Is St. John's College really rigorous?

I'm looking into St. John's College and I've heard that the academics there are particularly challenging. Can anyone confirm and detail how intense the workload can get?

Absolutely, St. John's College is known for its rigorous academic curriculum. It follows a distinct educational model, the so-called "Great Books" program, which is based primarily on reading and discussing foundational texts of Western civilization.

The intensity of the program derives in large part from the breadth and depth of the materials you'll be expected to engage with. This inevitably entails a substantial amount of reading, thinking, and writing each week. To put it into perspective, students typically say they spend around 30+ hours per week outside of class preparing for discussions and writing essays.

Additionally, since most classes are discussion-based, you are expected to come to each class prepared to critically examine and discuss the assigned text, which means that you can't really skip the reading or skim the material. This introduces another element of rigor: the quality of your participation matters.

While the workload can feel intense, many students find the intellectual environment stimulating and worth the effort. It certainly gears you towards critical thinking, writing, and communication skills, which can be invaluable in many future ventures. Overall, your experience would depend on your learning style and the extent to which you enjoy diving deep into the great works of literature, philosophy, history, and science.