Chance a confused junior!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgetown University
1

<p>Hey. Gtown is definitely one of my top choices for next year. I'm searching for some advice about my chances.
Thanks.</p>

<p>Prospective major: Economics in the college or Business (MSB)</p>

<p>Stats:
-- Female
-- East Asian
-- International
-- American international school that sends many to top schools excluding HYPSM
-- Current junior</p>

<p>Financial aid: None will be requested/needed</p>

<p>GPA: 3.86 weighted (3.97 w/o frosh year)
-- Frosh: 3.6 (no APs allowed), Soph: 3.89 (no APs allowed), Junior: 4.05
-- School has a weird deflating system in which 96 = 4, 95 = 3.6, 93 = 3.3, etc.
-- No weight for honors classes, limited AP classes (2 per year, and only junior and senior year)
-- To put into context, the highest GPA in my class is a 4.0 weighted.
-- Class rank not reported. </p>

<p>SAT I: 2340 (750 CR, 790 M, 800 W)
-- First try.
-- Not sure if retaking, but probably not.</p>

<p>SAT II: 800 Math IIC, 790 World History, 780 Chemistry</p>

<p>AP: Macro Econ (5), Micro Econ (5), Bio, Chem, Calc BC, Comparative Gov
-- Macro & Micro Econ were self-taken.
-- Calc BC and Comp Gov are for senior year. </p>

<p>Toefl iBT: 118/120</p>

<p>In-school clubs/teams (school offers very few clubs/teams):
-- Debate Team (10, 11, 12)
-- Math Team (9, 10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>Work experience:
-- Law Firm Select Intern (11 winter, 11 summer, 12 winter)
-- National Finance Center Intern (11 summer)</p>

<p>Volunteer work:
-- Youth Volunteer Orchestra (10, 11, 12)
-- Geriatric Center Volunteer (11, 12)</p>

<p>Other:
-- Flute (hobby) for past 7-ish years</p>

2

<p>You’re a very competitive applicant, but it’s hard to say more than that because there are so many very competitive applicants. Your test scores are great. Your ECs adequate. What is your unweighted GPA?
But let me ask you a question: what are you looking for in a school in terms of size, location, feel, etc?
Also, are you more interested in studying econ or business? Two very different things at most schools. Penn is obviously great for both (business being in the Wharton School). Chicago is great for econ. Northwestern is great for econ and, if you are a standout math student (as your scores suggest you are), you could be in the MMSS program and econ, and possibly even get into the Kellogg certificate program, which is as highly regarded as Wharton. (Plus, the location of the NU campus is, to my way of thinking, much more appealing than Penn’s, but that’s admittedly very subjective.) Wash U also offers both econ and an undergrad business school, and is comparable in quality to Georgetown.<br>
Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>My school doesn’t release unweighted GPA or rank. </p>

<p>I’m looking for an intellectual, diverse, mid-sized school either with good school spirit. I think Georgetown matches this pretty well…</p>

<p>I’m more interested in studying econ (maybe math as well) and probably won’t do business. Penn seems like a big reach for an applicant like me, but I’m definitely applying to Chicago and NW (MMSS). Wash U seems to lack the international prestige and name recognition that Georgetown (and Chicago, NW) has.</p>

4

<p>I can’t speak to the question of international reputation, but I can tell you that people in the US who really know about these schools would regard Wash U at least as highly as Georgetown.<br>
Of the schools you listed, if you are interested in Econ and Math, my first choice would be Northwestern (NU, NW).<br>
I have a graduate degree from Georgetown, where my cousin and other friends went for undergrad; my daughter went to NU undergrad (Econ and English); and I know Wash U and Penn pretty well. For the combination of quality, location, spirit and size, I would go to NU - but again, that is incredibly subjective.<br>
Since you are applying RD, rather than ED - in which case you would be bound by an acceptance, you will have the opportunity to see what options you actually have and then make a choice.
Good luck!</p>

5

<p>I completely disagree. Georgetown, by leaps and bounds, has a superior international reputation when compared to Northwestern and Wash. U. In fact, few schools, other than HYPSM, have the international reputation of Georgetown. Other than in the fields of medicine, Wash. U. has name recognition issues as well as a lack of social prestige relative to other top schools. Of the schools mentioned, Georgetown provides the best combination of undergraduate focus, location (Evanston, St. Louis, and Philadelphia cannot compare to Georgetown/Washington, DC), school spirit, diverse social life, quality of life, and academics that are not solely ivory-tower focused. WCAS describes attending Georgetown for graduate school–of the schools listed, most of Georgetown’s graduate programs are not nearly as prestigious as UPenn, Northwestern, or even Wash. U.–but Georgetown has always focused on undergraduate and professional education (to its own detriment in university rankings). Rest assured, however, that Georgetown’s undergraduate program carries far more weight in international circles, and the undergraduates compete and surpass Northwestern and Wash. U. in graduate/professional school placement, Wall Street reputation, prestigious fellowship winners, Peace Corps representation, government placement, etc.</p>

6

<p>^^see your first 3 sentences. I said that I CANNOT speak to international reputation.
But I personally would choose NU.
I’d also take Evanston/Chicago over Georgetown/D.C., but as I said, it’s really a matter of taste.</p>

7

<p>Our son was accepted RD to Northwestern and Georgetown last year. He was leaning heavily towards NU but went to both admitted student weekends in April. The school spirit at the Georgetown weekend sealed the deal for him. He is happy and involved but I think he would have been just as well adjusted if he had selected NU. He is planning a government/IR major and a business minor.</p>

8

<p>WCASParent–ah, I see that you did say that you cannot comment on international reputation. My error. Do you agree about the social prestige of Georgetown vs. Wash. U. vs. Northwestern in the U.S.–that is, that Georgetown carries, for whatever reason, more social prestige than the latter two? Also, can you describe your preference to Evanston/Chicago over Georgetown/DC? Is it just a personal preference, or do you feel that there is something intrinsically better about NU over GU in terms of location for undergraduates? I have friends who have attended/are attending Northwestern for undergrad and/or graduate school, and faculty friends at Northwestern, and many/most of them on the Evanston campus reiterate that they hardly ever go downtown and that Chicago plays little role in the social/academic experience (obviously, those in Law/Medical School at the downtown campus are in Chicago proper). During my and my friends’ undergraduate experience at Georgetown, the neighborhood of Georgetown and the city of DC were huge in terms of the social, academic, and pre-professional experience.</p>

9

<p>^^I do not think that, within the U.S., GU “carries more social prestige” than NU or Wash U. (I’m also not sure what you mean by “social” in that context.) As I said in post #4, among people in the know, Wash U is regarded as (at least) GU’s equal, and I think NU might be regarded a bit more highly still. (While I think some people put too much stock in USNWR rankings, it’s worth noting that NU is ranked the highest of the three, and I think has been ranked above GU for as many years as I recall.) People who know higher education in America recognize NU as the academic equivalent of places like Dartmouth (although Dartmouth is smaller, harder to get into and has more “prestige”), Brown, Penn, Cornell, JHU, etc.<br>
As for location, as I said, it’s really a subjective preference, but I went to grad school at Georgetown and spent a lot of time on its main campus, in the Georgetown neighborhood and in “downtown” D.C. Northwestern students do go into Chicago quite a bit, but Evanston is such a great suburb that there’s not much need to if you don’t want to. The campus is beautifully situated on the shores of Lake Michigan, and it’s a quick ride to downtown Chicago, if that’s what you want. The school spirit, like GU’s, is first rate.
All three of them (Wash U, GU and NU) are absolutely first rate schools. If someone had a choice, it would be a win/win/win situation. My preferences are what they are, MY preferences. Other people might love the idea of being in D.C., or prefer the campuses of GU or Wash U, both of which feature more interesting architecture than NU. I personally think that NU is as good as it gets, and there is not a school in the U.S. that I would have preferred to have my daughter attend (and I don’t think she would have had any trouble getting into Wash U or GU).</p>

10

<p>“Social prestige” in terms of non-academic reputation factors. All three schools are strong academically–like Hopkins, Duke, ivies, Rice, Stanford, Emory, Tufts, MIT, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt etc. But there is such a thing as “social prestige” that is more about the “impressive” factor, which is obviously more subjective. It is related to social status (and I’m not talking about pretentiousness, more the “wow” factor), sophistication, social connectedness, service, history, tradition, etc. It is the reason why you find so many of the people attending the most renowned boarding schools (Exeter, Choate, Andover, St. Paul’s, etc.) routinely choosing Georgetown over places like Duke, Notre Dame, Wash. U., and Northwestern (and similarly choosing Harvard over Stanford and MIT). If you look at the matriculation data of these and other super-elite private/boarding schools, you will see what I mean–Georgetown wins out with these students over Northwestern and Wash. U., in particular.</p>

11

<p>By the way, WCASParent, which graduate program did you attend at Georgetown? I am interested in hearing more about your experience as a graduate student there. Additionally, you frequently comment on peoples’ admission chances as if you have inside knowledge–are you an alumni interviewer or affiliated with the admissions office? Also, I’m curious as to why you would respond to someone’s “chances at Georgetown” inquiry by directing them to other universities (you seem, in particular, to have a “Wash U” and “Northwestern” agenda, based on this and other threads that you post). It seems peculiar that a parent, in particular, would provide his/her “own prefernces” to a high school student who is obviously bright enough to consider all of her options…she just wanted to know her chances, not your preferences (between options you suggested, not her).</p>

12

<p>Actually, itschristmas has expressed elsewhere an interest in a wide number of schools - including NU, Wash U and Chicago - which is why I asked what she was really looking for in terms of the size, location and feel of a school. So I didn’t refer to other schools out of the blue. I was trying to figure out what was important to her and what might suit her best.<br>
I think all these schools are great, as I noted above. GU hardly needs me to tell everyone who posts how great it is; it’s got plenty of cheerleaders, and rightly so.
As for which GU school I attended, I have a degree from the law school. I got a feel for the main campus because my cousin, who is a year younger, was a senior there when I was a 1L, and I spent a lot of time there.
As for admissions, let’s just say that I have a fair amount of knowledge and insight because of connections to the admissions office at a certain “most competitive” university, which gives me a pretty good idea of how the admissions game works.</p>

13

<p>Thanks; that is very helpful. The law school at Georgetown is certainly removed from the main campus and doesn’t generate the same experience as four years on The Hilltop. As an alumni interviewer and former admissions officer at Georgetown, I can say that there are many things similar but also many things different about Georgetown’s admissions process and that of other “most competitive” schools–particularly when you compare Georgetown to Wash. U…</p>