Every student attending St. John’s is well aware that they are not attending Harvard University. Yet, this is not a clown college either. St. John’s is an excellent school that gives its students a unique education. But how exactly is it decided who gets in and who does not? What differentiates St. John’s students from the other students that did not get in? The Princeton Review marks St. John’s as selective, which is not necessarily true.
St. John’s does not have very high standards for acceptance. It was published on the, collegeboard.com, that the average verbal score is 470 – 580, and the math score is 470-600. Sixty-three percent of applicants get in with a 3.1 out of a 4.0 GPA. Certainly a student has to be well rounded and have good academic standing.
On the College Board’s Web site, it is stated that St. John’s is one of the leading Catholic universities in the country, and while that is an excellent achievement, its excellence should not be limited to just that. The students that are let in set the standard of success for the school’s graduates. If St. John’s is letting in students at a low academic level, then the classes will have to be at the same level. Harvard is not one of the top schools in the country simply because of its high entry standards; it is a good school because the students they accept push them to have a curriculum matching the intelligence and aspiration of the students attending.
The admissions standards should be raised to ensure the quality of education the students receive. By making it more difficult for students to get in, the student body would have a standard of excellence that would surpass that of previous years. The classes would become more challenging in order to better challenge the students.
While students might complain about harder classes, it should be understood that college is the time to be challenged academically as well as personally. There is a competitive job market today, especially in places as culturally diverse as New York City. Students should be motivated by higher standards, not disheartened. If students do not learn how to push themselves now, it will mean big trouble later.
It all starts with the admission standards that St. John’s puts in place. St. John’s should set a standard for admission and bolster the quality of students entering. This would boost St. John’s reputation as well as its overall academic standing.
Once the intellectual quality of students is enhanced, the quality of the classes will also change, slowly but surely ensuring the University’s reputation as one of the leading academic institutions in the country.
