St. John’s was just voted among the most unusual colleges in the country.

What makes St. John’s so different? Here’s my short (incomplete) list:

• You get to major in everything.
• There are no lectures. Every class is a discussion with 20 students or fewer.
• While you get grades, most Johnnies don’t know or care. No one competes for a grade. Assessment is done during a conversation with your tutor in a “don rag.”
• Where else do you hear students casually chatting about Homer or Kant or Austen in the dining hall?
• 1696. St. John’s is one of the few colleges in the United States founded before there was a United States.
• Two campuses. You pick between Annapolis and Santa Fe, and you can spend time on the other campus as well. And now if you really want to get away for a semester, study abroad in France.
• Croquet, of course.