Uni in the USA: A British Guide to American Universities and Colleges > All New: Colleges and Universities Added in 2009 > St. John's (Annapolis) (new review!)
Annapolis, Maryland
www.stjohnscollege.edu; www.sjca.edu
Undergrads: 500
Grads: <100
How many Johnnies does it take to change a light bulb?
16 – one to read Descartes’ famous masterpiece On the Changing of Light Bulbs, and fifteen to form a discussion group and argue about the existential implications of light bulb changing.
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Whatever else you might say about St. John’s, there’s nothing else quite like it available to undergraduates in America. With a unique four-year curriculum, based on the “Great Books” reading list, in-depth discussion style classes, and a tiny number of intelligent, passionate students, this bizarre university will either change your life or leave you begging to escape.
[NB: St. John’s has two campuses – at Annapolis and at Santa Fe. This article is about the Annapolis campus; while the Santa Fe campus is very similar in its methods we understand that there are significant differences that should be properly researched if you wish to study in New Mexico instead of Maryland.]
The Campus
St John’s has some of the most handsome buildings in an exceedingly handsome town, down near Annapolis’ quaint, touristy waterfront. The third oldest university in the country, the place is bursting with history, and combined with the brick architecture and expansive lawns, feels reminiscent of a big country dwelling for a British aristocrat in the Shires, with a 18th century colonial twist perhaps.
Facilities are adequate for the modest needs of the college, with some of the older buildings requiring frequent renovations to remain useable. Most students live in the dorms on campus, which are perfectly pleasant if a tad expensive.
The Johnny
St John’s students (“Johnnies”) are cast with two stereotypes – neither of which gives you a full or accurate picture. Outsiders think of them as “grungy, procrastinating theorists” – in other words as pretentious bookworms who care far too much about obscure academics. But, as one student put it, “we, on the other hand, stereotype ourselves as simply wanting to learn.”
Johnnies are also known as mostly wealthy, white and 60-70% male, though increasing abundance of financial aid and an admissions team that is actively seeking to diversify the student body are helping to roll back the boundaries on this front. Rather than their socio-economic homogeneity it is actually the aforementioned desire to learn and improve themselves that unites the large range of personalities that are attracted to St. John’s.
Johnnies tend to be individuals – you can say good-bye to peer pressure. You’ll definitely meet lots of quirky or unusual people, some of them downright strange. “If it seems like they’re acting weird, they’re actually just learning to be themselves,” explained one senior.
Still, the bonds you can form with the interesting people you meet will far outweigh the potential problems caused by weirdness. Because people are so interested in what they are learning and so willing to explore new ideas, moreover, almost everyone learns very quickly how to develop their thoughts most effectively, and (more importantly), how to express them. Due to the discussion style of classes, students get a lot of public speaking practice and tend to become very articulate.
Hitting the Books
Study is what it’s all about at St. John’s, and they’ve developed a time-tested method which helps students attain pinnacles of academic perfection. Students leave incredibly well-read, well-developed and well-prepared to face life with as large a cerebral head-start as can be imagined. The system which leads to this product is unique:
For all four of the years they spend at St. John’s, students follow the “Great Books” curriculum, which means that they have to read a considerable list of the greatest works by the greatest minds from around the world and across history. Freshman year is dominated by the very earliest, mainly Greek, authors (Plato, Sophocles etc) and the list works more-or-less chronologically from there.
Having read some of the most important ideas and literature from the last 3,000 years or so, students go to classes which are presided over by expert professors, but they don’t sit and listen for hours while the teacher explains what they’ve just read; on the contrary, it is the students who have to work out the significance of their reading through group discussion. Different professors contribute different amounts, with some staying virtually silent and other participating vigorously, but they make sure never to leave their role as moderator.
Clearly, this method of learning is not for everyone. At the end of the sophomore year, the whole year-group goes through the notorious “Disablement”, when the faculty discusses each student individually, in terms of evaluating whether the college is the right learning environment for them. Those who aren’t suited to St. John’s style normally get the hint and leave, if they haven’t left of their own accord already. In the junior and senior years, the work gets a lot harder, so if there are any doubts it’s normally better to move back to a more standard style of education. Disablement comes in addition to the semesterly “Don Rag”, an eccentric process in which tutors discuss a student’s progress in the third person despite the student being in the room.
The pros and cons to the methods practiced at St. John’s are manifold. “The key,” according to one student, “is that you have to see how everything’s related.” The things you learn from Aristotle can be applied to your understanding of Hobbes. Newton gives you the basics for Einstein. Students soon learn to appreciate that life isn’t as easily divided into convenient “subjects” as normal schooling would have you believe, and that actually the whole body of human knowledge has to be taken as a whole if it is to be fully appreciated. This means that all the classes feed off each other, so that college is essentially one big lesson.
This style of schooling fosters an enviable ability to think well and an incredible depth of world understanding. Tutors “encourage wrongness,” in a “quest to find what’s real and true”: all questioning is good, especially when the questions are answerless, and being wrong can only lead to greater ultimate knowledge. Students enjoy not having “to worry about someone’s red pen”.
On the other hand, classes that aren’t taught by teachers depend for their quality on how good your classmates are at group discussion. In the first months, especially, when students haven’t yet honed their technique, you might find a lot of classes ruined by people who speak too much or too little, people who think they know more than they do, or just people who’ve had a bad day. “Sometimes, you just want the teacher to tell you the answer,” admitted one student.
Similarly, you have to bear in mind that the set curriculum gives you very little choice in what you study, with only a tiny bit of wiggle room here and there. For some, this is so frustrating that they quickly leave, but most like the simple organisation, and the feeling that “I’m really gaining something…I have a lot of faith in the program.” It is true that the reading list has been edited and improved consistently over the decades since it was developed by the University of Chicago in the 30s, and it’s designed to give you as solid an education as you can imagine.
One aspect that students invariably praise is the “openness” of learning here. Everyone loves being part of such an intense learning community, and it’s not uncommon for discussions of Hegelian ethics (or whatever) to continue outside of the classroom. “I know I won’t have conversations like I have here ever again”, sighed one senior, ruefully. The openness extends also to the faculty, who are accessible and very connected with the students. There are only eight students for every member of the faculty, and the largest class in the school has only 20 people.
In the end, an education at St. John’s definitely has the capacity to “change your life”, “leave you a completely different person” or whatever other cliché you care to pick. Just speak to the students and alumni to see for yourself what an impact it can have.
Social Life
While it’s probably fair to say that social life takes a back seat at St. John’s, it certainly isn’t fair to say that you can’t have a good time outside of class or when you’re not reading the latest Jean-Paul Sartre.
The main extra-curricular activity is sport, which is played at various competitive (but not ultra-serious) levels and includes some local variations (have a go at “Johnny football”). The only sport played against another school is croquet, in which St. John’s has proudly vanquished their opposition (the nearby Naval Academy) 22 times out of the last 27.
As well as this, there are many more student organisations than you would expect of such a small school, and even a mini student government and a newspaper (NOT called the Don Rag). There are several theatrical and musical performances put on each year, and lots of dance lessons available to prepare people for “waltz parties” where you can dance in old fashioned clothes and have strawberries and Champaign. You’re not going to find any really crazy parties here, but there are plenty of fun events, and the somewhat quixotic (but aptly named) “reality” group is responsible for organising parties which are always successful and well attended.
Although St. John’s is an extreme bubble environment, and students are very much removed from the real world, cities like Baltimore and Washington DC are nearby. Plus, you can always hit Annapolis for decent shopping and dining opportunities, as well as charming streets and buildings and a famous waterfront. You might want to do this often, as St. John’s cafeteria is apparently pretty terrible.
Getting In
St. John’s has a surprisingly low level of competition, considering its academic prowess, so you have a much better chance of getting in here than at more conventional universities. And the admissions team is currently on a diversification drive, so international applications will definitely get attention. The key thing is to make it clear how interested and excited you are about the St. John’s “educational experience”.
There are no merit scholarships available, but there is a limited amount of needs-based aid available to international students to help with the cost of attendance, which is high but not unreasonable.