<p>Columbia, Duke, Penn, Northwestern </p>
<p>Are these peer schools? I know USNWR has them higher up, but Georgetown is definitely higher than #23 in my opinion. Georgetown took less than 20% of apps last year and have a SAT midrange on par with these schools...I guess my question is, "Despite its lower ranking, is Georgetown a peer institution to [the schools above]?"</p>
<p>Definitely Northwestern, Duke, and Penn (non-Wharton).</p>
<p>Put this into a personal perspective. I got into both Northwestern and Duke and turned both down for Georgetown because I felt the same way you did. I love it here.</p>
<p>In terms of cross-applicants, many kids who apply to Georgetown also seem to apply to Northwestern, BC, Notre Dame, and UVA. That's not to say they're all similar, but those seem to me to be the most common non-ivy top schools that Georgetown applicants apply to.</p>
<p>As a graduate of two Columbia graduate programs (including one of its top 5 professional schools), who also graduated from Georgetown SFS, I feel that I have a pretty informed perspective on this question. My class at Columbia was about 60% from the Ivies, Stanford, Duke, Georgetown, Tufts or Berkeley so I have knowledge of all the various elite programs from my interaction with my classmates. In my opinion, Georgetown is wholly on a par with any other elite university and when I compared notes with my classmates found that Georgetown with its five course per semester curriculum was more demanding than any of the others as well. The difference between Georgetown and its other elite counterparts is the somewhat more practical than academic approach that Georgetown students tend to take toward their studies (the whole Jesuit ideal of men and women for others and using knowledge as a means for change and not an end in itself having its effect). I don't think this emphasis is a bad thing since it does tend to produce leadership. While I take great pride in my Columbia background, I feel equally privileged to have attended Georgetown.</p>