St. John’s University - The Peter J. Tobin College of Business

St. John’s University’s business school, the Peter J. Tobin College of Business, enjoys quite a reputation, and deservedly so. Many students say they applied to the school on its “good reputation,” in addition to many unique perks offered throughout its program. One of the main academic draws to the school is its Risk Management Program. The School of Risk Management is housed in a state-of-the-art building located in the East Village, Manhattan. In addition to their “very strong curriculum,” the School of Risk Management building also houses the Center for Professional Education, the division that provides custom and non-degree granting programs, the Insurance Hall of Fame and the world famous Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library.

One of the true hallmarks of any good university includes its professors, and St. John’s follows this precedent. While there are some teachers at SJU that the occasional student identifies as, “not helpful and stressful,” the vast majority of professors here “convey a true commitment and investment in the university and the students,” and provide “excellent lectures.” Many teachers are “experienced in the fields they teach or oversee,” which allows them to “provide the latest information” from the business world and “apply [the] concepts in class [to] real world examples.” This kind of teaching provides “valuable insight” into the business world, which is useful since most students either work full-time or are looking for a job. By offering real world experience, instead of only tests, the school demonstrates that it is “more focused on [the] growth of its students than it is on what grade they get at the end of the year.”

St. John’s Career Center helps students in a variety of ways: it offers them assistance in writing a resume, searching for jobs, internship placement and evaluating potential job offers. In addition, St. John’s promotes an on-campus group called Career Peers, which connects students to a group of other students their own age who are trained to answer job search questions they might have. The school personalizes the center so students do not have to search through an answer database for help. There are four major campuses: one in Rome, Italy and three in New York City (Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island), and students find ample job opportunities in both. There are “good connections” in New York, “specifically in finance,” and in Rome many students intern with the UN’S World Food Program, which “offers an incredible resume boost.” Indeed the university is “very up-to-date with the job market,” and it helps it students make themselves some of the “most marketable” graduates in the tri-state area.

As with most MBA programs, many people commute to class since they have full-time jobs, but since the four campuses are located in major cities those who do attend find the commute “very convenient.” In New York there are campuses in Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island and students love that they can choose classes in all three boroughs. This option makes it “easier to fit trips to campus” in students’ schedules. There are also plenty of opportunities to study abroad and students can sign up to visit, or even attend classes, at the Rome campus as well. Many find this opportunity to be “a truly amazing experience.” It is also easier for students studying abroad since all of the classes are taught in English, but foreign students still get the flavor of living in a new city with other students who have “come from all over the world.” All campuses have plenty to do for those living on or near campus, or just looking to hang around after class since there are “lots of different kinds of organizations.” In addition, the “random activities that take place here are great ways to battle the stress of an MBA.”

Students tend to be a fairly mixed group of people; their personalities and backgrounds are all quite unique. “Some students are extremely competitive, while others are a bit more relaxed,” but the mixing of different groups really makes class discussions ‘vibrant.’ Despite any differences, students still greatly respect one another and define the student body as “independent, hard-working, and smart.” As far as school adminis- tration goes, there seems to be a “requisite amount of difficulty when it comes to doing basically anything,” but the “administrators are accessible and generally helpful” as well as “very accommodating” to many of the students’ needs. With the convenient locations and “hard-working” students, many find a “very fulfilled life” at SJU.