Georgetown 2023 Applicants Discussion

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgetown University
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Hi everyone !!

I have finished my application to Georgetown’s SFS, just waiting on teachers to submit their recs and the interview (does anyone know when that usually is?) I visited the campus in August and I loved it !! Another question, do they track demonstrated interest? I have been accepted into UIndy (applied because it’s a free app and close to home), and applied to Butler, Valpo, Tulane, Rutgers, Pomona & UChicago.

As far as tests go, my SATs are a 1400 and a 1430. (730 reading/670 math & 710 reading/720 math) I know these are kind of low, and I haven’t taken the ACT or any subject tests even though they are recommended :frowning: My unweighted GPA is a 3.98 and my weighted is a 4.47. No exact class rank, estimated top 1-2% of 300. The course offerings are pretty limited (rural school) and a lot of classes got cut from my senior schedule. I took advantage of free 6 credit hours at Ivy Tech (Indiana community college) and am currently enrolled in World Lit and next semester I am taking Spanish 3.

I have been a varsity letter winning track thrower for three seasons (count on this season too). I’ve earned top 10 scholar athlete every year, and last spring I also earned Indiana Academic All-State. I have also competed on my schools academic teams all four years, mostly Decathlon and Spell Bowl. I have two jobs, a local restaurant and Target. My senior year schedule is decent, I suppose, for what my school offers, and I am doing very well with managing my time between school, work, and extracurriculars.

I don’t want to talk much about my info because I can’t do much about it now, but more about what I submitted on my app. I think that my secondary report and teachers recs should truly represent me, I hope (??). My school has seniors fill out a paper that lists their activities, awards, and some questions about who we are and what we want to do. My counselor asked me about a certain question and loved my answer so I hope that helps her understand why I want to go to Georgetown. As far as teachers, I asked my AP Seminar/junior English teacher (would’ve instructed AP Research if it wasn’t cut) and my Spanish 3 honors teacher (would’ve taught me AP if it wasn’t cut). My seminar teacher understands my interests because of my research papers, and I think she can definitely see how Georgetown is the right fit. I asked my Spanish teacher because my intended major (culture & politics) requires foreign language proficiency and I absolutely loved Spanish! It would be the definite language that I would study.

As far as my essays go, I don’t necessarily want to say what they were about, but they are unique, in my opinion. The broad Georgetown essay was about personal experience and how it shaped my identity, and my SFS essay was about a current world issue (not a widely publicized one). I actually pulled from one of my AP Seminar essays because it covered the requirements perfectly, and it is something I am passionate about.

I applied Early Action and I really hope I get in just because I feel like it’s where I belong. I want to pursue a career in government/politics and the opportunities at Georgetown and in DC are amazing.

Thank you for any comments back && Good luck to everyone applying!! (Also sorry for any weird spellings because I’m typing on my phone ? lol)

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@awilson45 congrats on having such a great application. Your score is a little low but you are in the ballpark. My best advice would be for you to take subject tests this fall so that if you are deferred, you have those to add to your application in the RD phase. They realize students may not have them for EA, but I think for RD your competition will have them…if not three, at least two. But if you can handle three, take them because you will in a way be signaling to them that you really want to go there and are taking the application recommendations seriously.

They do NOT track demonstrated interest and of all of the admissions offices I have come into contact with, they are among the least communicative (the admissions counselors, that is). The office is always helpful but they really don’t like students to reach out to counselors to demonstrate interest (not that you are saying that’s what you want to do). By all means, though, if you have a meaningful question that can only be answered by an admissions counselor, then of course you should reach out. They claim not to notice who has been to campus, but if it’s a top choice for you, I would say it’s a good thing that you are on record for being there. It certainly can’t hurt.

Sounds like your essays will be strong which I think can really help. I think they really read them and take them into consideration. They have stood by their high application standards in a time when more schools are making it much easier to apply. This is a good thing for applicants like you that really have a passion for the school. They will likely pick up on that in your essays. They are really looking for kids that WANT to go there and for the right reasons.

As for your alumni interview, you should be contacted by someone in October-ish, I’m guessing. Maybe sooner or later depending on the alum in your area.

Good luck and let us know if you get in! Hoya Saxa!

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I got an email yesterday about my interview.

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@collegemomjam I am going to take that advice and register for some subject tests. I know that I am definitely taking Spanish, but what should my other two be? Should they pertain to my major? I feel that it is redundant to take either World or US because I got a 4 & 5 on those AP exams.

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@awilson45 I would take whatever ones you think you will score the highest on. My daughter got in EA two years ago and she had only taken Math I and Math II before the EA deadline. She was scheduled to take a third one (English?) in January in case she was deferred. She score very high on both Math so that probably helped (780 and 790).

When are you scheduling Spanish? You can always spread them out…might be too late for October, but there’s Nov and Dec. I think they no longer offer January which kind of stinks for this exact reason.

As for your AP scores, you can send those officially also, not sure if you have already. I think the process if a bit different and if you only want to send those two AP scores and not any others you have taken, you have to fill out some kind of special form.

But you might not need to send them. I think many kids just self report the AP Scores. Some schools don’t really look at them but self reporting two good scores certainly cannot hurt.

Good luck!

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@collegemomjam I am scheduling my Spanish for November since that’s the only month listening is offered. I think I am going to take Math II and Literature in December.

Thank you so much for the advice and help!

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sounds like a great plan! Good luck!

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Georgetown (SFS in International Politics and minoring in french and/or arabic) is my first choice but I’m not sure about getting in - my sat is a 1520, weighted gpa 4.44, and I’m taking 3 subject tests in october and I’m applying early action.

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Just got my interview email!!

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@awilson45 did you get an interview email after submitting the whole application or just after you did the first part?

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@mswimurb19 I got mine after I submitted everything, but I think they start the process as soon as you submit the first part and the fee.

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Hi everyone!
I’m super nervous because I really want to go to a top University but I’m afraid I’ll get unlucky. I’m applying early to Georgetown SFS and it’s tied for my first choice with Columbia.

Does anyone know how much, if at all, Georgetown considers AP scores? And if I send them, should I send all of them or leave out the one three I have? (It turns out taking physics 2 without physics 1 first was a bad idea… and our teacher played fortnite when he was supposed to be teaching us)

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@Leninorleave to your question about AP Scores.

When my daughter applied to Georgetown and a few other elite schools a few years ago, we had the exact same question. Generally speaking it seemed like it would probably be OK to just report the scores but we felt since they were strong, it could only help to send them officially (and for what it’s worth, I do think some schools do want them officially).

To find out the school’s official stance on this, it is probably best to call each of their admissions offices directly. Or email your rep.

I can tell you what my daughter did and she did get into Georgetown (and Dartmouth, but she’s at Georgetown). She contacted college board and had them send her a special form that allows you to select which AP Scores you want sent. I think if you want to have any eliminated, this is the way you have to do it otherwise they will send all of them.

So at the time of applying (she was also EA) she sent all but one of her AP scores. We were a little worried about doing this because she was also an AP scholar with distinction at the time and we were worried that they would realize she wasn’t submitting a test because you have to have had a certain number of tests to get this award. And they would have also seen that she took AP Chem and wondered why we didn’t send that score (she hates science and our science department is a bit weak). But that’s what we did. In retrospect, it probably would have been fine to send one 3 especially since the others were all good scores. She ended up getting AP National Scholar at the end of senior year so that 3 never held her back!

You will have to send the scores anyway if you get into Georgetown and matriculate so that you can place out of some of the classes (they are really good about giving kids credit for 5’s, and some 4’s also).

Another thing to keep in mind is that some schools MIGHT take that 3 in Physics to place you out of science. So wherever you end up, check their requirements before you matriculate. My other daughter is at a college that takes 3’s to place out of foreign language.

Good luck!

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Hi everyone! I’m a senior and Georgetown has been my dream since I was in the 5th grade. I’m applying Early Action to SFS, with a prospective major in International Politics.

I was wondering if some current students or parents could give me some tips on what to improve on my application prior to submission, and if my stats are solid.

My SAT is a 1490 with a 3.98 GPA and 4.78 WGPA. I’ve taken 11 APs with all 5 scores thus far except Chemistry, which was a 4 (bitter but it’s fine, I’m fine). I have 200+ community service hours logged. I have two years of Spanish, two years of French, and Greek spoken in the home in addition to English. I have taken 3 Subject SAT tests – retaking my U.S. History, scored above a 700 on the Chemistry. World History I took as a sophomore early on without knowledge that I had to send it in, and scored poorly. I’m going to take the hit for the bad score and attempt to turn them in the direction of the 5 on the AP exam rather than the poor score on the Subject Test.

I have started a political activism club at school where we have registered over 200 students to vote, along with other various club activities like writing letters and bringing in guest speakers. I am a District Office intern for my local Congressman and also serve on his Youth Cabinet where I advise him on issues important to me and the student populous. I also started a Greek club that meets to spread word about Greek heritage and culture, where kids can try new food, learn new dances, and meet new people in a welcoming environment. As for positions in other areas, I am the President of my Speech and Debate Team (and have placed regionally in Congressional Debate), serve as the Vice President of National Honor Society, Team Director for Dance Marathon (a Children’s Miracle Network project), and a Platinum-winning National Hellenic Dancer, to highlight some of my extracurriculars.

I also spent a month at Georgetown in the summer between sophomore and junior year, taking classes on campus and served as an ambassador for the program itself. I have also taken a tour of the school and gone to an information session on-campus.

I have always wanted to attend Georgetown and am extremely nervous for the decisions to come out. If anyone could provide commentary on my academic and extracurricular profile, that would be great! Thank you so much!

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How do you fill out the activities list for the application? Can you write in what you actually did for each activity, or leave that for the resume?

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I’m just putting official positions/titles in the “Position Held/Role” part, saving most of the details for the resume. @panoramaproject

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For the teacher/counselor letter of recommendation, I added my teachers/counselor electronically through the Application, but I went on Georgetown’s website and have recently found out that they have specific forms for the teacher recommendation, secondary school reports, and mid-year school reports. However, when I spoke to my counselor today, she said that she was able to submit these electronically. Is this true or do I have to print these forms for her to fill out and then mail it to the university?

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@matraze I know that my counselor and teachers submitted electronically to Georgetown, so I think you should be good! Don’t worry about physically mailing any forms in.

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@matraze , my DS just did the electronic request through the application. One of them has been completed, without any printing or hard copies on our part (or, I assume, theirs). I wonder if the electronic request that is sent to the teachers through the app includes those forms. You can go back on to your app and see when they have been received by GT.

For those asking about interviews, my DS received information from his interviewer about a week (definitely within two weeks) after completing the first part of the app only…the part that says it takes about 15 minutes and to do ASAP. He had not yet completed the second, much more detailed part before hearing from his interviewer.

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I’ll be calling later today since I turned in my initial application piece over a month ago with no notification. I probably just don’t have one but I want to make sure. Any other EA people in here? I’m almost done with the application essays and it’s very nerve-wracking but exciting! Hopefully my ACT score on 10/27 goes up to give me an extra boost