<p>Hey everyone, I go to a prep school in NH and my college councilor said that Georgetown only cares about stats, scores, and GPA/grades. Georgetown is one of my top schools among 5, all of which are far reaches/stretch schools so my GPA and SAT scores are lower than the standard and average that gets in. I am a first generation, low incomes student, hispanic, whose parent died of cancer, and thus was constantly moving between the US and Latin America. </p>
<p>My College councilor spoke to me and she said that Georgetown doesn't really care about race, affirmative action, struggles and overcoming adversity and obstacles, first generation status, etc. I feel like I am an excellent student at a top prep school in the country, whose grades and scores are not at par with my wealthy, white peers due to some of my personal situations. Does Georgetown really not take this into account or care about this, compared to other ivy's and top universities. I find this to be tough to believed but my college councilor is also a very recognized councilor so her word has to mean something. what do you think??
compared to schools like Penn, Columbia, Duke, Northwestern</p>
<p>I would say she’s wrong.</p>
<p>so would I, but this has to come from somewhere. I think college councilors specifically mine, know a lot more than all of us when it comes down to all these things. This statement deffinately cannot be proved, as the university would never release these stats or comment on this, so it might be an urban myth or based on her experiences with other minorities or urm’s.</p>
<p>[The</a> Georgetown Voice University fails on affirmative action](<a href=“http://georgetownvoice.com/2008/02/21/university-fails-on-affirmative-action/]The”>University fails on affirmative action - The Georgetown Voice)
this is an interesting article about affirmative action at GTown</p>
<p>You are low income yet attended a prep school in NH, and moved between the US and Latin America “constantly”?</p>
<p>Yes I attend Phillips Exeter Academy, which some say is the best high school in America. I was from the NYC area, was a basketball standout and also a great student in the crappy NYC public schools getting straight A+'s. Exeter has great financial aid and my family pays close to nothing to attend. When my mother died of cancer I moved to my family in Latin America. </p>
<p>I’m not sure what the point or significance of your question is.</p>
<p>I would say that your counselor clearly knows precious little about Georgetown’s commitment to diversity across the spectrum (geographic, race, ethnicity, socio-economic, and political). </p>
<p>The article you posted was from 2008 and Georgetown has continued to maintain that strong commitment to create a diverse campus.</p>
<p>In 2011 Georgetown saw an admissions rate that was very high with Latino students…"Georgetown also met many of its admissions goals in terms of diversity. The incoming freshman class includes at least one student from all 50 states in the U.S. New York has demonstrated the highest yield after slightly edging out California, the state with the highest number of applicants.</p>
<p>Those who are not U.S. residents will arrive from 49 nations around the world this fall. Deacon said that of the almost 2,400 international students who applied to Georgetown, about 15 percent were admitted. About half of that group has committed to enrollment.</p>
<p>Additionally, 151 African-American students and a record-high 169 Latino students have committed to Georgetown, giving the university a 40.5 and 45.6 percent yield rate respectively among these groups."</p>
<p>[Waitlist</a> Closed as Yield Nears 50% - The Hoya - Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record Since 1920](<a href=“http://www.thehoya.com/waitlist-closed-as-yield-nears-50-1.2237510]Waitlist”>http://www.thehoya.com/waitlist-closed-as-yield-nears-50-1.2237510)</p>
<p>Thank you for you’re comment.
Let me re-phrase my question a little better. My councilor said that Georgetown only cares about stats. I mean, obviously it cares about diversity and whatnot, but does it put a bigger emphasis on numbers and less on stuff outside the classroom compared to other elite universities?</p>
<p>Maybe you should stop making excuses about your grades</p>
<p>I’m not making excuses for my grades, hence this is why Georgetown is my reach.</p>
<p>Okay, then to answer your question I don’t know</p>
<p>All the schools which use the common app agree to a holistic review. That said, you still have to meet their standards. Any school with challenging academics is going to need to know you can master that competitive environment- that’s where stats come in, along with your courses taken and their rigor, in the context of how competitive your hs is. Lots of prep kids apply to all the “name” schools- with great stats and ECs. Your GC may be saying your particular competition will be fierce and that your hooks may not be strong enough to overcome that. If your stats fall below the averages GU admits, you’d be wise to have safeties. Also, financial aid safeties.</p>
<p>Georgetown doesn’t use the common app…</p>
<p>I am surprised at this- PEA has been doing this for years- they are very experienced and have good relationships with the AdComms, so I would expect them to be correctly informed.</p>
<p>Did your college counselor really say this to you? Exactly what did he/she say? Maybe you misunderstood.</p>
<p>I would be surprised if this were true about Georgetown, also.</p>
<p>And I am surprised that a college counselor at PEA would share info, even if true, in this way.</p>
<p>Sorry, didn’t realize that GU doesn’t use CA. But, the other schools do. OP wrote, GPA and SAT scores are lower than the standard and average that gets in. And, grades and scores are not at par with [other kids at his school.] As far as I can see, that’s all we know about his/her performance. This suggests the GC is trying to get him to be realistic.</p>
<p>What I told my college councilot- “I visited D.C and really liked GW and Georgetown”
GC - “That’s great, GW is a strong possible for you, but Georgetown is tough because they only care about numbers. They really only look at GPA and SAT’s.”
he mentioned this several other times as well. We have naviance at my school, which gives you the info on kids that applied to specific schools from the past 5 years. 126 kids applied to Georgetown and 56 have gotten in, with an average GPA of 3.6 and SAT of 2137. I have a 3.38 with a 2050 SAT. the 3.6 is the average, 25% had higher scores and 25% had lower stats. Hopefully through the app, I can get a chance to tell my family story, explain that I am low income, first generation latino, and maybe the can be the hook for me to be part of the lower 25% that gets in.</p>
<p>Now if you are pro affirmitive action or not, it is prevalent and you can’t blame us for trying to better our lives and use it towards our advantage.
My dilema is that I need to cut down some reach schools from my list, and IDK if my specific “hooks” are really being looked at by Georgetown compared to at other of my reaches.</p>
<p>Apply if you would always regret not trying. But, please be sure you understand how schools offer finaid. There are very few slam-dunks out there.</p>
<p>Based on my kids’ experience: sometimes, emphasizing that one college only cares about numbers means: “your numbers make this too much of a reach.” Even with your hooks. </p>
<p>Regardless of hooks (or the myths about them on CC,) you have to fall within “range” for the college to keep bumping you through successive reviews. Make the best app package you can. You have to show, through your academic and EC experiences, writing and LoRs, that you can master the challenges at a competitive college. So, I am saying, now it’s in your hands.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you what Georgetown will think, I can tell you what my perception is.</p>
<p>You are looking to exploit your family history and your “race” to get in to somewhere that you don’t really deserve to get into. You talk about your hardships, your “poverty”, your color, and how that somehow stopped you from succeeding; despite apparently attending an elite prep school. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that’s true, but I am saying that is how your posts read. If you want to talk about hardships and different life experiences, obviously do that. Do not mention anything like “white, wealthy peers” or any nonsense like that, just talk about your own story and how you’ve grown as a person because of it. Your GPA is obviously very low for Georgetown, so it is indeed a reach. It doesn’t really matter if you “feel” like an elite student, the numbers don’t support that. </p>
<p>She probably is just trying to discourage you because of how much of a reach it is. Just apply and see what happens, but I can tell you that you should NOT paint a picture of yourself as a victim.</p>
<p>I agree with George34 do you realize how many poor white people never get the chance you have. Being poor and white is never a good thing. Being poor and a minority gets you scholarships to these rich white schools. I have never seen a poor white kid get any such scholarship.<br>
Apply to Georgetown but don’t aspect anything because of the color of your skin because as I see it you got a one up on most of society already by going to such a great prep school.</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments, but the average GPA that got into Georgetownout of 56 students if a 3.6 and mine is a 3.4. That is the difference between a high B+ and a low B+. My numbers aren’t that far away.</p>