News & Publications
Annapolis
St. John’s College Named one of Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges in America”
FOR RELEASE: August 3, 2010
CONTACT: Patricia Dempsey, 410-626-2539
Patricia.dempsey@sjca.edu
Praised for its small classes, a supportive atmosphere, and a low student-to-faculty ratio, St. John’s College is again among the colleges included in The Princeton Review’s “373 Best Colleges in America.” The educational services company features St. John’s Annapolis and Santa Fe campuses in its annual college guide. Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and two Canadian colleges are profiled in the book, which is The Princeton Review’s flagship college guide. The guide includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories.
In addition, St. John’s College is named “regional best.” St. John’s College, Annapolis, is one of the best colleges in the Northeast, according to the Princeton Review. It is one of 218 institutions the Princeton Review recommends in its “Best in the Northeast” section of its website feature, “2011 Best Colleges: Region by Region.” The 218 colleges on this list are located in 11 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the District of Columbia. St. John’s College, Santa Fe is one of the best colleges in the West, joining 120 colleges named by The Review. The states in the West include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, and Washington. Collectively, the 623 colleges named “regional best” constitute just 25 percent of the nation's 2,500 four-year colleges.
The college guide reports that St. John’s seminars are the heart of the “exhilarating and exhausting” all-required curriculum that includes seminal works of Western civilization. “Students engage in conversation,” as one student reported to The Review, “instead of sitting through lectures on other peoples’ interpretations.” Another student reported that “the academic atmosphere is immersing and supportive, especially since everyone is in, or has had, or will have all the same classes.…intellectual diversity abounds.” St. John’s is also cited in The Review for “most accessible professors” and “lots of race-class interaction.” Reports one student, “There’s a wonderful camaraderie that develops in the classroom, as we wrestle with the great questions of the ages.” Adds another, “The one thing Johnnies have in common is their love of learning and their love of thought.” On both campuses, students rated the quality of the academics at St. John’s as 99 out of 100.
The Review notes how on the Annapolis campus, “everyone plays intramural sports.” Johnnies are “an amazing conglomeration of artists, mathematicians, jocks, role-playing enthusiasts, poets, iconoclasts, activists, and some who are all of these” another student reports to the Review. In Santa Fe, The Review highlights the popularity of martial arts, skiing, hiking, and rafting. In short Johnnies carry the tight bonds they form in the classroom into a wide variety of extracurricular pursuits.
In addition The Review praises the college’s admissions process: “St. John’s has one of the most personal admissions processes in the country. The applicant pool is highly self-selected and extremely bright, so don’t be fooled by the high acceptance rate—every student who is offered admission deserves to be here. Candidates who don’t give serious thought to the kind of match they make with the college and devote serious energy to their essays are not likely to be accepted.”