<p>Rising senior, college class of '14 am I, and I've been looking at Georgetown (although not in person.) D.C. appeals to me, but the school has me a bit worried for a few reasons...</p>
<p>First: The stereotype runs that many students fit into the "John and Jane Hoya" mold, essentially prepped out to the max. Honestly, I'm more of a friendly, normal, almost liberal arts mindset but looking for a more academically serious university. How true is this?</p>
<p>Second: Georgetown is a Catholic university. I'm Jewish. How much Jesus gets shoved into my face?</p>
<p>Third: Academically, Georgetown has a very good reputation, and I'm sure that their political science department is (obviously) top-notch. But what about their bio program, and the life sciences and physical sciences? I know nothing.</p>
<p>Finally: How big are frats/sororities? I want no part of that scene, and if it's big on campus, I'm pretty turned off.</p>
<p>Graci!</p>
<ol>
<li>The Joe and Jane Hoya crowd exists, but is by no means the majority of students on campus. If you want to hang out with that crowd, you can find people like that, but if you don’t, there are plenty of other people you can hang out with.</li>
<li> Georgetown is Jesuit, which is the really laid back form of Catholicism. They are all about being open to other religions. There is an on campus Hillel and approximately 15% of the students are Jewish.</li>
<li> Not sure about the science programs specifically, but I do have friends who are science majors.</li>
<li> Jesuit universities are not big on frats and therefore Georgetown technically has none. There are a few unaffiliated frats/sororities, but if you are not interested in frats, it will not affect the social scene for you at all.</li>
</ol>
<p>Hey, as a Jewish senior at Gtown, I can assure you that the whole Catholic thing is a complete non-issue. You could probably go to this school for a semester and barely notice that it is Jesuit. However, you will probably find yourself trying to sign up for classes with the Jesuits because they tend to be amazing profs. No Jesus will ever be “shoved into [your] face.” The Jewish community at Gtown is actually quite cohesive. There is an unofficial Jewish fraternity and sorority, and weekly shabbats in the Hillel house. People go on Birthright and all the high holidays are celebrated on campus.</p>
<p>The whole John and Jane Hoya thing is also not a big deal. Gtown has this reputation because of a handful of very visible Brooks Brothers and Lacoste-wearing New Englanders happen to exist amongst a student body largely composed of students such as yourself. OK, you will not fit in here if you are a goth, but as long as you dress normally and cleanly then you will be fine- no need to rush out and replace your entire wardrobe with Vineyard Vines.</p>
<p>Georgetown is generally a welcoming and friendly place and I think you would probably really like it here.</p>
<ol>
<li>I don’t know why Joe and Jane Hoya are the stereotype. That’s really not the norm.</li>
<li>Catholicism has little to no impact on daily life, although it does prevent them from selling condoms on campus (if that’s an issue for you).</li>
<li>Science, particularly life science is good at Georgetown. If you said you wanted to come for physics, I’d tell you to rethink it, but the bio program is quite good. There are a ton of premed kids at Georgetown, so the department is strong. There’s also a lot of exciting research going on at the med school, and lots of that spills over.</li>
<li> As noted, their are technically no frats or sororities. Lots of clubs are sort of pseudo-fraternities (i.e., they own houses where they have parties), but more inclusive. It’s definitely not a big Greek school.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>I didn’t encounter very much of the “John and Jane” population at all when I visited, and any “prepped out” people I encountered were still perfectly friendly and welcoming, not snobby at all. It seemed a mellow crowd.</p></li>
<li><p>I think we were told that Georgetown was one of the first universities to have a full time Rabbi on staff at the campus when we visited. Christians, Jews, or Muslims, it seemed like everyone was very respectful of other religions and they really stressed that on the tour. I’m sure it won’t become an issue of any kind.</p></li>
</ol>