Is it the best/only business honor society out there?
Any major perks?
Those honor societies are only good for PERHAPS a bullet on your resume.
Or, a clever way to meet that shy, uptight girl in your class that you know would be super hot if she just dressed the part.
i dont know about business honor societies, but there are plenty of business fraternities out there: alpha kappa psi, delta sigma pi, beta alpha psi, etc. major perks... networking.
how much space it takes up on your resume, depends on what you did in the organization. if you are just a member, yea one bullet point at most.
you know what they are actually good for? getting into recruiting events. i've sat on panels etc that were put together by the business societies/fraternities of schools. these societies often contact banks and set up events for their memebers.
You are not elligible for Phi Beta Kappa with a BBA, so the BGS honor society was created to be the PBK of B-school. It is prestigious, for a bullet point, and well known. If you get accepted, I would join.
Waste of money in my opinion. I believe membership is offered to top 10% of JR & SR business students. I'd prefer to add a bullet point to my resume that I could provide some substantive experience to justify.
Beta Gamma Sigma at my school is top 7% of junior class and top 10% of seniors. If you get in your junior year it is definitely worth mentioning.
I would just list it under honors
Bumping for more opinions....
Why not, its 60-70 bucks for a very solid resume bullet point.
People pay thousands of dollars to put "wall street financial modeling course participant" on their resume.
It's worth the 70 bucks, if anything it helps fill out your resume.
Beta Gamma Sigma invitation (Originally Posted: 03/03/2009)
Is it worthwhile to pay the $65 to join ? Is there any point or networking opportunities or is it worthless?
im wondering too
never heard of em.
BAP or AKPSI would be better
its an honor society for business school undergrads...and yes its worthwhile.
It is comparable to phi beta kappa (obv not same plane) in liberal arts. At Uva-McIntire its the top 7% of the class so it's damn hard to get into and it is a way to differentiate your class standing in a college where there is no ranking like high school.
Def join - if you see profiles of associates on PE homepages alot of times they say "Graduated Beta Gamma Sigma from Wharton, Stern, etc."
dude, its 65 bucks. are you seriously hesitating?
It's only a one-time fee, too. Why not join?
I joined last year. It didn't help or do anything for me with recruiting, but I did get a years worth of Business Week magazines.
It's just another piece of flair to put on your resume.
Beta Gamma Sigma. Worth anything? (Originally Posted: 03/24/2015)
Recently got an invitation. With all of the other b/s "honors societies" sending me invitations ever since my freshman year, it's hard to decipher what is actually meaningful. Thoughts on this one?
I've received an invitation as well, from my understanding it depends whether you have a full resume or not. Your GPA should speak for itself, but if you are lacking internships/extracurriculars, it might be worth the $75 or so to join.
They bragged on the network, but I think with such a large group selected to join (most likely in the tens of thousands each year) such networking capabilities are significantly reduced - there are just so many other people just like you it doesn't really set you apart.
Yeah, that was my thought. I have an IBD SA position secured for this summer so I'll probably hold off.
It also depends on whether you are in a Greek organization - I'd imagine it's "frat".
And congrats on obtaining a position. Do you mind me asking what tier bank and city?
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