what are the chances i'll get in?

<p>i posted this on the other board but thought i might get a response from someone here as well...i've been out of HS a year, my mom had some health issues and i decided to take a year off to save money and help her out. but my high school record is as follows..
GPA-3.2
SATS-1110 (670V 440M) i know the math is miserable..i did well in my HS honors math classes, but for whatever reason when i take math tests i'm slow and i didn't finish the sections on time.
Class Rank-top 30% of a class of 300+
3AP's-English, European History, US History, A's and B's in all of them.
Honors-English9 10, Alg. II, geometry,
ECs- I have a few, but none that are worth mentioning. I went to 5 different high schools so I didn't have a chance to get seriously involved. I did however work fulltime (40+hrs per week) my senior year.
St. Johns is pretty much my dream school. As soon as I found it I knew it was the only place I really wanted to go and would be happy at.
One more question to anyone who might know...my financial aide forms put my EFC really low (less than 1,000dollars for my family, 1,000 from me based on my income from last year) so i wanted to know how financial aide is there considering its 30,000+ a year. Is the fact that i have next to no money to contribute going to factor into my admission? i know...it says it wont but it still worries me.
Well i've rambled long enough, thanks to anyone that takes the time to read this.</p>

<p>Hi. I think that the chances that you'll get in would largely depend on how strongly and well you'd be able to bring across in writing (through your application essays) your feeling that St. John's is for you. St. John's is not so much about 17 year olds with large resumes of community service and dozens of extra curricular activities and perfect scores (these merely add luster, they are not evidence of what one can change and grow into as an individual).</p>

<p>St. John's can be a gem of a college in broadening one's views and deepening one's sensitivity; it is a school that allows for a very intimate and rich experience, and for me it was indeed a "discovery" among the thousands of glossy, ivy league-y schools in this country. I was already in college when i decided to apply to St. John's (i had incidentally learned about it while in high school, but had managed to push it out of my mind because i was very new to this country and had no clue how I could ever afford it). But St. John's moved me, brought me to tears when i first discovered it, and it kept surging back in my mind as i became increasingly disappointed with the regual college experience (I was at Brooklyn College, NY). I've known only a couple of other people during my years at St. John's who had felt the same way as I. </p>

<p>Perhaps the only compelling reason for you or anyone else to apply would be a feeling that you "need to" be in that program. Of course, this is not "normally" the case why people do. Most people who end up at St. John's do not fall in love with it (which is how i think of it) prior to coming.</p>

<p>good luck, and i hope you do attend. I believe it is worth taking out loans to attend st. john's if you feel compelled by the nature of the program.</p>

<p>hey!, thanks for replying, i didn't think that anyone ever would. i did apply, but my boss at work (where i've been for well over a year) refused to write my second letter of recommendation...something stupid about how he doesn't "know me in an academic context." I talked to the admissions people at SJC but they wouldn't waive the requirement and in all honesty, i don't blame them. i guess if they bend the rules for me they would have to for everyone. So the admissions committee never actually got to read my essays which i spent so much time on lol so i'm going to community college for a year...get my grades up and get that second letter and reapply for fall 2006. like you i fell in love with the program the minute i read about it, i couldn't believe that a place where....knowledge was actually valued as something more than a gateway to a good job existed. why have you found do most people typically apply if they aren't "in love" with the program? what have you found the social life to be like? well thanks again!</p>

<p>Hey. I go to the SF campus. I agree with the previous poster who said that admission mostly depends on the essays. I think it's certainly true that, for the most part, only people seriously interested in the program would apply. Simply because the application is difficult compared to other applications. You have to put a lot of thought into the essays. If you were not seriously considering St. John's you would waste the time.
The social life is very diverse on this campus. Most people are very academically oriented. Some more than others. Some like to enjoy themselves on the weekends, some like to stay locked up alone inside thier dorm rooms with a book. Not very political at all here...everyone fits in somehow though...</p>

<p>From what the application says, it seems as though the committee is more interested in the essays than in GPAs or test scores. Also, the committee seems so very forgiving, warm, and receptive. It makes me want to start writing my essays.</p>

<p>Like what everyone else has been saying, essays are the biggest factor. SJC wants people who are in love with the school. I just got back from a 3 day visit to the maryland campus and there were many people there with exceptional high school situations (I met three who actually never graduated high school!) so obviously the numbers and ranks aren't as crucial to them. </p>

<p>You'll get in if you truely love the school and express a serious desire to attend.</p>

<p>About your question on social life...from what I observed, there were two types of people, the Gadflys who hung out on the quad every night and drank and fought over books, and the types that made relationships within their dorms and spent most of their time in their rooms studying. Both types seemed very happy. Everyone there is extremely warm and vivacious, and although the pretention could get pretty high, everyone was very laid back and open. I was very attracted to the people there, and I bet I would be even more attracted to the SF students...but I'll save them for my last two years.</p>

<p>Like David said, politics aren't very prominent there. When I adressed that concern they all responded, "Well, we sort of are. We're going to a protest in DC tomarrow, you know." But I sort of took that the same way as someone who would say, "I'm not a racist, I have two black people working in my firm!". But for me these things were pretty easy to shrug off. Please visit the campus...all of these questions will be answered when you do.</p>

<p>Everyone is right when they say the essays. They also told me that they looked for at least B's in all grades. So as long as you have that, you should be alright for grades.</p>