My Chances at Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Colleges & Universities A-Z Georgetown University
1

<p>Hello.</p>

<p>I'm a junior from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and I am interested in advice as to what I should do to better my admissions prospects for Georgetown's School of Foreign Service.</p>

<p>My Stats are as Follows</p>

<p>Grades:
Grade 9 average of around 84 percent
Grade 10 average of 91 percent
Grade 11 average of 93 percent</p>

<p>SAT:
Math: 730
Reading: 710 (Georgetown does not consider the writing portion)
SAT IIs: Will take Math 1, Spanish, and French in June</p>

<p>APs:
This year I sat the Spanish and French exams. Next year I am expecting to write the World History, Economics, Stats, and Calculus Exams (Italian is also a possibility)</p>

<p>Extracuriculars:</p>

<p>Sports: 3 years of competitive swimming, 2 years of provincial (or state in your case) level cross country (I was a member of the regional and city chamipionships winning teams), 2 years of track (I am defending regional silver medalist in the 3000m) and this year I started playing winger on my high school's rugby team.</p>

<p>Languages: Aside from English, I speak fluent French and Hebrew. At school, I have taken 3 years worth of Spanish courses (I am a year ahead doing my grade 12 course this year) and I have been privately studying Mandarin for 3 years and Italian for 1.</p>

<p>Miscellaneous:
I co-chaired my school's United Way Campaign which raised the most amount of money across a city of 5 million (one of the prerequisites of winning the corresponding spirit award is to improve on the previous year's camapaign's results). I organized a day long protest in support of the Darfur cause as part of a nation-waide fundraising competition (I came third). I have frequently been involved with my school's Modern Language Department, most notably organizing a careers-type day to encourage study of the French language (French enrollment subsequently rose by 60 percent). I've been apart of my school's student council; 1 year included representing the student body before the school's alumni foundation. This year I am responsible for my school`s first ever time capsule project.</p>

<p>Awards: I have been a runner-up in the University of Toronto<code>s Spanish and French contests. Last year I received my school</code>s award of recognition (an award given to one student per grade- each grade is roughly 400 kids)</p>

<p>Please feel free to offer any advice that you may thik relevant for Canadian students in particular. Thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>I think this might be interesting to Georgetown (considering their emphasis on languages)</p>

<p>Grade 10:
German: 93</p>

<p>Grade 11 Marks:
Spanish: 95
French: 94</p>

<p>Grade 12 Marks (taken this year)
French: 94
Spanish: 94</p>

3

<p>Are you fluent in those languages? Cause that’s a BIG advantage for SFS. Also, back them up with SAT2 language exams if you can.</p>

4

<p>I’m fluent in French and Hebrew. With the other languages I’d put myself in between conversationalist and semi-fluent.</p>

5

<p>I think that your extracurriculars and your language abilities will stand you in good stead, but I think that your grades, in particular in Grades 9 and 10, make Georgetown a reach. Your best shot at overcoming that disadvantage is to study hard for those SAT II tests and shoot for over 700 on all of them and over 750 on two. SFS likes to see a social studies test in addition to language tests, so I might switch the math test for a US History or World History. It’s a reach for everyone, and your grades don’t exactly make you a shoo in, but keep showing that international relations/government focus in your ECs, work hard to show an upward trend on your transcript for the rest of this year and the beginning of next year, and get good SAT 2 scores, and you’ve got a shot. My experience is that Georgetown does pay attention to essays and is willing to take a chance with a student who shows a genuine passion for international affairs and great interest in SFS, so keep that in mind as you go through the application process.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the reply. I’ll only be taking World History next year so I’m wondering if there are any books/materials that you would recommend I go over to prepare.</p>

<p>Have SAT scores of Math: 730 and Reading: 710 put me “on the right path”?</p>

<p>Out of curiousity, what has your experience with Georgetown been? Can you comment on the number of international students they accept?</p>

7

<p>I’m not too familiar with Canada’s GPA system. Does 80% = 3.0? 100% = 4.0? If that’s the case, then yes, your GPA is quite low. Your extracurriculars are very impressive, though. I would say reach as well.</p>

8

<p>I’m not sure. There’s talk on a different forum of how students from my province are meant to add in between eight and fifteen percent to “convert” our marks to American GPAs. I was once told that Americans work the basis that 90-93% is an A-, 94-96 is an A, and 97-100 is an A+.</p>

<p>I think our 75 percent higher than than 3.0 but lower than 3.5.</p>

<p>What do you expect Georgetown to be looking for when it comes to GPA?</p>

9

<p>Hey I’m also from Toronto and I was accepted into the SFS this year and will be starting there in the fall. Seriously, you have a really good chance of getting in. Your stats are surprisingly similar to mine actually. My average was slightly higher but my SAT math score was significantly lower and I didn’t write any APs in grade 11 (wrote 5 this year). The only potential issue might be your grade 9 average but it is highly unlikely that would make or break your app. I would just make sure that you write a really good global issue essay that preferably relates to one of your “miscellaneous” activities. Really focus on your interest in international affairs and you’ll have a good chance. Let me know if you have any other questions; I’d be happy to help because I just went through this process!</p>

10

<p>Now this is what I’m talking about: getting in touch with a Canadian who’s been accepted. What school do you go to? What major do you think you’ll choose? </p>

<p>Can I also ask about your SAT II Tests? What were your scores and which ones did you sit?</p>

<p>Again, thanks for posting and please continue to do so!</p>

11

<p>na usually a 93%/100 is A 4.0 </p>

<p>so his gpa is like a 3.6, 4.0, 4.0</p>

12

<p>Now I’m really interested lol. Out of curiousity, how did you come up with those figures? Is there a website that you can cite?</p>

13

<p>i dont have a website but i thought the usual grading in the average class was:</p>

<p>90-92= A-(3.7)
93-96= A (4.0)
97+= A+</p>

<p>oh i made a little mistake estimating his grades they are probably 3.6, 3.9(i had previously said 4.0), 4.0. cumlative around 3.8</p>

14

<p>Haha no problem, I know it would’ve been nice to talk to a Canadian who was accepted at this time last year. I go to Trinity College School (boarding school like an hour and a half east of Toronto). I’m pretty sure I’ll do International Economics and a certificate in International Development, but I was also looking into Int Political Economy. Probably Int Econ though because I want to go into development economics later on.</p>

<p>My SAT IIs…hmm it was a while ago that I took them now. I took French (score was 750 or 760 or around there), Math 2 (score was like mid 600s - standardized math tests are not my thing) and Lit (haha-I’ve never taken a Lit course in my life and I got 780 so I recommend taking it if you’re good at the reading and writing on the normal SAT). But yeah for SFS I think you’d want to take a language and math 2 for sure and then one other random one.
Are you applying to any other US schools?</p>

15

<p>Also, I wouldn’t worry too much about all this gpa conversion stuff…you can get into georgetown with a 93 grade 11 average. For SFS admission, they obviously care about marks but actually seem to care more about your interest in international affairs. Your marks are good enough, I would focus more on stuff that makes you stand out.</p>

16

<p>So I got my marks today and unfortunately I dropped a bit. My average is about 91.88 (repeating).</p>

<p>Do my chances change significantly? It seems a bit strange how one percentage point can drop you three tenths (I’m referring to an above post that says that anything from 90-92 is typically 3.7)</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

17

<p>depends on the school my friend that went to a small LAC said they assume 93%= 4.0 then they divide GPA by 93 * 4</p>

<p>example: 91.88%/93% = .987956* 4.0= 3.9518</p>

<p>but again i wanna say that some colleges do it like this some do it the 90-92= 3.7 way it dosen’t hurt to ask</p>

18

<p>Hi mstrike.</p>

<p>I remember you as the one Torontonian who answered my college confidential posts, asking for help in applying to Georgetown SFS.</p>

<p>I have my interview tomorrow with an Alumnus and I was hoping that you could offer any advice regarding possible questions, what to wear, etc.</p>

<p>Btw, my updated SAT Tests are as follows</p>

<p>Sat Reasoning: 730 Math, 710 Reading, and 680 Writing
Sat2: 800 French, 720 Spanish, and 680 Math
Sat Reasoning (October) 770 Reading, 680 Math, 620 Writing</p>

<p>How do you think I fare?</p>

19

<p>I’m a junior in high school in Northern Virginia (roughly 15 minutes away from Georgetown) and am hoping to be admitted to SFS. I have a 4.05 GPA with honors and AP classes (have maintained either an A- or A in all of my classes). I am currently in Spanish 4 but will be taking AP next year. So far my SAT scores are 700 in Critical Reading 720 Writing and 600 Math. I also spent the beginning trimester of my junior year studying abroad in Southern Spain. I’ve been involved in student government all 3 years of high school and will continue to be involved next year. I’m basketball manager, head of a few clubs, am a co-chair on prom committee, am involved in numerous clubs and am the head of a few clubs. I would say my proficiency in Spanish is above conversational but not quite fluent (yet!). I have two close family friends who went to SFS (one of whom still does interviews, and one who worked as ambassador for numerous countries such as Japan, Germany, and Greece, has received numerous awards for his work in foreign service and has written numerous books) who I am hoping will be able to help me with the admissions process. Next year I will be on model U.N. at my school, as well. Is there anything else I should be doing? Also, what are my probable chances of getting in?
Thanks!</p>