<p>I found Georgetown to have irritating arrogant culture. The Admissions office refused to check my application status over the phone. They still use the outdated method of regular mail for notification, inflicting unnecessary anxiety on the applicants. Throughout my application to Georgetown, I have been disappointed by how it operates. I have my doubts if it's worth the huge amount of money to attend such stuck-up school.</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like a fit for you. Look elsewhere.</p>
<p>A lot of schools still use mailing decisions… It’s not just Georgetown. Some universities and colleges prefer it. Georgetown was not able to confirm any part of my application being recieved as well, but that is for everyone I believe. They have so many applicants so it’s very hard to find everything and that moment to tell you. Georgetown does email you if you are missing anything, and gives you ample time to submit it, so I really don’t see what the problem is. A lot of schools do this.</p>
<p>Yea, in truth, the whole ‘we can’t confirm if we’ve received a particular item’ thing stems from the fact that the admissions office gets lots and lots and lots of submissions, both physical and electronic, every day. There’s no way to process it all instantly, or even quickly enough that one can be totally confident that if an applicant calls, the status in ‘the system’ matches everything received. What if something is sitting there, received, but not yet processed? One doesn’t want to tell the applicant, “nope, didn’t get it,” and have them freak out unnecessarily and resend something, needlessly taking up time and money.</p>
<p>The much better alternative is to simply say: “if we’re missing anything, we will tell you. If you don’t hear from us, don’t worry, we got everything.” No news is good news, as they say.</p>
<p>Truth be told, I don’t understand how snail mail adds any more “unnecessary anxiety” than electronic means of notification. The decision is the same, regardless of method of communication. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t say Georgetown is arrogant, but they definitely don’t cater to the applicants like most other schools - not using the Common Application, requiring 3 SAT II’s, not sharing admissions decisions electronically. It’s very interesting to me, and kind of admirable. Maybe it’s a way they have devised to separate people who genuinely want to go there from those who view it as an Ivy League back-up.</p>
<p>batimoreguy,</p>
<p>You are right. If GU changes their admission requirement, easily they can double the number of applicants, and the acceptance rate can go down to a single digit!</p>
<p>But I guess GU is trying to see applicants who are really interested in attending their school and are willing to spend extra effort to apply.</p>
<p>Especially for SFS and business, they are looking for people dedicated to that field of study. Sure you can try to transfer later, but the majority of people stick with it. By having a separate application, they are weeding out the people who will just add it to their common app, answer the questions, and just write an essay, or even reuse one. It takes time to fill out their apps and supplements, which shows how dedicated you are. I really like thus app process, and I wish more colleges did it. </p>
<p>I have heard people say this about Georgetown but my daughter loves it there and I always felt that the staff, teachers and students seemed happy and welcoming. The admissions offices is a business office and they are following an office protocol. It is not a local college with a warm and fuzzy receptionist but I have as far as I know my daughter has always been able to receive the help she needs as a student from every office. Professors are helpful and we are so happy with the advisors she has had - they work with her and recommend her for internships now that she is upper division in her major. To be honest, I think Georgetown is welcoming and sort of warm and fuzzy for a university of it’s caliber - don’t be put off by a negative first impression - but if you feel that way on a 2nd visit it just might not be the right school for you. Some of my friends children didn’t like the “preppy feel” at Georgetown and I really didn’t notice it but my kids were required to wear polos at their high school so there you go!</p>
<p>@avarose - As the parent of a senior at Georgetown I have to agree with you. It’s tough getting in but once a part of the school, the resources and support available to the students is amazing. Our son has had a great rapport with all of his professors and advisors. The career office has been outstanding. (He already has received two top quality offers.) The pre-law advising office works very closely with the students. He was finishing up a couple of application essays and his pre-law advisor was willing to perform final reviews via email and text after he had left for home last week following his final exams. I tend to agree that while the admissions process and notification methods are a bit archaic, they work for the school. There will always be more qualified applicants that spaces available, both at Georgetown and other top schools. That is a fact of life and it makes it harder to get in. I think that is why GU has retained their application process and has not gone to the Common App. They don’t need another 10,000 apps as they will end up with another 10,000 denials. Another part of the culture is that the Director of Admissions has been in that position for over 40 years. In his eyes, it works well for the school so they tend to stick with it., Right or wrong, the current processes make GU somewhat unique and if you want to attend, you need to work to make your app the best it can be. That’s part of the reason for the two-part application, SAT II’s, no Common App, etc.</p>