<p>I'm going to be a junior in HS.
Home state: Iowa
GPA: 3.8
ACT: 24 (took in the middle of soph. year, want to get up to 27-28)
Will have 3 APs by graduation, 1 college credit comp course, and 2 honors courses.
Elected captain of track team for my junior season as a sophomore.
Will be an upperclassman ambassador to freshmen.
Volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters.</p>
<p>What is the campus like? How are students? What is social scene like? Also, would I be able to get in with my 24?</p>
<p>St. Joe’s is a test optional school and I’m virtually certain that they would love to have you, your resume, and your geographic diversity.</p>
<p>SJU takes great pains to tell you on their tours that they are not a suitcase school, i.e. that not everyone goes home every weekend. However, I can tell you that the vast majority of kids will be within an hour or maybe two of home. They may not go home, but their families are definitely close by. </p>
<p>It’s a good school and it has great school spirit. The campus is nice and it straddles the city and the suburbs. If I were to give you an impression of the students, it would be that they are primarily suburban diocesan and public high school kids, not so much private school kids. Coming from the midwest, you may find the student body a little “Jersey Shore” (it isn’t but I knew somebody from Indiana who felt the student body of U Delaware was that way, so I’m putting it out there). </p>
<p>There’s a fair amount of off campus drinking. It’s also there on campus but the big time drinking is mostly done off campus and there are lots of things to do if you don’t want to drink. The train is a short walk and it’ll take you right into downtown Philadelphia or even to Villanova.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to spam your thread but I had to run before I could finish my post above. St. Joe’s has an excellent business school that is very well regarded in the Philadelphia area. However, I’m not sure of its reputation nationally, so if you plan to return home to Iowa right after graduation you may want to reconsider SJU unless you’re going for Food Marketing, in which case SJU is the place to be.</p>
<p>What is it you like about the idea of St. Joe’s? I’m local in the Philadelphia area so I have a good sense of the differences between SJU and other Philly area schools if you have any questions. My own D has both St. Joe’s and Drexel on her list of schools. They’re very different with very different strengths. She’s leaning toward St. Joe’s over Drexel, both because she prefers the traditional campus feel and if she stays in Philadelphia, SJU’s strong alumni base would definitely be a plus.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you what the school itself is like, but I could tell you just by the numbers that unless you have a criminal record or something outstandingly bad on your resume somewhere, you’ll get accepted and probably with lots of money.</p>
<p>If you plan on staying in the Philadelphia area immediately after graduation and majoring in business, SJU may be a great school for you. I agree with @Dpenn96 that they’ll probably offer you lots of money because of your geographic diversity. It’d probably be good if you could try to arrange a visit to the school to get a sense of the vibe. </p>