<p>In another post, in response to a question about GU's generosity for FA, it was stated that "Georgetown is broke." I had heard before that GU's, endowment is smaller than some other schools of equal or even lesser stature, but I hadn't considered it "broke" in that it had $1 billion give or take in its endowment. Compared to some Ivies and others that's meager, obviously, but how does this affect the school's undergraduates?</p>
<p>Is this hyperbole, or is there a serious money crunch? Does it mean that school services are likely to suffer in the next few years? What effect does a money crunch have? And, with such high-powered alumni, why does its endowment "suffer" as compared to other schools? Too many going into government work :rolleyes:?</p>
<p>Yes, Georgetown's endowment is rather low, considering its reputation, I suppose. The reason for this is because many alumni do enter fields such as foreign service or diplomacy, which in turn do not pay particularly well. Of course, I'm generalizing; many alumni also do work in investment banking or fields of the like.</p>
<p>Those are some explanations, but the main one is probably Georgetown was very late in starting an Advancement Office and fundraising efforts compared to peer schools... although 2007 there has been a bigger push towards alumni giving and it has increased significantly from 2006.</p>
<p>heh, gadli's point is interesting. I have a pre-med friend here who told me his father wanted him to JHU because everyone there would be a rich doctor, while people graduating from Gtown would go on to do poor relief work.</p>
<p>Yes, compared to average schools worldwide, Georgetown has plenty of finances. But among peer top flight schools, Gtown's endowment lags far behind. Gtown will meet the need estimated on your FAFSA. (based on their calculations) It will not do anything beyond that. The thing is, schools like Harvard and MIT, the best of the best, are able to spend large endowments on meeting financial need beyond the FAFSA. Other peer schools to gtown slightly lower on the food chain ca spend their endowment on merit aid to the best of the best. Gtown can't afford to do either. Unfortunately,that means we loose out on a few top students, who are lured away to other schools, een if gtown was their first choice. It creates a diffiult situation for the school admins, who seem to be trying to raie that number as of late.</p>
<p>I recently visited the library and was appalled at how dirty the windows were. This makes me believe that there are serious money problems at Georgetown, or it is just poorly run.</p>
<p>kuvaszkin, you probably came during the aftermath of Club Lau, which is a crazy dance party in the library. it's really not that bad. although the library is very ugly.</p>
<p>The library isn't dirty or anything, it's just ugly and depressing, because every time you go in there, you know you're in there for a good 5 hrs...</p>
<p>I agree with kuvaszkin, georgetowns library IS dirty and ugly and outdated. Most of the books regarding econ and recent history are useless because they are way too old. The equipment of the library is rather poor - compared to other universities. Studying in the library is hell because it depresses you after two hours and makes you go to the Leavy center, even though people cant stop talking there. I heard that Georgetown now wants to build a new gym though, to attract better athletes...I think that is depressing news, even more depressing than the library</p>
<p>I personally didn't go to the library too much, unless it was for a group project meeting, or just needed to get away from the house/dorm. Many people do use it, and it's obviously PACKED during midterms and finals. In 4 years at Gtown, I never thought it was dirty. It just isn't that attractive (I remember Yale's library, it's amazing). As far as its selection goes, it has old and new books, including textbooks. It serves its purpose, thats about it.</p>
<p>the reason we dont spend much on our library is that most professors who do research have appointments at other institutions like the world bank, imf, brookings, etc. also everyone has access the the best library in the world, the library of congress.</p>
<p>yeahh, even though I'm 90% pro-Gtown, the library system is one thing that needs improvement, especially as a top/prestigious/etc. school. We can look at schools in the same category like UPenn, Harvard, and Yale, and their amazing library systems. I haven't really researched the history behind them, but I'm guessing they might've started earlier than Gtown. Columbia has a large library system/holdings, and students also are near the New York Public Library system, one of the largest libraries in the country as well. Also remember that the Woodstock Theological library is one of the largest Catholic religious library's in the country.</p>
<p>Going down to lib of congress can be a pain though...</p>
<p>It's tough to find time for it other than the weekends... I also think we need a better library system... and more upbeat furniture and coloring to cheer up the though of studying for long periods of time...</p>
<p>Georgetown is also part of the Washington</a> Research Library Constortium, so if Georgetown doesn't have a book or it's checked out, you can order it from GW, American, Catholic, Gallaudet, George Mason, Marymount, and UDC and it will arrive within a day or two. I've used it a lot this year and it's been very helpful.</p>