Yesterday we traveled to Annapolis, Maryland to visit a college my daughter is interested in. The college is awesome. St. John's College is a Great Books school, with an amazing record of producing graduates who can THINK. They area eagerly sought by graduate schools.
The school is small -- fewer students in the undergraduate body than in her class year at our high school. And if she'd been in the public schools around here the entire time she'd been in school, she would be woefully unprepared for St. John's. But she was in a Classical school through 8th grade, so she is not only prepared, but eager to continue learning for learning's sake.
St. John's does assign grades, but does not tell them to the student except by specific request to the registrar. They would forego them altogether if graduate schools didn't need them.
This school is not a good match for everyone. But if you know a student who delights in learning, not in just "getting the highest grade", you might want to tell the parents to look into it. You can read more about it at these links.
And here are some photos of the day. The college is in lovely old town Annapolis. The main building was started as a governor's mansion back in the day, but that governor ran out of money and was not re-elected, so the building was given to the college.
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| Street side of the main building - where each class meets for chorus class. Beautiful to sit outside and listen. |
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| Building that contains the dining hall. See the actual hall below. |
The library is my favorite building (big surprise). From the outside, a 17th century building. But inside ... well, judge for yourself.
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| Formerly the hall of records for Maryland. When they outgrew the building, they donated it to the college. It was moved here through the streets of Annapolis. Can you see the dates? The Hall of Records was established 1634. The Greenfield Library, 1696. Yeah, I thought so too. But check out the inside below. |
And finally, the ENTIRE student body gets their mail here. That's how small and personal the place is.
Upside: Incredibly great place for students who love to learn through the classics
Upside for my daughter: A perfect match
Downside: Same people every day for 4 years might get really old
Downside for my daughter: Tuition is $42,000 per year
Ouch. Yeah, we're praying about that.
4 comments:
I've visited Annapolis once & it's a beautiful town. What I remember most though is that they had a Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop & I had Phish Food in a waffle cone. Heaven :)
Any scholarship possibilities?
If I could have come up with $@K per year before college I likely never would have gone!
The school looks lovely and learning for the sake of learning sounds like a dream!
Oh -- as for her getting tired of all the same people -- she's been with you for how long? I went through college with a cohort and many of us still communicate regularly 12 years later. The experience was precious and binding.
That campus looks really pretty! Ouch for the cost is right! Hope she gets a lot of scholarships!
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