St John's University New York

Date: Jan 05 2009
Major: Pharmacy (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm halfway done with my second year at St. John's. I'm enrolled in the pharmacy program and have had quite varied experiences throughout my time here. The liberal arts courses you are required to take through St. John's College (theology, philosophy, statistics, etc) are quite easy. Even as a member of the honors program, the honors classes I have taken (basic theologies and philosophies) were a breeze. The professors of these classes have ranged from joyously inspiring and stimulating, to utterly uninteresting. Quite a normal variety, as I understand it. What I don't understand is why a pharmacy major has to take three theologies and three philosophies. One, or even two, of either are fine, but three seem like overkill.

Science classes require more study and effort. My experience with science courses so far has been ho-hum. They are much more impersonal than the liberal arts courses, although I doubt that this differs at other universities. Large lecture classes abound. I had a biology professor whose exams required complete and unforgiving memorization of many chapters of text. But hey, hitting a bad apple of a professor is to be expected every once in a while. Overall, the quality of the science department is quite satisfactory, and the classes are at least of an acceptable standard. The liberal arts are where I cannot make any generalizations, as experiences vary immensely. Personally, I would not come here to major in the humanities or the arts, or anything that isn't science, business, or math for that matter.

This is a commuter school. Everyone goes home on the weekends. This can be terribly depressing. Campus activities, besides sporting events are few and far between. Kids at this school tend to exhibit the mindset of surrounding Queens - go to college, major in a field that will provide a living, get a job, be better off than your parents. These same kids are also rather unoriginal. They all comprise a pyramid of intellectual capacity in which there exists of a small percentage of bright students, a larger percentage of average students, and a whole bunch of absolute morons. Some kids study constantly (usually the science-oriented students), while many others play video games and go "partying" all the time. If you live outside of NYC, you will probably experience some culture shock. NYC is also this school's greatest social asset. If you know how to use it, it is fantastic, but it's a 40 minute MTA hassle to get there. Also, get a summer job, because the city is expensive. Also, 1300 SATs, a high school gpa of 97, and a few extra curricular high school activities translate to jack shit in terms of financial aid if you're from the middle class and not some sort of Asian, African, or South American minority. At least pharmacists make decent money.