<p>Hello I am a freshman here at Georgetown. I'd like to do a brief AMA because I know that this website was wonderful in helping me to decide with colleges to apply to. If you look at my profile you will see that I was made less than 10 minutes ago, and I used 10minutemail to do so. If anything, a mod can PM me and I'll send over confirmation and hopefully Incognito Mode won't cause me to automatically logout.</p>
<p>I'll be taking questions on anything ranging from admissions to campus life to initial perceptions. Do know that I've been around for less than 2 weeks so my responses will be super limited to first tastes (especially as a college freshman!). </p>
<p>Some little things about me:
- Graduated from large public high school in New Jersey
- Freshman in the business school
- Applied regular decision
- Half off Qdoba-Tuesdays are great!</p>
<p>Ask away! Since I have never made an account before I hope the mods can help me out if there is need to verify.</p>
<p><strong><em>IMPORTANT I WILL NOT CHANCE YOU OR READ YOUR ESSAYS (but not for selfish reasons, I really am philanthropic but this is not the place and time to do so)</em></strong></p>
<p>Nifty idea. You could do one at the start of each year, see the progression and how your perspective has changed?</p>
<p>One question I’m always interested in hearing the answer to: What surprised you the most once you got to campus? In other words, what did you encounter that you did not expect?</p>
<p>Well when I got to campus I didn’t know anyone, and I found out that my roommate and my entire floor is extremely comfortable with their social lives. All these people are doing dance, art, bringing their high school experiences in clubs to the school, and especially partying, which surprised me greatly. But despite the variety of students we have, everyone that I’ve met (including upperclassmen) care deeply about strangers, something endearing to see.</p>
<p>Very interesting… that’s actually one I haven’t heard before (unlike the partying one haha… always lots of parties when people arrive back on campus and the weather is nice, it dies down a bit as you go further into the semester). So you were expecting people to be more… feeling their way around, I guess? Like, Freshman Meets World kind of trying to take in and get a handle on the college social scene, as opposed to readily jumping in as if it wasn’t totally new to them?</p>
<p>What about people who don’t want to party a ton or drink? Are they “shunned” or is there any social life for those who don’t wish to partake it a ton of the parties?</p>
<p>I would say that there are plenty of opportunities to be sociable w/o partying or drinking, even on a Friday/Saturday night, but it requires meeting the right people, which likely will mean seeking out those people. They may be on your floor or other floors, they may be in certain special interest groups (the Substance Free floors, Muslims, athletes with Saturday games, etc.) or they may just be random people who have different interests.</p>
<p>My advice for freshmen is to join as many groups as possible and meet as many people as possible. Then, after some time, winnow down and zero in on your strongest interests and the most compatible groups of people once you’ve had a chance to assess them all. I’m thoroughly convinced that there are niches and groups of great friends out there for everyone - you just might have to put in some effort to find them.</p>
<p>Tangentially: I wouldn’t be bashful about going to parties as a non-drinker. Unless you have an objection to other people drinking, in many cases you can have just as good of a time at parties w/o ingesting any substances. This broadly proved true for my Mormon/not-drinking friends. People aren’t going to judge you for it; in many cases, they won’t even know the difference.</p>
<p>@cookie16: As a first year freshman you can’t really get a taste of the what the business school has to offer outside of a business stat class, but you get to see that our building is the nicest If you’re looking for reasons to apply to the business school, I can tell you that rankings do not do justice to how strong Georgetown’s presence in New York, Chicago, DC (of course) and California is. We send plenty of people all over the country and globe. What is great about our school is the support given to us, the students, to pursue what we want.
As for choosing RD over EA, I was turned away by the restrictive qualities of the EA program here (the chances of getting in and also the restriction clause in general). Gtown was really a last minute decision for me for RD, and I’m very thankful I got in.</p>
<p>@CE527M listen if you don’t like alcohol that’s fine. I don’t like alcohol. I just enjoy the partying culture. There is so much to do because you’re in DC, and I feel that most people who talk about their school don’t convey this across. No matter what school you decide to go to, if it is located in a “college town” or in a metropolitan city, there will be something for you to do. Even for people who are all about partying and drinking will come to appreciate what such an amazing city like DC has to offer. In fact, a lot of people at top schools in big cities say regretfully in their sophomore and junior years, why didn’t I take the time when I wasn’t as busy to explore my city? Its really a blessing for us to be so close to the nation’s capital, and I encourage you if you come down to visit to get a feel for the whole city!</p>
<p>Could you elaborate on what you’re referring to? Because Georgetown’s EA policies are about as non-restrictive as they get: the only stipulation is that you abide by the policies of other schools to which you’re applying, so if you’re applying ED or single-choice EA elsewhere, please don’t apply EA to Georgetown. There are no restrictions beyond this request to not act dishonestly/in bad faith.</p>
<p>ph0yad: Thank you very much for your response. It’s very helpful. So glad to hear more about the quality of the business school program. My dilemma is I’d prefer to apply EA and know in December versus April. But I hear rumors that it’s harder to be accepted early and I may have a better chance if I apply RD. I have GU-level SATs, challenging course load, strong ECs. But my GPA is weighed down by Bs my freshman year. Advice?</p>
If you’re looking for reasons to apply to the business school, I can tell you that rankings do not do justice to how strong Georgetown’s presence in New York, Chicago, DC (of course) and California is. We send plenty of people all over the country and globe. What is great about our school is the support given to us, the students, to pursue what we want.