I was admitted EA and Georgetown is my top choice; however, I have some reservations. Most of these questions would be best answered by current students I’ve seen around on various threads, but I would love input from anyone who is familiar with Georgetown!
General:
Are the students as sleep deprived and stressed as they’re portrayed to be? Does Georgetown glorify stress? If so, do you have any tips for dealing with this?
The classic collaborative vs. competitive question… How cutthroat is Georgetown?
I’ve seen Gtown described as pre-preprofessional. What is the students’ main focus? Are they curious and excited to learn or more focused on the end goal of obtaining a successful career?
Are the students thoughtful and contemplative? Basically, are engaging (as opposed to shallow) conversations adn discussions prevalent?
How easy is it to make friends?
How prevalent is partying/drinking?
SFS specific:
7. What specifically are the benefits of having a school (SFS) for those interested in IR rather than a major/dept/program like others schools have?
8. How are the undergrad research opportunities?
9. I looked at the SFS senior survey breakdown, and the postgrad outcomes seem surprisingly private-sector oriented with many recent grads working in finance and consulting. Is this reflective of the general goals of SFS students?
10. Is it worth going to SFS for the prestige for undergrad when I am planning on going to grad school?
P.S. I know that “no student body can be generalized” but idk how else to ask my questions. Thanks in advance!!!
Hi, I’m a current SFS freshman and I’ll try to answer these as best as I can.
General:
There is a busyness culture here, but I think a lot of people acknowledge it and try to avoid it. For me personally, I've had to pull several all-nighters around midterm season or when clubs and coursework piled up, but I could have honestly avoided them by budgeting my time better. I think a big reason that the busyness culture emerges is because a lot freshman (I'm guilty of this) shotgun and apply to a ton of clubs just to see which ones they get into, and end up getting overwhelmed with commitments. I'd advise to chose your extracurriculars wisely to avoid this.
Everyone I've met has been extremely collaborative. I've never experienced any sense of a cutthroat culture. However, it may be possible that it exists among MSB students where there is a tougher curve or among pre-meds, where GPA matters a lot.
Georgetown is definitely extremely pre-professional, to the point that it may be a little off-putting. If you look at the post-graduation outcomes for the class of 2014 here: https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/hgo1otoernjss0f5otleedn5ksxjnmd you'll notice that about 40% of those reporting (74% of the class year) went into financial services or consulting. Honestly, I feel like a lot of people here care more about getting a job than an education, but on the other hand, I've had some of the most interesting conversations in my life about subjects like philosophy, diplomacy, and history while here. I suppose while the school as a whole leans towards pre-professionalism, there is no shortage of intellectually minded people.
Well I guess this one depends on the context. You're probably not going to find any thoughtful conversations at a party but I've had many intellectually stimulating discussions both in class and in casual settings. Of course, there will be shallow people who enjoy talking about Vineyard Vines or Kim Kardashian, but you'll find people like them no matter what college you choose to go to.
From my experience, people's social lives here revolve around the clubs that they're in and residential life. It's harder to make friends in classes than in high school since they don't meet everyday but you can form study groups and get to know them that way. I was the only person from my high school to go to Georgetown so I really had to make an effort to get out there and make friends. I guess even now there's only a few people that I really feel comfortably talking to at college. But I feel like that's the reality for everyone, and you shouldn't buy into the idea that you'll make instant lifelong friends within a month or even a semester into college.
Friday and Saturday are the two big party nights here with a good portion of campus heading out then and a couple people (mostly upperclassmen) going out on Thursdays. Drinking is pretty common, I'd say a majority of students probably do it but I also know of many who don't. However, partying at Georgetown is much, much, more tame than what goes on at some state schools. I've stayed over at friend's dorms at both Michigan State and UMich and students partied a lot more there than here.
SFS:
Unlike most other schools offering IR programs, the SFS has specific majors that combine IR with other important areas of study. For example the STIA major (Science, Technology, and International Affairs) lets you even fulfill the premed requirements if you so wish. The core curriculum, while huge, will give you an incredible basis for higher level study in IR. In addition you'll be surrounded by peers who are also passionate about IR and some of the best scholars and practitioners in the world for their fields of study. The only fault that I can find is that it can be a bit restrictive since you aren't allowed to double major or even minor (outside of the IR-focused certificate program).
I hear they're pretty available, although I haven't experienced any myself. Look up GUROP (Georgetown Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program), the Mortara Fellowships, the Walsh Scholars, and the Carroll Fellows for specific research opportunities offered to undergrads. You'll probably end up getting most of your research either through relationships with professors or applications.
I think that most people come into the SFS wanting to go into public service/diplomacy but end up being drawn away by the money offered in finance/consulting. However if you look at last year's survey (linked above) you'll notice that of people going straight to employment after the SFS, about a third of them go into either public service, education, government, or research, so a good amount of people still follow that route.
I guess that depends. What kind of graduate study do you want to do? If it's IR related, the SFS offers 5-year master's degrees in some subjects. The SFS also places very well for law school admissions and I've heard from some upperclassmen that the advising's really good. There's also a direct admit program to Georgetown Law, but law schools in general pretty much only care about GPA and LSAT school, and all other things being equal I'd assume that going to a more well-regarded school would give you a boost. For PhD programs, you need a top GPA, strong recommendations from well-regarded professors, and evidence that you can do research, which probably benefits smaller schools.
People are definitely busy. However, I think what's most important is finding a group of friends that don't glorify the culture, and that's totally possible. Anyone who looks down on you because you might not be busy enough is insecure. I can think of several people that are all too concerned about making sure that people know that they're busy, but I don't think it's unique to Georgetown. Also, clubs are often what you make of them -- big commitment, small commitment, etc.
Collaborative for sure. There are some people who can be a little too concerned about their image and might be slightly passive-aggressive, but most everyone knows who they are. This is probably what I like the most about Georgetown.
Yes, quite pre-professional. If you're looking for a liberal artsy intellectual feel overall, it might be hard to find. But that doesn't mean that people aren't interested in academics for the sake of academics. There are many avenues and niches for specific intellectual interests.
I wouldn't worry about this. I enjoy thoughtful conversation, and I've found it with the right friends. But I'm not sitting on the lawn wondering on and on about philosophy, so I would not go for that characterization.
Not that hard, not that easy. Like the above poster, it depends on your clubs, which can be hit or miss socially. I still haven't found a close group, but I'm making an effort to connect more with people that I see regularly. And dorm halls are definitely hit or miss. Can't control that though freshman year.
I'm not big into partying, so I would say that it's the dominant culture like most other colleges.
Yes, there are students who spend weekend nights in Lau, but I'm personally a member of a few clubs, have a work study job, and study and language, and still have time for at least 10 hours of sleep a night.
Very. You'd never expect to be rejected from doing LAYOUT for the school paper, but alas. Clubs are ridiculously competitive and if I had known about that before coming I would probably have applied to more schools.
Pre-professional, though there are some of the "learning for learning's sake" kind of people.
Yes. Expect to hear heated conversations on incredibly specific topics, even in Leo's.
Pretty.
Pretty. Expect to see Natty cans littered around Village A, B, Henle, etc every weekend. It's loud from Thursday-Saturday night. But that doesn't mean you'll be forced into it. I've gone to maybe three parties (I'm a junior).
SFS specific:
7. Brand recognition. I interned at the State Department and SFS grads are everywhere.
8. I’ve never done this, so IDK.
9. It’s actually bizarre to me how many SFS grads go into consulting and finance. Even more bizarre is that a ton of students intern at State but have never even considered joining the Foreign Service (which is my dream job).
10. This one’s up to you. Going to a cheaper in-state school for undergrad and then doing Georgetown or Harvard for grad would still get you the previously mentioned “brand recognition.”
@SafeFromScience When did you start looking for a workstudy? I was awarded a work study in my financial aid package (I’m going to be a freshman) and I’m not sure if I should applying to jobs in the summer. If you don’t mind me asking, can money from work study be used for personal expenses outside of campus? I don’t want to depend on my parents for money but I also dont want to miss out on DC. How many hours did you work a day? Thanks!
Start applying for work study as soon as you can, because the good jobs go quickly. I was on work study for every semester at Georgetown (although I didn’t use it my junior or senior years because I found better ways of making money). Work study money can be used for anything, its literally a paycheck deposited in your bank account or mailed to you. There are rules about how many hours you can work through work study, I believe the maximum is 20; in any case, I never did more than 15 for work study and 20 for outside internships.
As a recent graduate of the SFS, I’ll take a crack at the questions posed by the OP.
I never found this to be the case, although people bragging or complaining about how little sleep they get is quite common. As some one who spent more time than I probably should have on extracurriculars, research, and working, I never found myself truly overwhelmed by the workload Georgetown offered. In fact, I never pulled an all-nighter until my junior year, by which time I was sleeping through classes and deliberately leaving assignments till the last minute. If you have a good work ethic, you should be able to manage without too much stress, although outside factors always play a influential role (bf/gf drama, roommate drama, I think you get the point)
The only time students at Georgetown will be cutthroat is if you disagree with them on a political issue, in which case expect to be called a fascist and a racist. It's quite disappointing how bad the quality of discourse on campus has gotten, but in an academic sense, everyone is very welcoming and willing to help.
This is a very pre-professional school. Most people in the SFS I'd wager are looking toward their outward career, and I don't think there is anything wrong with this. As someone who works for a consulting firm now, having financial security is a huge relief and your first job out of college is not your career. I think more people need to remember this.
I basically answered this in 2, but ultimately it depends on the people you collaborate with and who your friends are more than anything.
If you are outgoing, pretty easy. If you join clubs, also pretty easy. Floors freshmen year bond very tightly as well, at least in VCW. If you want friends, go out and make yourself approachable. People will come.
It's pretty prevalent, especially since the University has emphasized having parties on campus instead of in the neighborhood. People will start drinking Thursday night and won;t stop till Sunday morning. The parties aren;t as crazy as state school parties though, mainly because spaces at Georgetown are very small and cannot fit too many people.
I went through the entire SFS program, and aside from the specific professors you can find, there is almost no real benefit aside from name value. A government major in the College will take many of the same courses as your average International Politics major. This means that you have to focus on the life-changing professors, get to know then, and know what you want from them. These aren't always the big name professors like Albright either. Really do research into what you want from the SFS and meditate on it, and I assure you that you will be able to find people in the SFS who can help you.
Pretty good if you talk to the right professors. Mentioned earlier were the Walsh Scholars, Carroll Fellows, and Mortara Fellows, which will really help, but all of those are pretty competitive to get into. I would highly recommend everyone apply to those (and for the Mortara Fellows, talk with your proseminar professor early to ensure they will actually bother to nominate students, because mine did not to my everlasting chagrin), but if you do not get in, look around for job listings, ask professors in office hours. If you search, you will find someone who can help you do research.
Pretty much answered earlier
Depends on the grad school. If you want to go to law school, you need a good LSAT and GPA, they do not care about the SFS. Business Schools care more about your work experience. PhD programs need high GPAs and good letters of recommendation. This is where the SFS can help you, if you talk with the right professors and get them to help you. You need a track record of previous research for the best PhD programs. Moreover, what you do outside of Georgetown matters a ton as well. These places care whether you have been doing research at the top think tanks, working for prestigious consulting firms, whether you go to conferences and present, etc. You need to do a lot more than coast off the reputation of the SFS. In short, the SFS will not close any doors to you, and it may open a few of them, but just a little bit. The rest is up to you.
@BostonGurl42 I applied to one job mid-Aiugust and the one I actually got in September of freshman year. Things like student guards I think are a little later on and honestly better jobs. You get paid for doing absolutely nothing. My job has no down time but I get paid the same as guards.