Thoughts on St. John’s College in Annapolis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not very hard to get into and it costs a lot.

+1 It's a good safety for full pay kids who're interested in liberal arts colleges.

I don’t think you know much about this particular school, PP.

The first line on the Wiki page says:

"St. John's College is a private liberal arts college with dual campuses in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico."

MD has a 61% acceptance rate, NM has a 69% acceptance rate
Total cost for attendance at either location is just over $52,000

So yeah, I do think both posters you're referring to, know EXACTLY what they are talking about.

Just because you can read does not mean you can understand. The school is unique. Your suggestion that it is a once size fits all fallback is simply ignorant.

Yeah, students who go to St John's simply because it's their highest ranked safety are part of the reason the school has a high first to second year attrition rate. I had a coworker who was a St John's grad-really excellent person to work with because he was a tech person who could explain concepts in a way that I (humanities person) could understand. I also have a friend who is a professor there, it's a very student-intensive place for faculty.

You sure you know a professor at St John's? They don't have professors there. They are not called "professors."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not very hard to get into and it costs a lot.

+1 It's a good safety for full pay kids who're interested in liberal arts colleges.

I don’t think you know much about this particular school, PP.

The first line on the Wiki page says:

"St. John's College is a private liberal arts college with dual campuses in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico."

MD has a 61% acceptance rate, NM has a 69% acceptance rate
Total cost for attendance at either location is just over $52,000

So yeah, I do think both posters you're referring to, know EXACTLY what they are talking about.

Just because you can read does not mean you can understand. The school is unique. Your suggestion that it is a once size fits all fallback is simply ignorant.

I'm sorry, what?
If the school is easy to get into, it's easy to get into.

Some schools are easy to get into but hard to graduate from

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do the students lean politically? Is it super conservative, what with the Western civilization focus?

Some paleoconservatives love it.

are you thinking of one in particular who used to frequent this board?

Haha yes.

OMG I remember him. I wonder where he ended up going?

[Anonymous]

I'm on the friends of SJC page and they do not lean conservative at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do the students lean politically? Is it super conservative, what with the Western civilization focus?

Some paleoconservatives love it.

Like this?

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/526594.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do the students lean politically? Is it super conservative, what with the Western civilization focus?

There is a wide range of political leanings on campus, including a healthy number of conservatives. That said, the campus itself is very liberal in a lot of ways. For example, students and tutors (that's what they call professors on campus) go by their last names in class, with Mr., Ms, or Mx. (the choice of those who are nonbinary) all on the table as options. Students can choose to live on gender neutral floors in the dorms and there is a very open culture of LGBQT life across all areas of the school. And healthy debate is the lifeblood of the place, so a diversity of ideas is valued tremendously.

As for the former president of the school, my daughter reports that nobody on campus, regardless of their political leanings, is a fan of his project and most are embarrassed that their school is associated with it through him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do the students lean politically? Is it super conservative, what with the Western civilization focus?

Some paleoconservatives love it.

are you thinking of one in particular who used to frequent this board?

Haha yes.

OMG I remember him. I wonder where he ended up going?

I thought he went to SJC?

IIRC, he later shifted his ideology a little. Still uber conservative though.

[Anonymous]

Just an FYI - if you have a HS junior interested, I strongly recommend doing a week long summer program. Gives a really good sense of the school experience and the counselors and tutors are very honest about whether you would/not be a good fit. Apparently a number of the kids who drop out so so because they thought it was “one big college book club,” as 1 tutor described to DS. Also, anyone attending a summer week automatically gets a $4k scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do the students lean politically? Is it super conservative, what with the Western civilization focus?

Very much no. Student base is probably to the political left of the median school, but academically it leans traditional.

Have heard it described as where lapsed Jews teach non-practicing Protestants to be good Catholics, which, if not entirely true, is at least funny.

[Anonymous]

They publish info on their budget each year, which is very rare for a private college. A few years ago they decided to stop the annual tuition increase and dropped their price dramatically, while pushing for alumni and philanthropic support to balance this out. They still offer merit aid though, and my child ended up paying $35K/year for everything, including room and board and books.

"The college spends nearly $60,000 a year to educate a single student. That is considerably more than the $51,000 average that four-year private nonprofit colleges spent per full-time student in 2016. And that’s unlikely to change, as St. John’s is committed to keeping class sizes small and not employing adjunct faculty, which colleges often lean on to cut expenses." https://www.highereddive.com/news/what-happened-when-a-small-liberal-arts-college-stopped-raising-tuition/555764/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They publish info on their budget each year, which is very rare for a private college. A few years ago they decided to stop the annual tuition increase and dropped their price dramatically, while pushing for alumni and philanthropic support to balance this out. They still offer merit aid though, and my child ended up paying $35K/year for everything, including room and board and books.

"The college spends nearly $60,000 a year to educate a single student. That is considerably more than the $51,000 average that four-year private nonprofit colleges spent per full-time student in 2016. And that’s unlikely to change, as St. John’s is committed to keeping class sizes small and not employing adjunct faculty, which colleges often lean on to cut expenses." https://www.highereddive.com/news/what-happened-when-a-small-liberal-arts-college-stopped-raising-tuition/555764/

Yes, it's high on DS' list. A list which includes Georgetown, which is also what I call an "honest" college: not trying to game ratings, and going their best to actually provide an education instead of a brand. Completely unimportant detail - SJC sends out the only college postcards I like to receive. They're perfectly geek-funny. Georgetown wisely distinguishes itself by not sending out anything (saving trees, not being pushy). McGill, being Canadian, also does not send out anything. You get accepted on grades, and nothing else! They don't need to come begging. And all the other private US colleges we connected with spend a TON on lavish empty-headed color brochures that end up being quite repellent in their excess of climate-unfriendliness and trawling for apps to increase their acceptance scores. Pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Georgetown doesn't spend money.