Hi everyone! I’m a senior in South Florida going to a relatively competitive public high school. One of my top choice schools is Georgetown University and I applied RD to the College. I’ve listed below any and all relevant information about myself that I could think of. If you could please give me your thoughts on my chances at getting into Georgetown, I would greatly appreciate it!
Objective:
- SAT I: 1350 composite (700 ERW, 650 Math, 7/8 Essay)
- ACT: 30 (28 English, 27 Math, 33 Reading, 33 Science, 8/12 Writing)
- SAT II: 750 U.S. History, 660 World History, 570 Literature
- Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.4355
- Weighted GPA: 4.621
- Rank: 92/566
- AP: AP Human Geography (4), AP World History (3), AP Psych (2), AP Capstone Seminar (3), APUSH (3)
- Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro, AP Lit, Debate 4 Honors, AP Capstone Research, AP Calc AB, APES, American Political Systems Honors (Semester 1)/AP U.S. Gov. (Semester 2), Dual Enrollment (ENC1101 Composition I, ENC1102 Composition II, PSY2012 General Psychology)
- Major Awards: AP Scholar; a few more school-based and/or local awards; I’ve competed at numerous debate tournaments in Congressional Debate at the local, regional, state, and national levels, and I’ve advanced at many from preliminary rounds to being a top finisher in multiple quarterfinal, semifinal and/or final rounds.
Subjective:
- Extracurriculars: Speech and Debate Team (Executive Vice President 11 and President 12), Muggles United/The Harry Potter Alliance (Treasurer 12), NHS, Student Government Association, Inter-Organizational Council of Clubs, Science Club
- Job/Work Experience: A fall internship with Hillary Clinton’s campaign from September-November 2016
- Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered in the Activities Department of a local nursing home (i.e. I interacted with residents in a one-on-one or group settings, with tasks including social visits, playing games, setting up activities, teaching a skill or talent, reading out loud to individuals or groups, helping staff members, and more); helped partner (through my Debate team) to develop the nearby middle school’s own debate team, from its inception, into a nationally recognized, competitive team; annually participated in the local Relay For Life event (through NHS).
- Summer Activities: The Summer Learning Institute at Broward College: a test prep/career exploration program involving curriculum focused on ACT/SAT prep, career exploration, strategies for success, computer instruction, and dance/P.E. (between 8th grade and my freshman year); the Champion Briefs Institute debate camp, for Congressional Debate (between both my sophomore & junior years and my junior & senior years)
- Essays: Short Essay 8/10 (discussed the significance to me of Debate as a school activity that has sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of myself); Essay One 7/10 (a little robotic with regards to how I wrote it but I described myself as somebody who is steadfastly determined to mold my education to meet my own goals by wishing to extend my learning beyond the traditional classroom via taking advantage of hands-on learning through service, research, internships, etc.); Essay Two 8/10 (related my interest in studying at Georgetown University to my public-service oriented goals).
- Recommendations:
– Counselor Rec: ?/10… I’ve heard she generally uses a template but I’m one of her favorites in the overall senior class so who knows?
– Teacher Rec #1: ?/10… I’m sure it was a good letter; I not only had him for APUSH, but he’s our NHS adviser as well.
– Teacher Rec #2: 10/10… It was a very good letter; she’s my Debate coach and she chose me to be Team President. The letter itself was relatively short but sweet nonetheless. - Interview: Pretty well, in my opinion; very well, in my interviewer’s. We discussed, among other things, my passion for and goals related to public service, government, and politics (which I also made clear in my essays in addition to the interview); according to my interviewer (after the fact), I came off a bit awkwardly robotic at first re: my responses, but once I had become comfortable enough to allow myself to treat it more like a conversation rather than an interview, it went really well. He bestowed quite the thankful admiration upon me for actually having brought a resume, which he said he felt allowed the interview to end up being a much more objective discussion (rather than a subjective one) with regards to my experiences and activities (since he’d already been able to ponder over the said list without having to ask me about them first). When he was finished interviewing me about myself, he requested that I ask (quite extemporaneously, I might add) him questions if I had any. I asked a lot of good (in his opinion) questions about his thoughts and experiences re: Georgetown, its atmosphere, students he has seen come and gone for interviews in the past, if he frankly saw me as Georgetown material, etc., and he told me that he held me in quite the esteem for actually having been eagerly inquisitive and interested enough to be able to ask him good questions. He said that I’d done very well in the interview and that he’d give me high marks in his report (and that, of course, he’d recommend me for admission in said report).
Other:
- Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
- Intended Major: Government
- State (if domestic applicant): Florida
- School Type: Public, suburban high school
- Ethnicity: White (Jewish)
- Gender: Male
- Income Bracket: $40k
- Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): A devastating family death: my grandmother passed away late during my junior year, tangibly effecting some of my grades in the remainder of the year for the worse. Her passing also resulted (in addition to my having come to struggle a lot with grief and depression) in my family and I becoming the primary caregivers for my aunt who has Down syndrome, which has certainly been a profound alteration to our lives, if nothing else.
Reflection:
- Strengths: Strong essays and recommendations; a great interview; leadership re: extracurriculars (not to mention, coming across as more interested in the chosen activities with leadership positions and appearing less like somebody who just took up activities to have something to put on my app).
- Weaknesses: Test scores and rank, for sure (and quite probably GPA, too).
I’d love any sort of feedback. Thank you for any and all help in advance!