Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgetown University
1

gtown has been a dream of mine since my freshman year! I’m applying (maybe EA) to the SFS with an intended major in international history

stats:
SAT: 1580 (790 each section)
SAT IIs: 800 world history, 740 french oops (an admissions rep I emailed told me I shouldn’t retake, they would look at my AP score/French grades more), hopefully will get to take US history + Physics this August or September
GPA: 4.61 weighted, all As
APs: will graduate with 18 maybe 19 total, 5s on all I’ve done so far
currently sitting at #7/70 in my class, was ranked higher before our district made a change in rank policy in the middle of my junior year lol (my counselor will probably mention this in her letter)
i go to a highly-ranked public magnet!

ECs:
was chosen to be a senate page this summer (!!) (but it may get cancelled bc of COVID )
student volunteer coordinator + fellow on a local school board campaign
interned for a state rep and volunteered for his mayoral race
co-founder and leader of a community service program where we teach ballet biweekly to kindergarteners at a local, disadvantaged elementary school
co-founder and president of LD debate
mock trial all four years (will be captain next year, gone to state twice)
co-founder and VP of french club, also TA’d for a French III class to tutor students
co-president for activism of a political discussion group at my school
NHS president
active member of Girl Up chapter at my school
interned last summer at my church (did mostly community service work, also started initiative to get more teens to visit our library)

i feel pretty good about teacher recs- i’m probably going to get them from my debate coach/English teacher/thesis advisor and from my AP world/Euro/psych teacher/TA advisor/mock trial advisor, both of them know me really well.
my dad went to gtown law if that counts as legacy status?
i know i don’t have just a ton of international relations-related activities, but i know international history is one of the less commonly applied for majors and i think i can really emphasize my passion for history (i’m doing a thesis course next year, taken as many advanced classes in it as i can) alongside my passion for political engagement and global involvement/understanding.

please let me know if you think i have a good shot or if there’s more i should do! i’m really worried about my lack of IR involvement

2

You are a good match for GT, but that probably means a 1 in 3 chance of admit. They had 21,000 applicants this yeas and admitted 3300. That means that they turned away almost 18,000, many of whom were also very strong applicants.

Schools like Georgetown are a reach for almost anyway. I’d be optimistic, but I’d also continue to shop around so as to develop a backup plan.

3

Current SFS junior – the SFS tends to like applicants who can clearly show why they’re interested in IR. For many, that’s with involvement in IR activities, but that’s not the only way to do so. As long as you can weave together a cohesive narrative about why the opportunities you’ve had so far and the things you’re interested in led you to decide to study IR, and why Georgetown is the place to do so, you’ll have a strong chance. Obviously stats matter, but yours seem in line with what other applicants so I wouldn’t be too worried about that. At this point, I think the best thing to do is to think about why Georgetown makes sense for you given your path so far, and how can you convey that through the app so that admissions sees the same thing.

4

If your essays are good I think you are in. I don’t know how you got so many AP’s done…

5

Current SFS sophomore. Your academics/activities show that you would do well at almost any selective college and a lot of the political activities seem well geared to Georgetown in general. As long as you can explain why the SFS works best for you specifically, which can include interest in IR in general as well as the specific classes/programs offered though the SFS, you would have a great chance (of course, nothing is a sure bet at Georgetown)