St. John's College (Maryland / New Mexico)

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o wow! is this an awesome college or what!

http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/about/main.shtml

The all-required course of study is based on the reading, study, and discussion of the most important books of the Western tradition. There are no majors and no departments; all students follow the same program.

i wish i had known and attended this college. it looks awesome!

This sort of school is geared more for personal enrichment rather than career development.

I agree with richie. It's a college for kids who can afford to pay their own way (rich parents, trust funds, etc.) and don't need to worry about getting an actual JOB to pay off their student loans after college. Interesting concept, but not very realistic for most of us.

I think differently.

I want to be in that school to learn to interact with rich kids who give me more social networking tools... and wings! Even though I'm an Autie...

I worked in Santa Fe, the site of St. John's New Mexico campus for about 6 months. Virtually all of my coworkers went to that college, as well as my roommates, across two different houses where I rented.

It was a quite bizarre situation, IMO. Nothing against the college itself, but the people more went there just to go to college than with any serious academic intent in mind.


Contrast that to when I went to New Mexico Tech, where it was common to even meet freshmen who would say "I'm studying _____, and I plan on getting a Ph. D. in it."

Tech is something else, though. A big percentage never graduates (either drop out or transfer), and only something like 18% finish in 4 years. I kind of feel proud to have finished the coursework for my MS program in only 3 semesters.

It looks like something I would have a very, very hard time with. But then, I'm not a literary-minded gal.

You might also be interested in Evergreen State College, in Washington state. They have majors like other schools, but rather than taking separate classes, each term you take a "program" each term that incorporates several disciplines. I considered it back when I was looking for undergraduate colleges.

I considered St. John's when I was choosing a school, too. They aren't they only college that has a "Great Books" curriculum, either--another one I know of is Shimer College in Illinois.

A Bachelor's in liberal arts is all you need for most office jobs in the public or private sector. If you find yourself drawn to a specific subject after you get a broad understanding from your undergraduate experience, then you can go on to graduate school. There are loans and scholarships available for liberal arts schools just like any other kind of school, so don't let the naysayers discourage you about the expense if it's what you want to do.

Alright, I will consider Liberal Arts Colleges.

I live near the St. John's, Maryland campus. It's a beautiful campus, but I agree, I'm not sure how career-minded it is. I do appreciate the curriculum though.