St. John's College

Did a quick glance of the other reviews and they're pretty spot on for the most part. One thing i wish would be mentioned is that it's a very collaborative experience in-class (off-class is an individual choice and whatever you choose to make of it, like most anything else in life). Good rule of thumb if you're considering this school is to just dive into it. If you don't like it, you can always go back to the normally-scheduled program that was your life prior to this experience. However, you won't see things the same again, and for me that's for the better. Enjoy. 🙏🏽

I attended çollege there from 1973 to 1977. I believe it was most significant educational experience of my life. Going back yesterday for Homecoming was wonderful. A chance to reconnect with folks I had not seen in years.

This school shows depictions of vivisections, human and animal, as part of its curriculum. It was not a type of science class that demanded such information to be shown. I did not know what I was getting into when the vivisections were depicted and now, five years later, I still regret attending that class. Additionally, the 8-10 PM classes were difficult on working students, which could have been avoided if students had had any choice in their class schedule.

Cool atmosphere

One of the single best investments of my life. Worth every penny, every second, every moment of turbulent thought and enlightening conversation with some of the most interesting people in the world. After earning my MA here (went to William and Mary as undergrad), I continued into a successful career in the advertising industry, and then followed that by pursuing more advanced study at the University of Oxford.

Best ever in education..

Like this place. Peaceful and calm.

Greatest school on earth! Hobbes and Aristotle will teach you to shake off pusillanimity and small-souledness forever. Stop paying for a shrink and use the money for Graduate Institute tuition instead!

The people in charge are clueless. Best thing about that place was hosting the croquet match and they're intent on ruining it by not selling tickets.

Gem of a campus and fine little bookstore featuring the classics of Western Civ., however, I must take exception to Miss Merrill's review in which she states that this is a hippy institution. One look at the curriculum would be enough to convince anyone that this is perhaps the most conservative college in the country. There are no electives. All students take the same classes for 4 years. The books are primarily by dead white males. Nothing about feminism, postmodernism, queer studies, environmentalism and other typical ways of thinking that undergraduates are usually exposed to is studied here. Also, if you take a look a the faculty, you will find that most are dinosaurs and some of the more prominent ones are unabashedly right wing. This is a place where students dress up---not required, but many do so voluntarily ---to go to class and address one another formally as Mr. and Miss during class discussions. Waltz parties are popular. The place, at times, has a very retro vibe that is more 40's and 50's than 60's and 70's. Many of the students here have "old souls" and do not relate to, nor approve of, their "hippy" peers.

Oh...where to begin. I think the grading system really sets the tone for the school. There are no grades. Your teachers simply get in a room and discuss your performance. You sit there and dont' say anything. Then, they decide whether you advance. Basically, this is a hippie school. Deeply liberal, with a heavy focus on writing, reading, and thinking. The campus is beautiful, though small, right in downtown Annapolis and right up the road from the Naval Acadamy. The annual Navy/St. John's croquet match is something to behold. The only sport in which St. John's can kick Navy's ass (and possibly the only sport in which they excell (or even have) at all). Seriously, it's awesome.

Beautiful historic campus and I used to sneak in and use the computer lab. Shh, don't tell anyone!

St. John's College is often discussed by outsiders whose opinions seem the more calcified in proportion to the the less actual experience they have there : ). As an alum (Class of 2003, woot), I feel I have something authentic to say. St. John's is a college where you are immersed in the great questions of western civilization. What is the soul like? What is a happy life? What is the truth? If these questions seem too broad, know that they are set in a context of books. You never stop reading at St. John's. Freshman year you meet the Greeks, sophomore year you talk God talk, junior year you do a bunch of science, senior year you talk about relativity. (Seriously, it's heavy reading. You'll be prepared for graduate school) More so, you really communicate and say serious things and actually raise the bar on your taste in many areas. St. John's is a great place to "find yourself" intellectually. It's for people who want to teach themselves. And the campus is beautiful and small enough to really know the people you go to school with, through many extracurricular activities ranging from flag football to singing hymns to playing rock music to volunteering in a classroom with children. (I did each of those.) The only drawback to me (and know this beforehand) is that you will not major in anything. You will be prepared for many things, but on paper it will be hard for others in our specialized society to know that. Upon graduation, you will have to find your way in life with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy. Therefore, before graduation, it is critical to find things you enjoy outside of class, maybe be looking for an internship in something, talk about direction with a counselor or friends. End of speech.

In looking at the other reviews of St. John's, I'm curious if they attended the same St. John's I did. I was a student in the Graduate Institute. The first class was very telling. The tutor simply walked in, called the role, and asked a question. He neither passed out a syllabus, nor articulated any goals and objectives for the course. Nor did he articulate what he expected from the students during the semester. Even hints for how to succeed in the course would have been appreciated. How does all of this ambiguity aid the learning process? This was true for all of the segments I took at St. John's. The tutors either could not or would not articulate any expectations to the students, but were quick to criticize at the end of the semester when their internal expectations were not met. Success was always a moving target. At the end of the semester, I was shocked when students were not given anonymous course evaluations to fill out. My undergraduate college took course evaluations very seriously. Why doesn't St. John's want anonymous, candid feedback from students? Does the administration not care what students think? As for the classes themselves, the tutors did not encourage students to synthesize or take a larger view of the great books. We went from book-to-book with no analysis in between or at the end of the semester. Some tutors did a good job at furthering and guiding class discussions, but most were unimpressive. Most of the time, I wasn't sure why the tutor was even in the room. Finally, I would encourage prospective undergraduate or graduate students to ask the right questions. Taking the guided tour of the library and King William Room won't help you make a good decision about whether to attend St. John's. Visit a class, but meet with the tutor before-hand. Find out HOW this person runs a class. Ask for a syllabus. Get details. Finally, I don't think St. John's is worth the time or money. I'd like to suggest a few cheaper alternatives I found on the internet: Cal State Dominguez Hills http://www.csudh.edu/hux/default.html American Public University http://www.amu.apus.edu/academic/programs/degree/1206/master-of-arts-in-humanities-capstone-option Harrison Middleton University www.hmu.edu Thanks, A graduate of St. John's College

I am in the Graduate Institute, finished two of the four required segments, and have to say this is the greatest school I've ever attended. Be forewarned, it's a readers' school, and there is a LOT of demanding reading -- most of the coursework is simply banging your head against very difficult books and taking them on one clause at a time. (That's one thing I learned here: don't read a sentence at a time, read a clause at a time.) Yes, it is expensive, around 9K a semester, but if you're spending money on a shrink, use that money for the Graduate Institute instead -- Hobbes and Aristotle will teach you to shake off pusillanimity and small-souledness much more effectively than an empathetic therapist will. Oh, and the classes: the students and tutor(s) sit around a table facing each other rather than facing forward towards an instructor, and students are expected to put up or shut up. You'll learn to assert yourself and make your points against highly confident, whip-smart people. Laptops in class are disdained, I've never seen one used yet. The dinner hour in between classes is a blast, where intellectual "sparks are flying from electrical pylons" (to quote Elvis Costello). Only two more semesters until I graduate, and it's gonna break my heart to leave.