<p>These are both top two for me, a competitive debater, music lover and foreign service officer hopeful.
I'm curious if anyone has any comparison of the schools on literally ANY factor (dorms, classes, student body...etc) I've visited both and I see pros and cons to both schools.</p>
<p>I know Gtown has the Walsh School of Foriegn Service and that DC is a great location for internships, but I've heard the student body isn't very diverse and is extremely preppy. I'm a white, female, liberal Methodist from New York who is used to (and values highly) having a diverse set of friends. It's much more interesting to me. In addition I've read that Gtown's student body can be preppish and snoby. Any thoughts? True? Not true? </p>
<p>UPenn has such a pretty campus and is in a city as well- although not as great as DC for my interests. It's a fabulous school as well, but but not as focused on Foreign service. </p>
<p>Any advice would be great! From someone that attends one of the schools or even considered both</p>
<p>As much as you relish telling your white liberal friends that you have black and gay friends, I think you’ll be more comfortable around your own kind at the end of the day, as we all are–it’s only natural. College is a substantial investment of time and money, so you’ll want to make an honest and critical assessment of what you want from your environment, so that you’ll enjoy the highest quality of life.</p>
<p>Besides, if you really care about maximizing your career prospects in IR, which is what ultimately matters, SFS is the place to go, diversity or not.</p>
<p>There are four undergraduate schools at Georgetown, so you’re bound to find you niche if you bother to look.</p>
<p>The prettiness and fabulousness of a school are just perks, too.</p>
<p>Penn is a much stronger research university. It has smaller classes, better facilities, and an all-around more distinguished faculty. Georgetown’s best program happens to be the one you’re interested in, but I’m skeptical it has any secret mojo to help you become a foreign service officer (compared to any other top school, that is.) School connections won’t help you get that job; everybody takes the same tests; they don’t require specialized knowledge. </p>
<p>Georgetown may open more doors to related IR careers. However,you have a whole career to live and breathe international relations, if that’s what you want. A university should expose you to a wide range of interesting ideas and personalities, don’t you think? Go visit both schools and decide which one would do that better for you.</p>
<p>If you’re concerned about diversity in SFS, I’d post on the Georgetown board asking about it. I haven’t gotten any impression of a lack of diversity there, but someone who actually goes there could shed more light upon the situation.</p>
<p>In terms of choosing between the schools academically, Georgetown is definitely stronger in IR, but weaker all-around. If you feel like you aren’t completely set on majoring in one of the SFS majors (which you can find on their website), then Penn might be a better choice.</p>
<p>A lot of people have the same questions you have and that’s why Georgetown Penn Harvard Duke and Stanford organize the following event. These schools tend to attract similar students and their applicant pools overlap quite a bit. So you should be comforted by the fact that many people share your predicament.</p>
<p>Check it out. You can compare all of the schools in one evening and even speak to representatives. They will give you the info on diversity. Although I think you will find that both schools value diversity. Georgetown is need blind so on top of racial and religious diversity there is also quite a lot of socio-economic diversity. As fa r as racial diversity Georgetown ranks 9 and Penn ranks 23 in list of top colleges for Black Students
[Top</a> 50 Colleges for Black Students — Infoplease.com](<a href=“Columbia Encyclopedia | Infoplease”>Higher Education: Top 25 Colleges for Black Students, 2011). </p>
<p>Georgetown also has significant representation from Latin America as many Catholic high schools in the region send their top students to Georgetown. Finally, given that Georgetown is known for producing diplomats, future diplomats from all over the world come to Georgetown to study. It’s very likely that your classmates be a future Ambassador from China, qatar, Greece, Senegal, etc.</p>
<p>You will also probably find that Georgetown is more of a hybrid LAC/research university with a greater focus on undergraduate education than your typical research university. This may result in a bit more of a “preppy” feel. Whereas Penn is more of a traditional research university with stronger engineering and science programs especially at the graduate level that influences the culture of the school. You will also learn that Penn has a strong Greek system and fraternities and sororities influence social life. Georgetown does not have a Greek system, so partying is a bit different and tends to focus on open house parties and dinner and drinks at pubs and restaurants.</p>
<p>For the arts, both Philly and DC have lively music scenes.</p>
<p>Applying to both schools makes complete sense. After attending exploring college options you may even decide to add H,S or D to your list.</p>
<p>“As much as you relish telling your white liberal friends that you have black and gay friends, I think you’ll be more comfortable around your own kind at the end of the day, as we all are–it’s only natural.”</p>
<p>WOW KWU I’ve thought your posts are aggressive and often totally wrong (like only an obnoxious prep school NYC kid could think), but this takes the cake. I’m sorry but are you serious? Maybe for jerks who grew up in NYC, but sorry many of us without that life actually appreciate diverse friendships. I can’t believe you went to Amherst.</p>
<p>^ This is the internet.
Contribute often enough, and the best college education in the world won’t inoculate you from occasionally stating something that strikes someone as irrelevant, stupid, or offensive. </p>
<p>1789 has presented Georgetown’s strengths very well. One statement worth examining is this:</p>
<p>“You will also probably find that Georgetown is more of a hybrid LAC/research university with a greater focus on undergraduate education than your typical research university.”</p>
<p>I think you’ll find that the Ivies and most other top 20 (or so) research universities do have a strong focus on undergraduate education. This is shown in the number of small discussion-based classes, the number of written assignments, the quantity and quality of feedback you get from professors, the quality of residential life, etc. The term “hybrid LAC/research university” applies more or less well to the undergraduate experience at many of these schools (though the balance can tip a little more one way or the other.)</p>
<p>FWIW, Johns Hopkins shares many of the strengths of these two schools. It has a very strong International Studies program (up there with Georgetown), which includes two five-year BA/MA programs for those who want to continue with IR in grad school. It also is a premier research university for all fields, not just the pre-meds and engineers. </p>
<p>Also, Baltimore can be a very nice city, and the proximity to DC doesn’t hurt. JHU is also affiliated with the Peabody School of Music if you want to pursue that in college.</p>
<p>I apologize for being a ghetto-dwelling low-income minority. I’m sorry that I’ve enjoyed the distinct privilege of being surrounded by low-income minorities all my life. I never realized what a privileged position I’ve occupied as an NYC resident. I feel humbled to the dust.</p>
<p>But, seriously, I can’t believe you missed this gem:</p>
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<p>I call crap out when I smell it, and this reeks of superficiality and falsehood. Given my background, it’s not surprising that my closest friends are all low-income minorities. However, I have only ever thought of them as human beings whom I care about, trust, and respect–not as “diverse” people who are “valuable” to me because they are “interesting.” OP sounds like the type who gets high off of being in the presence of token poor people of color, probably to stoke her ego or to appease some deep-seated imaginary guilty complex.</p>
<p>I wasn’t saying “stick to your own kind.” I was saying “let’s be realistic here: you feel good about having these people around, but are you ever going to interact with them on a meaningful level?” I’m not saying that cross-class+interracial friendships are impossible, but they’re a rarity, and in all likelihood the OP is going to join a homogenous clique and never talk to “those people” again after orientation week. In her case, diversity should not be a concern in choosing a college.</p>
<p>By the way, I’m feeling a lot of scorn for “prep” in this thread. What is “prep” a euphemism for, anyway? Wealthy, White Anglo-Saxon Protestant? It’s wrong to discriminate against others based on their socioeconomic background, the color of their skin, and the culture with which they associate. As funny and strange as I find the self-hating WASP complex, let me make that clear.</p>
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<p>Low, sneaky blow. I have never claimed to speak on behalf of the 1,795 students and the 195 faculty of the College.</p>
<p>“I’m a white, female, liberal Methodist from New York who is used to (and values highly) having a diverse set of friends. It’s much more interesting to me.”</p>
<p>I’m with kwu…these 2 sentences made my skin crawl. Reminds me of that episode of “Seinfeld” in which Elaine and a guy had good chemistry and a romance was developing…then it came out that he wasn’t black (like she assumed he was) and she wasn’t Hispanic (as he assumed she was). As soon as they realized the other person was painfully white, the relationship fizzled and they went to the Gap.</p>
<p>Kwu: why have you made this all about race and a sexual minority? the sentence following those two you’ve latched onto refers to SES more than sexuality and race. diversity can be represented in more ways than the color of somebody or who they prefer sexually. some people do prefer your method of surrounding themselves with ‘people like them’ and choose a college because its 70+% wasp. it doesn’t sound like the OP wants to be one of them.</p>
<p>everyone is looking for different experiences in college and you can’t make a blanket statement about who the OP would be ‘more comfortable’ around. i’m sure “cross-class+interracial friendships are … [a] rarity” at elite NE lacs and other schools. some people are really turned off by that and would prefer a different college experience</p>
<p>You can say the same about many top privates. The difference is other top privates have better research. Great undergraduate programs and cutting-edge research are not mutually exclusive.</p>
<p>I don’t see anything wrong with enjoying having a diverse set of friends. I have many friends whose parents are immigrants from China and Korea, and while I obviously value them for more than their race, I appreciate the chance to have friends who have grown up in slightly different cultures. And I like having gay and bi friends because again, they have had a different experience than me and it’s something we can talk about, and I like having religious friends even though I’m not religious because we can discuss our interests and we get to have some really interesting conversations. I value having a diverse group of friends, but that doesn’t mean I don’t value them for all the reasons that have made them my friends in the first place.</p>
<p>Comparing the two schools they many similarities. Both have the following undergraduate colleges:
College of arts and science
Business (Wharton at Penn and McDonough at Georgetown
Nursing and Health Studies.</p>
<p>The schools differ in that Penn has a School of Engineering
and Georgetown has the School of Foreign Service.</p>
<p>The schools also differ in that Georgetown has more focus on liberal arts requirements where Penn has more flexible options.</p>
<p>For example SFS, and all Georgetown, students for that matter need to take</p>
<p>For ready reference here are the senior survey reports from both universities. Assuming you apply to the College of arts and science at Penn and the SFS at Georgetown perhaps those would be the most relevant reports. It would also be interesting to compare the reports for both schools’ Colleges of arts and science. </p>