St. John’s on a personal level

by Ardhys De Leon, Editor-in-Chief

St. John’s University made a visit to the school through one of their representatives; giving students the opportunity to get to know more about this university. Through this session, students were able to hear what this school has to offer and ask any questions they had.
“We’re looking to change lives,” senior assistant director at St. John’s David Pierre said. “[We] service the underserved.”

This university has six campuses; three in the New York metropolitan area, one in Staten Island, one in Rome, and one in Paris. It is liberal arts college, whose strongest programs reside in business, law and pharmacy.

Dual majors and studied abroad opportunities are also offered by St. John’s. Being able to complete two degrees in five to six years is something the university offers to many of their students, allowing them to achieve more for less. Students are also able to study at any of St. John’s partnered campuses through a series of different programs, as early as after their first semester.

However, applying to this school is a bit different. St. John’s is not on the common app; students must apply through their website. The  university also has rolling admissions, which means that there are no deadlines for applications and students are notified of their acceptance four to six weeks after applying.

This excludes the Pharmacy program, which has the deadlines of December 1st and February 1st.

To apply to St. John’s, students are required to submit a high school transcript and standardized test scores. Letters of recommendation and te personal essay for the application is optional. Supplements are also required for specific programs, such as the dual degree ones.

Students need a B average and a 1050 SAT score (Math and Reading) or a 22/23 ACT score to be admitted. Students are also encouraged to submit more than one score, as St. John’s super scores; meaning they take the highest of the sections and combine them to give the students a higher score.

However, if a student’s average is high and their SAT’s are low, then they can balance each other. This is as long as the math and reading sections are at least 400 each. Accepted students have until May 1st to notify St. John’s with their college choice.

Merit based scholarships are also offered to students. These can range from $13,000 to a full scholarship. St. John’s will notify the students of how much money they will receive after being accepted. Also, in order to receive financial aid, whether a student’s family makes too much money or not, students must fill out their FASFA forms, which come out on January 1st.

Those who are accepted into St. John’s will also receive a laptop. This is a tradition the school started in 2003 after technology began to rapidly advance. Now, students who attend St. John’s are given the choice between five laptops to take; whether they have one or not.

Students are welcome to contact  David Pierre at pierred@stjohns.edu for more information. Tours can be set up through St. John’s website.

“Being able to hear about what St. John’s, I got a taste of what college is like and get an honest opinion on the school,” senior Brais Sampedro said.