If you’re a rising senior this year, you’re probably getting ready to enjoy the last few weeks (or days) of summertime before diving in to your last year of high school. Is it too soon to start thinking about college applications? We don’t think so! In fact, if you wanted, you could apply to St. John’s today. We wanted to provide a little bit of guidance for those who are trying to tackle it early.

There are a few different ways of applying to St. John’s – we are on the Common Application, and we have a St. John’s specific application as well (as of 8/10, this way of applying is not available for fall 2019, though it is still available for students interested in enrolling for fall 2018). We have a highly personalized application process here at St. John’s, in which each member of the admissions committee (both faculty and admissions staff) takes the time to read through and really consider each portion of an application.

We require the following materials, in addition to a completed application:

• A high school transcript
• An essay addressing our prompt
•  A counselor letter of recommendation
• A teacher evaluation

We will accept test scores, if you have them – though this is not an instrumental part of the process. While we consider your academic performance and the classes that you took during your time in high school, the most important part for us is the application essay. This year, the prompt will be:

Discuss a book that has particular significance for you. What makes this book great in your view? What effect does it have on what you think or how you think? (Minimum 400 words)

We do things differently at St. John’s, and we need to know who you are beyond your grades so that we can build a case that you will do well in our classrooms. This essay is a great way to give us insight into not only your taste in books, but to show us how you can engage with a text and use ideas from books to influence your own life and the world around you. We have a 400 word minimum to give you the space to really flesh out these ideas. Be creative, and show us why you would be a great student in our program.

The deadlines for this year are as follows:

Early Action – November 15 

Regular Decision – January 15 

Rolling Admission – After February 15

These dates might seem far off, but they’ll be here before you know it. If you need any help, or just have any questions about the process, get in contact with your Admissions Counselor and we’ll guide you the rest of the way!