Admissions

Undergraduate Application Process and Forms

The purpose of the admission process is to determine whether an applicant has the necessary preparation and ability to complete the St. John's program satisfactorily.The Admissions Committee - five tutors and the Director of Admissions on each campus - regards the application as being a question from the applicant: "Do you think I am ready to profit from the program of studies at St. John's?"

Factors considered in the admissions decision are:

  • Essays
  • Academic records
  • Letters of reference
  • Test scores are optional for most applicants

In the essays, applicants are asked to discuss their previous education, reasons for choosing St. John's, their reading habits, and an important experience. A number of optional topics is also suggested. The essays are designed to enable applicants to give a full account of themselves. They can tell the Committee much more than statistical records reveal.

Next the Committee considers the applicant's academic achievement and promise. Previous academic records - the secondary school report and college transcript, if there is one - show whether the applicant has the habits of study necessary at St. John's. Letters of reference, particularly those of teachers, are carefully read for indications that the applicant has the maturity, self-discipline, ability, energy, and initiative to succeed in the St. John's program. St. John's attaches little importance to "objective" test scores, and no applicant is accepted or rejected because of such scores.

The Committee's decisions are not influenced by the race, religion, sex, age, color, sexual orientation, physical handicaps or national or ethnic origin of an applicant, or by any other factors unrelated to the work of the College. The application asks a minimum of personal data. Need for financial assistance does not affect the Committee's decisions on admission.

Application Details
St. John's College is one college located on two campuses. Although applications must be initiated and completed at one campus or the other, admission to either campus constitutes admission to the College as a whole.

Download our application forms or apply online!

On inquiry, prospective students receive a statement of the St. John's College Program, an application for admission, and recommendation forms to be completed by schools and references. Applications may be submitted as early as the second semester of the eleventh grade. Because the College welcomes all serious applicants, there is no application fee. Students should submit their application materials to the Admissions Office on the campus they prefer to attend. Students planning to apply for financial aid should notify the appropriate Admissions Office of their intentions as soon as possible.

St. John's is committed to maintaining its low student/faculty ratio (8 to 1). In order to meet this commitment, the numbers of students in each freshman class is carefully controlled. Candidates for admission are advised that applicants who meet the suggested deadlines are in a better position to secure places in the entering classes and early consideration for financial assistance than those who apply later.

View the profile of the 2007 freshman class.

Transferring to St. John's
Because the St. John's program is all-required, new students are admitted only as freshmen. About 25% of every entering class has attended college elsewhere first. These students, despite good records at other colleges, relinquish their advance standing to take part in the St. John's program.

January Freshmen
The Santa Fe campus offers January admission. Freshmen who enter in January stay on campus the following summer to complete the first year. They can thus graduate a year earlier than if they had postponed their entrance until the following fall. The January class is of particular interest to students who come to St. John's from other colleges, or to those who have traveled or worked since graduation from high school, or to those who wish to enter St. John's immediately after the first semester of their senior year of high school.