We are still accepting undergraduate and graduate applications for Fall 2026
St. John’s College tries to minimize the pernicious effect that the publication of grades can have on a community of learning. The college does require all tutors to award letter grades to their students at the end of each semester (A=Excellent, B=Good, C=Satisfactory, D=Passing, F=Failure, with pluses and minuses, and I=Incomplete) and authorizes them to decide what elements they will take into consideration and in what proportion. It also requires them to record these grades in the Office of the Registrar. But the college does this primarily because other colleges, graduate and professional schools, granters of scholarships, and employers insist on seeing the grade records of its students and graduates.
Students at the college are consequently not routinely informed of their grades. Indeed they are usually discouraged from having much concern about them. They are urged instead to talk to their tutors about their work, both informally and in don rags. Grades have some usefulness within the college, but in a limited way, and most often as a basis for conversation. Important information about the significance of grades is contained below under “Requirements for Graduation.” A student who thinks that his or her work has been judged unfairly by a tutor should speak to the tutor about this concern. Should the result of such a conversation prove unsatisfactory, the student should speak to the Assistant Dean or Dean. The tutor has the final word on the grade, though in rare cases the Assistant Dean or Dean may amplify the given grade with a letter of explanation.
Incomplete grades may be given only in the case of a true emergency, e.g., a death in the family or sickness attested to by a health care professional. In such cases, the grade that will be awarded if the work is not completed should be indicated. The form for this is, for example, I/C+. The alternate grade given (C+, for example) becomes the final grade if the incomplete work is not made up before the end of the second semester in the case of work left over from the first semester, or by the end of the first semester in the case of work left over from the second semester of the previous academic year. Of course, the alternate grade may become a different final grade if the work is completed within the time prescribed above. If the work is not completed within the time prescribed above, and the tutor failed to indicate an alternate grade for the Incomplete, the I becomes an F.
If an annual essay is not submitted, the grade is I (Incomplete). The grade of I remains on the transcript until an essay is submitted. If no essay is submitted the grade of I will become an F. If a bona fide freshman or junior essay is submitted and proves to be unacceptable, the grade is F. An Incomplete grade on an annual essay may be completed at any time, but a student may not continue into the next year of the program without some grade other than I for the annual essay of the preceding year of the program. When the condition for any student to continue into the next year of the program is the submission of an annual essay, that essay must be submitted no later than the second Monday after commencement of the academic year just completed. Of course, eligibility to continue at the college may be contingent on other factors as determined by a student’s tutors or the Dean.
A sophomore who has not submitted an annual essay or has submitted an unacceptable essay may not proceed into the junior year until a sophomore essay has been submitted and received a grade that is satisfactory, and the Instruction Committee has come to a positive enabling decision on his or her behalf.
Plagiarism, falsification of documents, use of artificially generated text, and other cases of academic fraud carry a penalty up to expulsion, and may be disclosed in the academic record.
Within the college, the most important form of evaluation is the don rag. Once a semester until the end of the sophomore year each student meets with his or her tutors for a don rag. The tutors report to each other on the student’s work during the semester and endeavor to describe the student’s overall progress. One seminar leader serves as chairman of the don rag committee while the other takes notes. The student is then invited to respond to the tutors’ reports, and to comment on his or her own work. Advice may be requested and given, difficulties may be aired, but grades are not reported. Students should expect the don rag reports to be generally compatible with, but not precisely indicative of, their grades. The latter are largely evaluations of performance, whereas in the don rag, which is an interim evaluation, such factors as effort, relative achievement, degree of improvement, and the desire to learn are also given their due.
During the junior year, students are invited to choose conferences instead of don rags. Students then initiate the conversation by giving an account of their activities in each of their classes. By the time the students are seniors, it is assumed that they can evaluate their own work. Thus, there is no don rag or conference for a senior unless a tutor or the student believes that there is a special need for one. Notes from the don rags are placed in the students’ files but are not made part of the official transcript.
When the work of a student is inadequate or when the presence of the student is detrimental to the work of other students, the don rag committee may recommend to the Dean that the student not continue at the college. The Dean normally accepts the recommendation of the committee and communicates it to the student.
The Dean may send a letter to the parents of dependent students to report any conditions that have been set for their admission to the next semester or to report the recommendation of the don rag committee affecting their enrollment status.
After the first freshman don rag, the Dean sends a letter to parents of dependent students explaining the don rag and reporting whether or not the work has been satisfactory up to that point in the semester. A satisfactory report in the don rag, however, does not preclude an unsatisfactory grade if work in the remaining three weeks of the semester is not completed or is completed unsatisfactorily. The Dean sends a letter to parents of independent students, unless directed otherwise, explaining the don rag with no further information.
If, at the end of a semester, a student’s work, including class participation, is not satisfactory in all respects, but the student is permitted to continue at the college in the hope that the work will improve, the Dean may place the student on academic probation for a given time (usually a semester) with stipulated conditions. A student on academic probation, while allowed to go on to the next semester, will not be allowed to continue afterward unless this is positively recommended by every tutor on the student’s next semester’s don rag committee. Parents of dependent students may be notified of this change in a student’s status. If, at the end of that time, the conditions have not been met, the student will be required to leave the college without academic credit or refund of fees.
The St. John’s College undergraduate transcript shows the four-year curriculum, by class, in conventional subject matter format. It contains the grades and credit received for each class. The back of the transcript has the four-year seminar reading list by class and also by conventional subject matter. For additional information about transcripts please visit the Registrar’s Office.
