Accepted to Georgetown... Have a few questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgetown University
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Hi there,

I’m new to this so my apologies if this isn’t the right place to post this.

I was accepted to Georgetown into the College and I’m considering Economics as my major. However, I have a few questions that would really help with my decision if they were answered.

  1. Are most Georgetown professors willing to work with students who want extra help in their class?

  2. I’ve visited DC recently and I’ve felt it has kind of gone downhill to some degree, but what exactly do Georgetown students, specifically freshmen, do for fun?

  3. How involved is Georgetown typically when it comes to students obtaining internships? Are most internships obtained through the career center or independently?

  4. I’ve heard that there was and still is a competitive culture, especially when it comes to clubs. Is this overstated or accurate?

I appreciate any advice I get!

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  1. Yes. All professors are required to hold office hours to do just that.
  2. Recently should not be the way you judge for your next 4 years, because of COVID. Everyone has their own idea of what’s fun, but a common thing for freshmen to do on weekend nights is go to parties on or near campus hosted by clubs/student orgs. Some people do also go out into the DC nightlife scene.
  3. If you seek out help, you will get it. The career center is not the only place - older students, alumni, and certain professors can be better resources many times. Internships are a mix and depends on industry, some go heavily though the career center and some less so. No one will get an internship for you, but if you want an internship, you will get one.
  4. Overstated. Yes, some clubs have low acceptance rates, but the majority of clubs on campus are open membership.
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To add to what the previous poster said: beyond office hours, many classes also have TAs who have taken that class before and are happy to help students out. Especially for introductory econ classes, the econ department also has free tutoring set up every semester. It’s also common for students to make study groups because if you’re struggling with a concept, chances are everyone else is too! As for leisure, aside from parties and the social scene, DC’s also a really pretty city. Especially during quarantine, many of us have gone on hikes around the many large parks around the city as a way to get out of the house.

As for internships, DC’s very much a city where connections matter just as much as knowledge, and that’s where Georgetown really shines because of that strong alumni/professor network you’ll get. I know friends who have taken a class with a professor and subsequently interned with that prof, and then turned it into a full-time job. As for competitive clubs, there are a few that are highly competitive, but most of those are finance/consulting types of clubs. The vast majority on campus are either open membership or they have an application but don’t reject anyone. I feel like a lot of freshmen tend to equate being in exclusive clubs with having a good social life when that’s very much not the case – you’ll find your community of people quite easily through classes, your dorm floor, in addition to the clubs you join.

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Thank you for your response. Very helpful! Would you mind talking more about how the party scene looks? I know the pandemic makes this different, but in a typical year.

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The parties you’ll go to are pretty much based on the clubs you get involved with, though you can always tag along with a friend if you’re not in a certain club. Aside from the parties thrown by clubs, there’s also a tradition on campus called the Tombs nights, which is basically someone’s 21st birthday party – they’ll make a speech at midnight and then everyone 21+ goes with them to Tombs for their first legal drinks. I personally wasn’t super into the party scene, but between the clubs I was involved with and Tombs nights/friends putting a pregame together, there was always something every weekend if I wanted to go.

During the year, the big party days on campus are Homecoming weekend in Oct, St. Patrick’s day, and Georgetown Day in May. Georgetown Day is the last Friday of the spring semester, and while you still technically have class, professors are well aware that attendance on that day will be quite low :smile: I’d say Georgetown Day and Homecoming are the two times a year where campus is indistinguishable from a state school. Otherwise, there are definitely parties every weekend, but Georgetown students still do very much focus on academics first.