Well, I successfully limped through the final Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)'s Genealogy Education Program class, GEP III. (I can't put a link here because it's in the members-only section. If you're a member, hover over "Genealogy" near the top right on the members-only main page and select "DAR Genealogical Classes.") All GEP classes are centered on how to do an application the way the DAR wants, so they are accurate and can be processed quickly by their "genies." Class III has 11 sections, 9 with a quiz at the end and 2 that involve writing case studies. Those are excellent practice for organizing your evidence and thinking, and seeing holes in your argument before you mail off your application, not after. You will write analyses for any lineage society's HQ when you need to convince them a shaky link was correct. My one gripe with GEP III is that there was no model of what they wanted the case studies to look like, so I had to guess. (More so with the second than the first.) However, you get feedback and can use that to make a 2d or 3d guess if needed.
DAR's reputation rests on the honor it pays to ancestors who served the American cause during the Revolutionary period (roughly 1775-1783) so they are extremely strict on proof of service AND proof that your ancestor did not slack off later. For example, if a soldier served in combat 1776-1780 but records show he was fined for missing militia drills on the town green in 1781, that disqualifies him, no matter how many bullets he took earlier. You will have to search for some qualifying service after that missed drill date. With the Mayflower Society, they know who was on the ship and who missed the boat (literally.) You do not have to prove passenger status. (They are much, much stricter than other organizations on bloodline proofs, though.) If you belong to DAR and want to put some rigor into your research and analysis skills for ANY lineage society, I recommend GEP I, II, and III.
DAR's reputation rests on the honor it pays to ancestors who served the American cause during the Revolutionary period (roughly 1775-1783) so they are extremely strict on proof of service AND proof that your ancestor did not slack off later. For example, if a soldier served in combat 1776-1780 but records show he was fined for missing militia drills on the town green in 1781, that disqualifies him, no matter how many bullets he took earlier. You will have to search for some qualifying service after that missed drill date. With the Mayflower Society, they know who was on the ship and who missed the boat (literally.) You do not have to prove passenger status. (They are much, much stricter than other organizations on bloodline proofs, though.) If you belong to DAR and want to put some rigor into your research and analysis skills for ANY lineage society, I recommend GEP I, II, and III.
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