Applying to St. John's this year?

eamon
Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:41:30 +0000

Sorry I didn’t reply to the last two sets of questions sooner, but I’ve been buried with work. I’ll try to address both ctownes’ and verbivorous’ questions in one reply.

1. Acceptance rates.
We consider ourselves a self-selecting school in a lot of ways, and that is one reason why our admissions rates are so high. Really, not every student who is looking at other big, public schools is going to be interested at St. John’s. We tend to attract specific types of students or people looking for particular things, and when people realize that they aren’t the right “fit” they often do not apply. This means that we have a much smaller applicant pool than other colleges and the people who apply really want to come here, they aren’t just applying for the hell of it. The numbers do not reflect on the level of education that is received here, and in fact, many lists have consistently named us as one of the most intellectual colleges in the country, our students are accepted to top-level graduate schools, etc.


Sailing. Annapolis has both a crew and a sailing club. I know the crew team is fairly successful at local competitions, but honestly I don’t know much about the sailing team.
Learning approach. The learning approach is different insofar as we read the Great Books of Western Civilization. We study them in seminar-style classes and use only original texts (sometimes in original languages as well). The only secondary sources used are manuals for some of the classes (music, for instance), or the language textbooks, but even then, there is a strong emphasis on the Great Books.
We have tutors who pose opening questions, often will guide conversations, etc. but they consider themselves as learning alongside the students. This translates to a community where we all are here to learn for the sake of learning.
There are “technical” grades, but you can only see them when you request them. This means that students aren’t that competitive with one another and are instead constantly striving to do their own personal best. The community, tutors, fellow students, etc. are all really dedicated to helping each person grow and mature intellectually, and I think that that is really one of my favorite components of the college.
These things make the school differ from the other colleges you listed in a lot of ways, there is no hierarchy of professors or emphasis placed on research for professors. There are no lectures, all people must engage in conversations, there is a lot of self-teaching but the class is always there to help and support you. Its really quite different from the other places I applied to which included Chicago, Carleton, etc.)
Study abroad. We do not offer study abroad because the curriculum is so unique and set, but there are two locations: Annapolis and Santa Fe. Students have the ability to transfer in between campuses at the end of each school year if they would like, and if they are in good academic standing. Because the campuses are so radically different, this breaks up some of the monotony.
Tutor motivation. Honestly, they love it. I’ve had tutors who have taught at big name universities throughout the world, had successful careers in other fields (we have a very successful neurologist on staff, for instance). What I’ve seen though, is a true dedication to the program, to learning, to developing their own knowledge. The tutors have a real, genuine passion for this place that rivals (or sometimes exceeds the students’), they have a love for the students and the community. I’ve known a couple of tutors who have taken year-long sabbaticals, but you always see them at lecture on Fridays and sometimes they’ll still teach a preceptorial (junior/senior elective class) in the fall or lead a study group. A lot of our tutors have been here for ages, one just celebrated her 50th anniversary, and many more have been here since the 60s, 70s, and 80s, so really, they do love this place.
Normal experience. Yeah. It sucks sometimes. My friends are going through midterms or finals and I can stretch back and say I don’t have those. Or I can tell them about my annual essay or don rag or oral and stress but they don’t get it. I don’t get to fret about picking a major, but they do. It sucks a little bit, but really, I wouldn’t change it. I know that I am much happier here, and I know other people have said the same thing. I’ve never known anyone to be really, genuinely upset or depressed or want to leave because people back home can’t relate. We still have a lot of the normal things, we have parties and traditions and crappy dining hall food, so in a lot of ways the college “experience” is similar, even if life in the classroom is a bit different. I don’t know if that helps, but that is about as best as I could describe it.