The downside of intelligence...

[absurdsarahkate]

On Saturday I received a letter in the mail from my college. The letter explained that because of my "high academic average" I am eligible to apply for the school's Honors program. At first I was a little awestruck and proud of myself, but then, after I finished reading the letter, I realized that this was yet another stressful task to add to my to

Comments

[anonymous]

Maybe you could call whomever sent you the letter and ask if you could defer your application to the Honors Program until the deadline for next semester -- that way, you have time to write the essay (shoot for 1000 words or less), get letters of recommendation AND to decide whether you really want to do it.

Congratulations, Sarah! Whether or not you decide to try it, it's still a thrill to be asked.

*Heather

[absurdsarahkate]

Thanks Heather! Asking to defer this until next semester is a great idea. I assume if I were to keep a high GPA this semester I would still be eligible to apply again next semester. As far as I know I will have fewer classes to take next semester so that might just work out for the best.

[jennyfactory]

Oo! Kudos, kiddo!

Take a deep breath. Just put in for the program, and if by the time the semester starts you decide you don't want the added stress, you can back out.

Brevity is the soul of wit: one page will be fine. Definitely do not go over two pages. Just touch base with your professors to let them know that the evaluation forms are on their way, and that they'll need to submit them soon after receiving them. If you haven't already mailed the forms, I'd try to get hold of the profs before you send anything, so that they know what is expected of them, and so they can tell you if there is some reason they can't fill out the forms for you.

Once everything is done, you can take a few days to mull over your possibilities. How important is it to you to receive an honors diploma? Because let me assure you, no one else will care. No one asks at job interviews or dinner parties if you graduated cum laude. If you are thinking about grad school, your application will look that much spiffier for having graduated with honors, but

[absurdsarahkate]

I have been looking at this situation from so many angles and one of the things I have been really wracking my brain over is whether or not this whole thing is important to me or not and whether it will really make a difference for me in the future. The only benefit I can see it having is possibly getting scholarships or grants based on the "honors status," though that's not even certain. I'm still up in the air if this is something that is really worth it or not, but as Heather mentioned maybe I can just defer this until next semester which will ease some of the burden on me, at least temporarily. As you pointed out though, it can't hurt to apply because I could always back out later.

So much good advice. I have the smartest bunch of LJ friends! Thank you! I appreciated it more than you know.

[littlest_bee]

Excellent advice here already so I'll just say that whatever you decide I hope you're proud of yourself - smarty pants!!

[absurdsarahkate]

Thanks, Rosie! I ought to bake myself a cake as a reward. :)

[littlest_bee]

What an excellent idea - cake is always good!