<p>i would suggest accepting the invitation. i am in gemstone, and i still am not sure how prestigious it is (i go back and forth). i think you should accept because you haven’t experienced it yet, and you can’t really know what it’s like right now. the first semester of gemstone and regular honors are mostly the same. you take a 1 credit class introducing you to the university and to the program. the intro to gemstone class will tell you a lot more about it, and then i think you can make an educated decision from there. afterwords, if you decide that you don’t like it, then the intro gems class will count for the intro honors class. honestly, right now, you have nothing to lose by accepting.</p>
<p>as far as social life, it’s no secret that gemstone kids are nerdy. but with that said, there are all different sorts of people in it, just like the university at large. there are a lot of kids who party, there are a bunch who don’t. if you live with the gemstone kids, you won’t have problems with socializing. not everyone around is in gemstone anyway.</p>