<p>i'm trying to narrow down my list of what colleges to apply to.</p>
<p>so can you tell me 5 things i need to know before deciding whether or not to apply to gtown? like the most important 5 things i'd need to "be" or "like" to be happy there? (i.e. big sports culture or liberal or outgoing or greek life, etc)</p>
<p>Our impressions: great internships, lots of well-known Washington insiders teaching or lecturing on campus, students seemed a bit more clean-cut/preppier than average, but not scarily so, great Washington DC location with lots of free stuff in the way of museums, music, parks etc., they care about their basketball. Okay that’s five.</p>
<p>thank you! what would you say are the best and worst things about gtown?</p>
<p>also, is it really religious? i’m an atheist and i know it’s a roman catholic school, so…:-/</p>
<p>whitecadillac - no. while the school’s religious affiliation does have an obvious effect on the school (the anti-abortion group being called ‘h*yas for choice’ instead of ‘hoyas for choice’, the absence of frats & sororities) it is not at all a ‘religious’ school. you will not be surrounded by ‘jesus freaks’ or super-religious people at all.</p>
<p>^oh, really? that’s good to know! are there plenty of atheists/agnostics there, then? a diversity of religious beliefs? or are most people catholic but just not crazy about it?</p>
<p>Top 5 things is hard to do. But i’ll give it a try: school spirit in the form of basketball, well balanced student body (in terms of “work hard play hard”, not as nerdy as i think some ivy league schools can be), great location in DC (basically what mathmom mentioned), great reputation for international stuff, and there’s a lot more. i think you should apply (i’m biased because i go here) but it depends on where ur interests lie. if you want a school in a city or are interested in international affairs or politics, then apply.</p>
<p>as far as preppyness goes, im from california, so anything on the east coast will be preppy too me. but the reputation is a bit exaggerated. its not like everyone dresses like an abercrombie model. but i did have to learn what vineyard vines was.</p>
<p>also, the weather is ehhhhh. but again im used to perfect sunny 80 degree weather all year round.</p>
<p>otherwise i think the school is really well rounded. theres a lot of diversity (socioeconomic, religioous, race, beliefs) and i think it’s great.</p>
<p>if you have any more questions let me know</p>
<p>thanks, mr._ca! i’m from cali too! <em>high-five</em> what is the city of dc like? does it mean that the campus is not so connected and is more city-centric?</p>
<p>whitecadillac - i’m sure mister_ca could answer this much better than me, but one thing that i personally like about georgetown is its duality: it’s an enclosed campus but it’s also right in the city. however, it isn’t on the metro, which would possibly make getting around dc a bit tougher.</p>
<p>kcmdonahue pretty much got it. we have that campus feel but were also in a city. the not having a metro thing is a little annoying, but u get used to it. the school has buses to the two closest metro stops all the time. a little inconvenient, but i go into dc a lot</p>
<p>thanks, guys! 
what do you guys think stands out about gtown in comparison to other colleges? what makes it special?</p>
<p>i think the thing that makes it unique is the type of kids here. everyone is really well balanced. everyone is smart, but not nerdy, and they know how to have a good time and party. as my RA said “we try to be an ivy academically, but we try to be a state school socially”. i think thats the biggest differentiator. a lot of ivy leagues are full of kids that don’t know how to balance their lives. do u have any colleges in particular that you are considering also?</p>
<p>whitecadillac - I absolutely love everything about georgetown, but one negative, and I know its just one person, but I had my alumni interview the other day and the guy gave me such a negative/snobby perspective of the school and himself seemed elitist. The interview really really turned me off and I’m not even sure whether I’m still applying. He kept repeating that unless a student is number one in the nation at something or has a perfect sat score he/she would not get into georgetown nor would they deserve to go there. </p>
<p>and personally, that was a big negative for me, but the campus is absolutely gorgeous and the school fantastic.</p>
<p>wow that sounds pretty harsh! strange that he’d act like that. :(</p>
<p>^^^almost - your interviewer was a jerk, and had no business saying anything of the sort. I’d be turned off too. I’m sorry you got a bad interviewer, but I guess all schools have a few jerks and you just happened to get one. Frankly, I would say something to the Admissions Office (especially if you don’t apply or when decisions are done in April) because other applicants should not be subjected to this guy.
GU is a great school. Yes, it is very competitive admissions-wise; big surprise. If you otherwise liked the school, you should apply.</p>
<p>^^^^almost - the same thing happened to me with my interviewer. He was chewing gum the entire time! He laughed about how international students can get in with lower scores than other students. I don’t think it’s appropriate to laugh at how low or high someone scored on a test. I believe grades are more important than SAT/ACT scores because grades show consistency and effort over a period of time rather than one four hour test.</p>
<p>Thanks guys:)
And yeah my dad said the same thing - theres jerks everywhere. Thats why I’m trying to not let it affect my view of the school, however, I’ve heard from some of my friends that they had similar experiences. And for sure, I’m planning on calling the admissions office at some point in time. </p>
<p>and bluecheerio - that was totally inappropriate of him/her, seriously.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear about the bad interviewers… Mine was great, very down-to-earth, willing to listen to everything that I had to say, and told me lots about herself and the school.
If you’re looking for international opportunities, Gtown is definitely a good choice, you can go on their websites to check out their overseas programs.
I live very close to DC. I’m not a big fan of cities but DC is one of my favorites, not as hectic as NYC, but similarly diverse.
Gtown has more of a suburban campus than an urban one - it has its own community. But commuting to the city is very convenient. They have the GUTS buses coming every 10min or so to take you to the nearest subway stations (10min drive). I heard that the majority of students don’t need cars.
This is the results of tons of research and a tour to Gtown… You can probably tell that I’m obsessed with the school hah :)</p>
<p>In terms of religious diversity, there is much religious diversity! Relative to other schools, there is more of a religious presence in terms of having Jesuits, resident chaplains, and various sacred spaces. However, I think the most important thing is that most people at Georgetown act mature about religion and respect everyone’s own spiritual or non-spiritual choices. I think that ties into Georgetown’s general view of accepting different aspects of diversity. Of course you’ll always have other people who are ignorant and just want to stay in their little shells of homogeneity.</p>