<p>My essay talks about my experiences as an atheist, especially prejudices and whatnot. </p>
<p>A few have said that my essay is a bit TOO atheist-assertive (it seems like I think I'm right and religious people are discriminatory and judgmental). But others say it is perfectly fine. </p>
<p>Just the fact that a few people said it's assertive worries me. Will the essay rub Georgetown the wrong way (because from what I understand, Georgetown is more moderate/conservative than most colleges)....</p>
<p>If it offends Georgetown, it's probably not becuase Georgetown is Jesuit. The admissions officers are generally not Jesuit, but even if they were, the Jesuits are known for being open-minded and more liberal than other Catholic sects. Also, Georgetown really tries to get diversity in its student body, so your atheism might contribute to this.</p>
<p>However, if you sound like you think you're right and everyone else is wrong, than it probably will offend any college, religious or secular.</p>
<p>But I really don't know. If you think it's too much of a risk, maybe tone it down a little, or submit an essay on another topic.</p>
<p>My atheist essay is how I have grown from being an atheist and I discuss experiences when theists have shown prejudices against me.. not how I am better than religion. ALTHOUGH a few people said it could possibly be perceived that way. I dunno. Most people didn't have a problem at all...</p>
<p>Georgetown strives to be religiously diverse (perhaps more so than purely secular colleges, and definitely makes the strongest effort of any of the more well known Catholic colleges). This means not only do they want a class consisting of Catholics, but every religion imaginable and also those who consider themselves atheists or agnostic. </p>
<p>Bottom Line: If you are willing to send the essay to any secular college and don't consider it insensitive for those schools, then the same should hold true at Georgetown.</p>
<p>Your essay should help your chances for admission to Georgetown University; after all, it is clear that you need to be educated-and that is their purpose for being. Seriously, it will help.</p>
<p>Any essay that has the slightest chance of suggesting that you're closed-minded shouldn't be used for any college. Closed-mindedness is the anti-higher education. I wouldn't say scrap the topic, because from what you have said it doesn't seem inherently problematic. I would just look at how you chose to express your topic and soften up the tone. If multiple people read your essay and thought the same thing, there's a good chance the AO will think that as well.</p>
<p>I wrote an essay about atheism for HPY. I would NOT have done that for Georgetown. As much as we like to pretend that every single employee of a university is an enlightened liberal when it comes to social issues, I think the reality is a different story. All it takes is getting one person ticked off, and they can probably come up with 20 different reasons on paper to reject you. I did it with HYP because i felt that i needed to take a chance to make it in.</p>
<p>I actually think as long as you don't come off close minded (which would go for any topic) you'd be totally fine. And maybe explain why you've chosen to apply to a affiliated school because that's probably what they'll wonder. Every year at New Student Orientation they read passages from about 100 different application essays the admissions office received. Some are about being LGBTQ, Muslim etc...things that could be conceived as being offensive to a conservative Catholic, but those kids get in because they want a diverse class and because duh, they're qualified.</p>