<p>African American female
Location: New Jersey
Income: Under 60,000</p>
<p>High school: urban public (poorly ranked)
Grade: Junior
GPA: 4.0 on a 4.0 scale
SAT 1: 1950 610 m 610 cr 730 wr (i plan to take them 2 more times)
SAT II--pending</p>
<p>Schedule (this year):
AP History
AP English
AP Physics B
French III
etc
(next year):
AP Bio
AP English
AP Calc
French IV
etc etc</p>
<p>Extra:
-Student Rep to Board of Education
-County Director for official state student political organization--worked on '08 and '09 campaigns
-Editor (main)-- school newspaper
-NHS (member--hopefully pres. or vp by the end of this year)
-Varsity Soccer
-Financial adviser for small organization (music based)
-I dont add up the total amount of service hours, but I have them due to the above mentioned activities.
-Awards in school for excellence in writing, math, science, world language</p>
<p>Major: undecided-- probably along the lines of business administration, foreign affairs, international relations, politics.</p>
<p>i looked through the app online and there was a part where it said to state your religion/branch of Chrisitianity (look at the gt app online). I know that is probably just an optional portion but if I do answer (which will confirm that I have no Christian background) how will this affect my admission?
In other words, being a Catholic University, does the school have a preference for Catholic students–even though they do not exempt anyone on the basis of religion alone? Statistic wise–higher acceptance rate of Catholics or not?</p>
<p>Being an atheist will have no effect on admissions whatsoever. As for the comment by hahalolk, college admissions aren’t quite like employment. While it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race or religion in employment, it is perfectly legal for a college to take those factors into account as part of an admissions decision (personally, I think it shouldn’t be, but that’s neither here nor there). That said, Georgetown does not apply any bias against atheists or in favor of Catholics. They only ask for it at admissions time to help them collect demographic data on students. There are schools (most notably BYU) that do take religion into account, but GU is not one of them.</p>
<p>I would further note that Georgetown was founded on the ideal of religious toleration, and has accepted Catholics and non-Catholics alike since the very beginning.</p>
<p>As has already been noted, the 610/610 on the SATs is a problem.
Moreover, while the achievement of having a perfect GPA is impressive because one simply cannot do better, having a 4.0 in a poorly ranked school will mean less. If the student body is not all that competitive, then you would be expected to be at the top of it.
Your curriculum is challenging, which is obviously good, but in your case - given that you do not come from a competitive school - how you do on this year’s AP exams could prove particularly important. Needless to say, a string of 5s would indicate that you would be a strong student at any school, not just a poorly ranked one.
Finally, I don’t know why you would feel compelled to disclose that you’re an atheist, but I don’t think it will hurt you a bit. Being a URM is, of course, a major plus in the admissions process.
Good luck!</p>
<p>If you are an atheist, you have no downside to just lying and saying you’re Catholic if you are concerned that Georgetown might hold atheism against you. After all, you certainly don’t think you’re going to Hell for lying. :-)</p>
<p>I’m an atheist too and am waiting on my decision. (However, from some of the comments on this forum, I’m starting to think Georgetown is a bit too socially conservative for my tastes.) Despite your low SAT scores, I think you have a decent shot b/c of your URM status–combined with a high GPA and good leadership roles. Work on the SAT though! It can only help to have a higher score.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether your professed adherence to atheism will make a difference or not per se-- but i could see someone denying you admission for being not too sharp-- i.e., affirmatively proclaiming adherence to philosophy which proactively promotes the non-existence of God on an application to a Jesuit institution. Your judgement may be seen as questionable. However, on the other hand, you might get points for your honesty and moxy for admitting to your beliefs, or lack thereof. good luck.</p>
<p>@ayzdad-- you see i thought georgetown would maybe like to diversify its student body
but whatever, its not like i applied yet and actually marked it. but it was just something i was thinking about.
when i was child, georgetown was always one of my top schools be/c of their foreign service department, but as an atheist who has been the victim of taunting, i was just wondering how openly the university accepted them.
i would rather tell the truth than to get accepted and be miserable.
but i’ve been told by many people so far that gt is pretty accepting of everyone.</p>
<p>Jesuit Catholics, in my limited experience, are extremely intelligent and self-assured. They don’t seem easily scared by the mere existence of someone who doesn’t share their religious beliefs. That always made sense to me; if your faith in God is that fragile that simply knowing that an atheist goes to the same college you puts it in danger, then maybe you are an atheist too!</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t think Georgetown especially cares about it.</p>
<p>Circular, are you referring to the Jesuits? Because the Jesuits are an incredibly dedicated, devout order of men who have given their lives to the Church and to the pursuit of knowledge. They certainly are considered more open to discussion and debate, but are not any less devout than more conservative orders. Some of my favorite professors at Georgetown have been Jesuits and an incredible part of Georgetown. As mentioned previously, the OP doesn’t have to worry about being discriminated against for being an atheist. But he like all Georgetown students should prepared to be pushed to challenge his assumptions about the world</p>
<p>thanks for the feedback. One thing i really cant tolerate are really conservative devout christians who attempt to force their beliefs onto others. it is a world-renowned university so im guessing it shouuld be openminded and open to debate. i am actually visiting the university next thursday im excitied.
and @hec2008- I am a girl. but thanks I really love when my assumptions are challenged actually–it makes life more exciting</p>
im excitied.
but thanks I really love when my assumptions are challenged actually–it makes life more exciting</p>