Akira M.
Yelp
Your St. John's experience depends on what you want out of a college. If you're like me and don't care about school name, the social scene, or going to your "dream college," St. John's is a perfectly fine school. I drive to campus, attend class, go to office hours, and then go straight home. I don't do clubs or socialize with anyone here in a meaningful way. I go to college to learn, not to get the "college experience." I'm not really too sure about the social scene here since as I said I don't participate, but I've heard it's meh. A positive is that you are a quick train ride from Manhattan though.
Professors in the large departments like Bio and Chem really aren't anything to write home about, as most of them see you as nothing but a name on their attendance sheet. However, if your major is in a smaller department like mine (physics), this is different. Classes have a max of like 8-9 students and you'll have basically the same 3-4 professors for all of your classes for your major. As such, you start to develop a relationship with them, and those are the professors who see you as more than just a name. Those are the ones who actually care and will try to guide you to your goals. But this is rare, as Physics is probably the smallest department here, so there's not many majors this is applicable for.
Student body is meh. Like every other school, you'll meet some people you like and others you don't. The ones I dislike outweigh the ones I like. And even the ones I like I wouldn't be comfortable calling my friends or hanging out with during my own free time.
I have to dedicate an entire section to this point because I'm passionate about it. I beg everyone thinking of going here to avoid the Pharmacy students at all costs. I have never met a group of people so arrogant, annoying, and overall just terrible in my entire life. I have met exactly ONE Pharmacy kid who I didn't absolutely despise. Trust me.
Administration is bad. Tuition is going up every year despite the deletion of amenities. They also try to be sneaky about screwing your schedule so that you have to stay an extra semester or two so they can collect that sweet, sweet tuition money. Stay on top of them and call them out when you notice this. I used to be timid and shy when it came to authority figures, and I still am to an extent. But if there's one thing I've learned to put my foot down on, it's being screwed over by them. Don't be afraid to go to the dean's office when they send you an automated email denying your request. I basically harassed her for a week straight outside of her office before they changed it. Don't be rude, but make it very clear that this is unacceptable. Even though you can skate around them, it's awful how you have to do this in the first place.
Campus is meh. Some buildings are nice, others are starting to show their age a bit. The area around the school isn't exactly the greatest either. There have been multiple students robbed literally mere feet right outside the gate where I park. Traffic getting there is pretty bad in the morning if you're coming from LI. This isn't the schools fault, but something to be aware of.
For some reason, St. John's has a decent reputation when it comes to getting students into graduate school despite the meh academics. I don't know if it's because of good advertising or whatever, but if you get good grades here, you'll have a good shot at making a desired program. It's also not that hard to do well here. Many, dare I say most, of the students here are unmotivated, lazy, and don't care about extraordinary grades. They're perfectly fine with average. As such, if you put in just a little effort into your classes, it's not that hard to impress your professor and stand out, especially if they grade off a curve. I was sincerely shocked about how many students just don't care.
Overall, everything about this school is just so painfully average. Professors are mostly meh. Student body is meh. Education is meh. Safety is meh. Campus is meh. Social life is meh. And administration is bad and and bunch of scammers.
My advice? If you get a hefty scholarship, live close enough not to have to pay for a dorm, and also don't care about the "college experience," St. John's is a great choice. Quick and dirty, get in and get out. Use it for what you need while paying minimum price, and then dip and move on. Please, if you do not get a scholarship, do not go here. No school is worth $46,000, ESPECIALLY not St. John's of all places. They're borderline scamming me charging $12,000 a year, let alone someone else paying full tuition.
One extra thing. Like other schools, they make everyone take a bunch of core classes. Some of the professors for these classes are the worst. I've taken advanced physics, math, and chemistry classes at got A's in all of them. Yet the closest I've ever gotten to getting an A- and one of my most stressful classes ever was in Discover New York. Go figure.