Residency Advisor
It's 11:43 p.m. You’ve got three browser tabs open: AMSA membership, a premed honor society, and your bank account. The honor society wants $95. AMSA is $75 for the year. There’s also your campus premed club talking about national chapter dues.
Your checking account says $213.47.
Your brain says, “If I don’t join, am I already behind?”
And under all of that is the more panicked thought: “What if not paying $75 now somehow ruins my med school chances later?”
Let’s sit in that anxiety for a second, because it’s real.
You’re hearing classmates casually say, “Oh I just joined, it’s worth it,” while you’re counting how many hours you have to work at your part-time job just to pay for one membership. Everyone else seems weirdly unconcerned about money, and you’re playing out worst-case scenarios where an adcom stares at your application and thinks:
“Hmm, this applicant didn’t join [insert name of national premed thing]. Reject.”
So… what actually matters? When is paying membership dues smart, and when is it basically a very expensive sticker on your laptop?
Let’s pull this apart, piece by piece.
The Fear: “If I Don’t Pay, I’ll Look Like I Didn’t Care Enough”
Let’s be brutally honest about the nightmare thought:
If you don’t pay for these memberships, will med schools think you were lazy, uncommitted, or not “serious” enough?
In almost all cases? No.
Membership by itself is almost meaningless to admissions if you never did anything with it. A line that says:
“Member, American Medical Student Association (2023–2024)”
with no leadership, no projects, no concrete activities under it… that does not impress anyone. It’s just words.
What actually gets attention is:
- “Co-organized 3 community health fairs reaching 400+ underserved patients”
- “Led a 10-person volunteer team to develop a new mentorship program”
- “Coordinated a monthly premed skills workshop series averaging 60 attendees”
Nobody needed to be a “dues-paying member” in name only to do something meaningful.
If the membership fee is just paying for the right to type “Member of X” on your application and that’s where it ends, it’s probably not worth it. Not for your wallet. Not for your CV. And definitely not for your anxiety.
The part that matters is your involvement, not your subscription status.
When Paying Membership Dues Actually Helps You
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: sometimes membership is worth it. Sometimes it’s just… not.
The trick is to connect dues directly to something tangible and likely to happen, not some vague “maybe one day I’ll use this.”
You should start thinking:
“If I pay this, what exactly do I get that I would realistically use in the next 3–12 months?”
Some cases where paying is probably worth serious consideration:
1. When dues unlock opportunities you cannot access otherwise
Examples:
- Your school’s premed chapter only lets national members:
- Hold leadership roles (president, VP, committee chair)
- Apply for national scholarships or travel awards
- Attend a national conference at a discount
- A specialty society (like American College of Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Surgeons) offers:
- Student membership with early access to mentors or research projects
- A structured mentorship program that’s actually active, not just theoretical
- Conference subsidies or funding to present research
If you already know you want to run for a leadership position, or there’s a specific conference you’ll actually attend, or you have a concrete plan to use those mentorship programs, paying dues might be an investment instead of just a line item.
2. When you’re getting real mentorship, not just marketing emails
Big organizations love to promise “mentorship.” The reality? Half of those systems are dead email lists.
Membership might be worth it when:
- Your friends or upperclassmen can point to specific, helpful mentors they met through that organization.
- You’ve attended a meeting and actually met residents, attendings, or admissions-related people who said, “Reach out, I’m happy to help.”
- The group runs small, concrete programs: personal statement workshops, mock interviews with MDs/DOs, MMI practice, etc.
If the mentorship is real and accessible, that’s huge. That’s the kind of thing that may:
- Improve your application quality (better essays, better prep)
- Help you choose schools and specialties more strategically
- Give you someone to vouch for you later
All of those are worth far more than the initial dues.
3. When leadership roles require national membership
This one hits hard, because it feels like a trap.
You might hear: “To be an officer in our campus chapter, you must be a national member.” And your brain goes, “So I need to buy a title?”
It’s only worth it if:
- You actually want that specific role
- You’ll do something meaningful in it (not just hold the title)
- You have time and energy to commit
If, for example, being “Community Outreach Chair” means you will coordinate monthly events at free clinics, build long-term partnerships with local orgs, and maybe develop a new initiative you can talk about in your interview? Paying dues to be eligible starts to look much more rational.
If the reality is: “We meet three times a semester and order pizza,” then those dues are buying you… food and a bullet point. You can get both cheaper elsewhere.
When Membership Is Probably Not Worth the Money
Let’s flip the lens now. Because there are absolutely times where you should feel zero guilt not joining.
1. When the main selling point is “looks good on your application”
If someone says, “You should join — it looks good on applications”… that’s code for:
“We don’t have anything more concrete to brag about.”
Admissions folks can tell when something is purely “decorative.” A generic honor society where you:
- Pay $90
- Go to one induction ceremony
- Get zero follow-up, zero involvement
- Never show up again
That’s not helping your application. That’s not suddenly making a 3.4 GPA look like a 3.9. That’s paying money for the illusion of prestige.
If the organization cannot clearly answer: “What do your members actually do in a typical semester?” with specifics, you’re probably safe skipping it.
2. When you’re already stretched thin and won’t realistically participate
Hard truth: med schools will respect depth over random scatter.
Being “member” of 7 things and truly active in 1–2 is worse than being deeply involved in 2–3 and skipping the rest.
So if you know:
- You’re working 15–20 hours/week
- You’re taking organic chem, physics, and a lab
- You already volunteer somewhere regularly or have a leadership position
Ask yourself:
“If I join this, will I actually show up, organize things, and invest energy? Or will my name be on a group email list I never read?”
If it’s the second, keep your money. Your time is worth more than the optics of one more membership.
3. When the main benefit is just “discounts” you’ll never use
An organization saying “You’ll get discounts on conferences and test prep!” sounds great. Until you realize:
- You have no plan (or budget) to attend those conferences
- The test prep discount is like 10% off a course you weren’t going to buy anyway
- Most of the “benefits” live on a page you never actually click
If you’re not realistically going to use the discounts in the next year, treat them as not real. You shouldn’t pay money now for hypothetical savings that probably never materialize.
How to Decide: A Simple Stress-Reducing Filter
You don’t need a complicated formula. Try this mindset shift instead.
Before paying any dues, ask:
What specific things will I do through this membership in the next 6–12 months?
- If you can’t name at least two clearly (“attend X conference,” “apply for Y leadership role,” “join Z mentorship program”), red flag.
Does the organization offer a fee waiver or reduced-cost option?
- Some national societies and even campus groups quietly have hardship waivers. It’s worth asking. If they guilt-trip you for asking, that’s telling.
Would I still want to do the actual activities if I couldn’t list this group by name on my application?
- This is a big one. If you’d still show up, still plan events, still care about the work even if nobody saw the label… that’s “real” involvement.
What are students 2–3 years ahead of you saying?
- Ask people who are applying or in med school now: “Which memberships were actually helpful, and which were a waste?”
- They’re usually brutally honest about which groups led anywhere and which went nowhere.
If your answers stay vague and full of “maybe,” it’s okay — actually rational — not to pay.
The Money Anxiety No One Admits Out Loud
There’s a weird shame around not being able to casually drop $75 or $100 on “professional development.”
You’re not imagining it.
You might be:
- Supporting your family
- Paying rent on your own
- Taking out loans already
- Working extra shifts to keep from swiping a maxed-out credit card
It’s really easy to feel like everyone else has unlimited “professional dues” money and you’re the only one doing math in your notes app to see if you can afford groceries and a membership.
Here’s what med schools don’t see on your application:
Who had parents paying all their fees and who didn’t.
What they do see:
- Who made the most of the resources they did have
- Who actually committed to meaningful work over time
- Who shows insight and reflection in their essays about choices and trade-offs
If you skip a $90 honor society because you chose to keep working in a community clinic, tutor underserved kids, stay committed to a research lab, or frankly just survive financially that semester — that’s not failure. That’s prioritization under constraint.
And that’s real life as a physician, by the way: making decisions under constraints.
Quick Reality Checks for Specific Situations
You might be thinking:
“If my friend joins and I don’t, will med schools prefer them?”
Only if your friend actually uses that org to do interesting things and you don’t do anything comparable. It’s not the membership status; it’s the story that grows from it.“Will I look less ‘serious’ about medicine without certain logos?”
You’ll look more serious by having consistent, long-term involvement in one or two things (free clinic, community org, EMS, research, campus club) than by scattering your budget across random memberships you barely touch.“But what if my interviewer is part of that organization?”
Then you have something to talk about if you were genuinely involved. If you only joined for the line on your app, it’s going to be painfully obvious if they ask what you did with it.
FAQs
1. Do med schools expect me to join national organizations as a premed?
No. There’s no hidden checklist like “Must be AMSA member” or “Must join premed honor society.” Schools care far more about what you did — clinical exposure, service, leadership, research — than what dues you paid. Plenty of successful applicants never join any national organizations and still match into great schools and, later, into competitive specialties.
2. Are premed honor societies worth it for medical school admissions?
They’re usually neutral at best. If your honor society actually organizes regular service projects, mentorship, or leadership roles you want, it can be useful. But simply paying the fee, attending induction, and disappearing does almost nothing for your application. If you’re joining only because someone said it “looks good,” that’s usually not a strong reason.
3. What if I can’t afford the dues but I really want to be involved?
Email the advisor or national office and ask directly about fee waivers, reduced dues, or local-only membership. Some groups are surprisingly flexible but don’t advertise it. You can also ask if you can participate in activities without formal membership. If they say no and you truly can’t afford it, choose free or low-cost ways to get similar experiences elsewhere: local clinics, hospital volunteering, free campus clubs, or research opportunities.
4. Is it better to pay for multiple memberships or focus on one?
Depth beats breadth. It’s usually more valuable to deeply invest in one or two organizations — where you attend regularly, take on responsibility, and maybe grow into leadership — than to pay for 5–6 memberships you barely touch. Admissions readers can tell when something was meaningful versus “CV padding.” Your time, energy, and money are limited; treat them like they matter.
5. How do I explain not joining certain organizations if asked in an interview?
If it comes up (and it often doesn’t), you can be honest without sounding defensive. Something like: “I had to be careful with finances and time, so I chose to focus on [clinic/research/long-term volunteer work] where I could consistently contribute. I decided not to pay for memberships where I didn’t see a clear opportunity for real involvement.” That answer shows maturity, prioritization, and awareness — not a lack of commitment.
Key things to hold onto:
- Membership alone doesn’t impress anyone; meaningful involvement does.
- You’re allowed to protect your wallet and your time and still be a strong applicant.
- When dues directly unlock real mentorship, leadership, or concrete opportunities you’ll use, they can be worth it — but only when tied to a plan, not fear.
