St Johns

The College of Saint John the Evangelist. Named after The Hospital of Saint John the Evangelist. Founded 1511 by Lady Margaret Beaufort. Sister Colleges – Balliol College Oxford and Trinity College Dublin. Men and Women – Undergraduates 569 Postgraduates 337. St John’s is the third largest college in the University of Cambridge. It sits on a huge site, straddling the River Cam a little to the north of the city centre, which is within walking distance. Its closest neighbours are Trinity and Magdalene. The famous Bridge of Sighs links the east river bank to the west and the entire layout has no less than 8 courtyards, along with several gardens and many open spaces. The college purposefully sets out to provide academic stimulation of the highest order, whether in a formal supervision setting or an informal courtyard debate. The students not only work hard but play hard too, with the famous St John’s May Ball being voted the ‘7th best party in the world’ by Time magazine. The college provide some of the finest sporting facilities in Cambridge, along with creative opportunities for both musicians and artists. Fabulous wealth Today this fabulously wealthy college – annual estimated income of £7 million from endowments alone – has around 135 Fellows, 337 postgraduates and 569 undergraduates in a gender divide that favours men by a hefty margin in the past. Despite drawing only 38% of home students in 2007 from state schools, St John’s has an enviable history of embracing students from all social classes and from the earliest of times has been interested in obtaining outstanding talent, regardless of financial status. To this end it has always provided scholarships and is now an active member of the Eagle Project that encourages state s... ... middle of paper ... ...stern corner of the site is the School of Pythagoras, which predates the college by some 300 years and was owned by Merton College Oxford until 1959. Originally this was a private house and is reputed to be the oldest building consistently in use by any university in Britain. Strong musical tradition Not only has St John’s a famous chapel choir, dating back to the 1670’s but a more informal recent offshoot known as the ‘Gentlemen of St John’s’, a close harmony group that sings a bit of every thing including fabulous version of ‘Good Vibrations.’ Accommodation is spacious and varied, ancient to cutting edge modern with everything in between. Cooking facilities are said to be basic. The large student body, contained on a huge site, results in a very diverse community. The master recently remarked, ‘There’s never been a typical Johnian, and I hope there never will be’.