Many students considering St. John’s – and their families – may wonder how an education as unique as St. John’s can lead to good future outcomes in graduate education and the workplace. Surely, the education St. John’s gives is so unique that it can’t map onto the real world, right? I like to call our…
Tag: Annapolis
Home Truths: Some Common Misconceptions and Some Real Truths About St. John’s
Every college has its upsides and downsides—but it all depends on what you are seeking from your college experience. St. John’s, being so unique, however, is sometimes hard to assess for all the (many) upsides, so I wanted to dispel some rumors that aren’t even true! Are we a religious college? Despite the name, no!…
One major? No majors? No, a universal major
Most prospective college students, as well as their parents and friends – most of my readers, I’d venture to say – start their investigation of different colleges on websites like Niche or College Board. On these websites, searchers filter colleges by major to help them find the right college for them. This, of course, presents…
Black History Month at St. John’s
Happy Black History Month! St. John’s College is inextricably intertwined with the history of the United States, being involved in such events as the Revolutionary War, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the writing of the national anthem, and the history of Black American community and culture. St. John’s has a notable history with…
Welcome to Camp Johnnie
Sports can form a great part of student life at many colleges and universities. After all, nobody can be expected to spend all their time on classes, studies, and homework for four years. (All work and no play, you might say, would make Johnnies dull.) Of course, St. John’s can’t be expected to do anything…
Everything In Time: Deferrals, Gap Years, and January Starts
When is the right time to start college? The answer to this question may seem obvious. Many think that the time to start college is inevitably in the fall after graduating high school, with only a summer in between. But that’s not the only choice available; many students choose not to start college right away,…
What All the Talk is About: Discussion at St. John’s
Much is often made in talking about St. John’s College of the importance of text, reading and writing. And it’s right for us to make so much of those things! Great Books, and the process of reading and analyzing them are, after all, the core of what we do here. The value of discussion at…
The Mighty Pen: Writing Papers at St. John’s
In middle or high school, many, perhaps most, students are taught a formula for essay writing. I, for example, was taught that an essay should always have, in this order, an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and then a conclusion. You must, I was told, outline your argument in the introduction, give three supporting points,…
The Balance and the Book: Laboratory and Natural Sciences at St. John’s
The lab program at St. John’s is one of a kind. All students study the sciences (including physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, and more) as part of our one, interdisciplinary major. There is no separate science building which marks sciences apart from the humanities — although we do have separate lab classrooms, equipped with fixings like…
Why so contrarian?
St. John’s College takes great pride in having been described by the New York Times as “the most contrarian college in America.” But it’s a tricky, sticky word, “contrarian.” It carries all sorts of different connotations, depending on the reader, so it may be hard to discern what exactly it is that St. John’s is…
The Chalkboard 