St. John's University

Such a unique university that envelops a challenging academic environment in one of the most bustling and diverse metropolises in the world. The beautiful SJU campus offers a tranquil, traditional campus setting, while the vibrancy of NYC offers a real-life classroom experience like no other. You get the best of both worlds, including a nurturing staff and faculty that make you feel like family. The resources available to SJU students are phenomenal - unmatched study abroad opportunities, an amazing... Read More writing center, free admission to sporting events for students, delicious and plentiful dining options, free laundry and shuttle services, to name a few. Love being a Johnnie!

I do not recommend this school to others, especially for international students. How well you are qualified, they just provide you a "small" scholarship and restrict applying for other financial aid. The following is from my scholarship letter. "Scholarship recipients may not receive any other form of institutionally funded assistance, including teaching, research, and graduate assistantships; tuition remission benefits; and any other college-specific aid" If they had mentioned this on the graduate... Read More school's website, I definitely do not apply. On top of it, after I submitted my official transcript (I am an international student), they recommended me to get it evaluated further. It cost me another $250. Because of this disappointment, I applied to other graduate schools in the USA and got accepted with full financial assistance. I do not have to pay anything for tuition and I receive a stipend as well. On top of it, those schools do not require foreign official transcripts (which are in English) to get further evaluated as well.

To future students, St johns university has a great student community but about 85% of the faculty and staff don't see you much more then anything but a child. The deans and assistants at the school are unorganized and do not show passion or care for you as a student. They rather control every aspect of your college life and move on to the next student. Unless your willing to push multiple buttons and get more then one person involved, then you will be here awhile. Favorites are prioritized and you... Read More are just another student id number when asking for help. A messy class enrollment system, an even messier financial aid services system, you are going to drive yourself to the point of insanity. If it wasn't for the select few people in this university that give me a reason to want to be here then I would have transferred along time ago.

My time at St. John's was the most productive period I've had in my life up to that point. In the last half decade, Ive been working within the field of philosophy passionately. My focus is on Phenomenology, a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of experiences, and my area within this is branch is aesthetics. I was born in the Caribbean island-nation Haiti, so a lot of my work focuses on culture formation, expression, and identity via aesthetic experiences in black and indigenous cultures,... Read More which St. John's extremely diverse student helped in terms of encountering and learning from other students. While my undergraduate degree was in the field of marketing, I eventually obtained a philosophy research assistantship while still an undergraduate at St. Johns University, working under professor Douglas Rasmussen, where I also worked closely within the fields of economics and political science. My research position allowed me to become a TA, reuniting me with my mentor and aiding him in teaching intro to philosophy courses. Meanwhile, the Peter J. Tobin's business school's professors allowed me to engage with and attend conferences with various people within the intersections of management, business, finance, and economics, while working closely with career services, to provide me with some extra background preparation for the private sector.

St. John's is an incredibly unique school. Located in one of the most diverse places in the world, the university experience prepares you not only with a college education, but with the ability to live among people from all walks of life. A smaller university, the experience itself was incredibly nurturing. With hidden gems like the rhetoric program, international studies track and the writing center, the university has avenues for all types of students. Although there is no football team, or big... Read More game days, there are plenty of unique experiences that make St. John's students one of a kind.

Attended SJU must be the biggest mistake I made in my whole life. I was a transfer student of SJU, which means that I gotta to deal with all kinds of Department such as financial aid, administration, and registration all the time. The most disappointing thing was the staff in any department mentioned above never functioned. Every time when I got a problem, I either gave a a call or visited concerned office, all the personnel worked there just did not know how to help you resolve the issue, all they... Read More can do just told you sorry they cannot make it but they will let some supervisor know about it and try to see if it will be worked out later. However, they would never contact you later or really care about your concernes. If you did not keep contacting them yourself your problems just would never be done well. After massive terrible experience with SJU I finally learned that never pick any colleges that do not have a effective processing system or helpful personnel. Otherwise you can easily be driven crazy any time anywhere!