Dagger University: The Honor is Mine

Dear Dagger,

So I'm not a college student, but I'm a senior applying to college, and I need a little advice.

I pretty much found my dream college last spring when I went around for college tours. Before applying or any of that, someone gave me advice to apply for the Honors college at that school. A few people said the same thing. I got so excited, that I didn't really do the research I should have up until a couple weeks ago. The Honors college stresses heavily on math and science, two subjects that are horribly hard for me. But, at the same time, it says on the school's website (the only place I can really find information about this college), that classes I would take through the Honors college are "not necessarily more work," and often aren't as based on exams as other college classes are. And, when I do go out to find a job, it would give me a leg up on everyone else.

My father thinks I'm nuts for even considering the Honors college. He thinks I've pushed myself a lot in high school, and that's turned out great, but college is "hard enough without all the extra pressure and extra work!" My mom thinks she needs more information.

I see ups and down sides, but I feel I need more information. Do you have any experiences with the Honors college or Honors college students from your University? I know that all programs are not the same, but they're probably similar....

Thanks so much!

Dear Honorable Mention,

Man oh man, are you ever in luck. I not only participated in my college’s Honors program, but also graduated with Honors, have recently given myself the nickname “The Honorable Mr. Fahrenheit Esquire, III” and have made it a personal goal to use some variation of the word “honor” at least 357 times in today’s column.

I think it’s fantastic that you’re even considering applying to your school’s Honors college, and even better still that you’re questioning whether or not it would be right for you. I went through the same process—I wondered if the classes would be too difficult, if Albert Einstein would be a tough grader, and if all the Honors students would be widely ostracized by the regular kids, mocked and isolated to such a point that we were forced to defend our honor and our lives with homemade, meticulously-crafted trebuchets built to resemble exactly their 16th century predecessors.

While none of my predictions were entirely accurate, the experience turned out, as most do, to be perfectly fine—not great, not terrible, but a slightly more polished and intelligent version of “mediocre.” Some classes kicked my butt, others were laughably easy, and my fellows Honors students were smart, annoying, brilliant, lovely, idiotic, hilarious, easily ignored, or some combination thereof. There’s really no way to know if the Honors program will be a good fit for you unless you give it a shot, but I can pretty much guarantee that there will be times when you’ll struggle and times when you’ll excel.

The best advice I can give you is to do what challenges you, even if it’s terrifying (I still occasionally have nightmares about my Honors Genetics Final), and you’ll end up better off in the long run. But most importantly, do what makes you happy. If the Honors program turns out to be a disaster, drop out of it and enroll in Arabic classes or “The History of Rock and Roll.” College is your opportunity to learn, to better yourself, and to build trebuchets. Question everything, but don’t let your doubts overpower the will and the courage to try.

Put that in your Honors pipe and smoke it.

Got a question for our funny college guru, Chelsea Dagger? Send it to advice@sparknotes.com!