<p>I received admission to St. John's College in MD a few weeks ago, and was really, really psyched to attend. But then, alas, I received my financial aid statment and they broke it up like so:</p>
<p>overall: 42K</p>
<p>1,150- student contribution (some scholarship)
3K- off campus employment (should i choose to..i would)
38K- parental contribution</p>
<p>So, essentially, they gave me jack squat.</p>
<p>There is no way my parents can afford 38K, but my alternative to St. John's is UC Santa Cruz and possibly UC Davis. I LOVE SJC's great books program and just everything...but I dont know if it is worth so much money. I woudl have to take out ridiculous loans, and even then i might not be able to attend. The problem pretty much is that what my parents make now is not what they have been making for a long time. As in, while their current income is high, they dont have enough saved for a retirement in 10 years, and two kids through college, 5 years apart...but they might be willing to pay for it if I pay them back, or take out loans. Is there any way to explain this to the SJC financial aid office? And if not, is it worth going to SJC for that much money? My friends joke that I could read that stuff anywhere, why pay so much to read books...but SJC is my perfect fit- what I feel an education should really be like.</p>
<p>So there's my question. In your opinion, is it worth it? I'm not expecting you to tell me what to do- simply what you woudl do, if you think a St. John's education is worth twice as much as a UC. Thanks, your feedback woudl be extremely appreciated.</p>
<p>I think it is worth it...it is very select few that is truly attracted to St. John's unique curriculum, and if you are among them, then I think you should experience it. It's definitely once-in-a-lifetime, the type of education you would not at all receive at UCSC or UCD. If this is your dream...try and see how to make it happen, whether's it's through loans, mortgages, relatives, whatever.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. I did jsut get into davis so its SJC vs Davis, and davis is HALF the cost. I jsut wonder if its worth being in debt for so long.</p>
<p>did you apply to other ucs like UCLA or UCB?
(just cause the disparity btwn Davis and SJC is so huge)</p>
<p>I myself fell in love w/ SJC when it mailed me its brochure, but I decided I couldn't handle the sheer intensity (I'm still looking at more "intellectual" colleges though)</p>
<p>And, I truly sympathize w/ you about the money thing bc I am also in a financial bind.</p>
<p>About loans. Do you intend to go to graduate school? professional school? career? (you don't have to know, but in case you do know that you want to become a surgeon, then a few undergrad loans should be okay. if you want to be a writer, then maybe not such a good idea)</p>
<p>Well, here is an option that many people elect: this may not be what you want to hear, but here goes - I went for two years and then transferred. I absolutely cherish those two years and owe the school much credit for what they helped me accomplish, one who always attempts to lead an examined life. However, I realized that I wanted to specialize in philosophy, and that the other subjects, though nice-to-haves, were not central to my own intellectual path at that time (and never were again, BTW, so it was the right decision).</p>
<p>Many people do this, and I had no trouble with the transfer. The St. John's curriculum is truly unique. Colleges really appreciate the degree of engagement of the St. John's students. As a transfer, you will definitely get respect from your professors going in, and you will also impress them with your class participation, since you really learn how to craft an argument and defend a position. It becomes important to you to engage in verbal discussion/argument, since you have demonstrated to yourself that it is a very effective method for mastering concepts and ensuring that you truly understand what the author meant. </p>
<p>Also, as long as you have an affinity for the major you eventually choose, you will probably find that the subjects are not dificult compared to what you tackled at St. John's - I easily managed straight As through my last two years of college in an Honors program (graduated Summa Cum Laude) and all the way through graduate school.</p>
<p>It is a possibility to consider if you don't want to give up the idea of a St. John's education.</p>
<p>ooh. yulsie, where did you transfer to? if i transfer i'd have to go to a UC, or a cheaper school, and it should probably be a better school than davis so my parents dont think the money was wasted? if that makes sense? i dont wnat to paint them like nazis but i see their point. but the transfering is a really good idea- i didn't think of it somehow. thank you</p>
<p>oh, sweetdreams, i did apply to cal, not UCLA, but my grades aren't so great. i got into st johns, i think, because of my essays. i'm not stupid, just dont look so hot on paper.</p>
<p>I transferred to a medium sized university, but I did not seek financial aid (was reeeeeel cheap back then & parents had saved the money). </p>
<p>You could research explore merit aid for transfer students. Also know that St. John's grades parsimoniously (hardly anyone gets As) but that colleges are aware of that. Because you are studying language, music, history, science, math, english, and philosophy both freshman and sophpmore years, you shouldn't have ANY distribution requirements when you transfer. I was able to take all of my classes in the philosophy and religion departments as a Jr and Sr, and even several graduate seminars.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to go in with the idea that you would transfer, but my experience proves it can be just the ticket in an appropriate situation.</p>
<p>I attend St. John's College and I personally think it's worth every penny--I'm taking out a lot of loans, but I don't mind.
If you send you Financial Aid info to Santa Fe they might be able to give your a better package. Annapolis didn't give me anything but Santa Fe did. Princeton Review gave the Santa Fe campus like a 99 financial aid rating while they gave the Annapolis campus something in the 80's.</p>
<p>Thomas Aquinas College in California is MUCH cheaper than St. John's and it is a Great Books College. It's not quite as popular, but it is very similar. The main difference is that it is far more conservative. Tuition there is about HALF--and they have a very generous financial aid policy.
They are still accepting applications. <a href="http://www.thomasaquinas.edu%5B/url%5D">www.thomasaquinas.edu</a></p>
<p>I don't blame you, wondrlst. I didn't apply to Thomas Aquinas for the same reason--they make you pray before each class! I'm sure it's a great school though.</p>
<p>Dstark is right--Davis is a fine school. It is, however, 180 degrees different then St. John's.</p>