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I was under the impression that the statistical difference between College admission rate and SFS was like a percentage point or two. But what you fail to point out is that SFS is fantastically more self-selective than the College.
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<p>True - the College is where you go if you're still figuring out what you want to do with your life. SFS is a professional school, not a liberal arts program where you can dabble in a bit of everything.</p>
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My alumni interviewer was in SFS for his first two years and then he transferred to the College to graduate a year early and save some money. And he indicated the same thing. He told me there was a distinct cultural and work-ethic difference between most College majors and SFS, based on his experience as a student in both. SFS is unimpeachably the pinnacle of Georgetown, even if not its foundation, and to suggest otherwise borders on the absurd.
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<p>I disagree that SFS is the "pinnacle" of the university - the College, Law Center, and Med School would all have something to say about that - but you're right in that it is Georgetown's signature undergraduate program. And I agree that your interviewer is certainly on to something. Being in SFS versus, say, being a Government major in the College would still show numerous academic similarities but we would see a distinct difference in focus between the liberal arts Gov't major and the professional SFS course of study.</p>
<p>My point is that the culture of SFS lends its students an imprimatur they haven't necessarily earned. Yes, the workload is high and yes, the competition is intense, but no more so than for their peers in one of the College's pre-professional programs or at the Business School, where grades alone more or less determine at which brokerage houses you do your summer internship and thus get to work upon graduating. (It's not ALL about grades at MSB, mind you, but they are the overriding factor.)</p>
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Finally, to suggest that SFS students have no grasp of science does a disservice to the school. I, for one, have taken over four years of math and over four years of laboratory science in high school (1 year of chem & physics each, 2 of bio, 1 of environmental science), scored a five on the AP Biology exam, etc. Just because my passion is IR does not mean that I, or other SFS admitees/students, are not equally competent academically in math and science as we are in the social sciences and humanities.
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<p>I apologize if I offended you with my remarks. Most students at Georgetown took 4 years of math and science, including APs, in high school and did well. My point is that (A) what's covered in high school is introductory-level knowledge that (B) will be 4 years cold by the time you graduate college unless you take some refresher science courses in the meantime. And your workload will be such that you'll barely have the time. One SFS friend of mine went PRE-MED and did ROTC while in SFS and blasted himself with year-round study of math and science. He's now doing an MD/PhD at UCSF. But he is... oh, how can I put this diplomatically... completely bass-ackwards nuts. You won't see very many people do that to themselves and successfully pull it off.</p>
<p>I guess my memories of SFSers as freshmen are unfairly coloring my perception of the school - the frosh do most of the self-important whining. Several of my best friends are SFS grads and I know dozens more besides and few, after freshman year, did much complaining beyond the usual "help, I'm drowning in crap!" laments all of us uttered at one point or another.</p>
<p>For the record, I myself never had any SFS ambitions - I lived overseas for several years before college and just wanted to settle into a traditional college environment for a while thereafter - and eventually took my A.B. in Theology. I realize that my posts may sound like attacks on SFS - they're not. It's more an expression of amusement than anything else. SFS has a fantasic reputation they've worked very hard to build and earned many times over. Just don't let it blind you to all the other good stuff happening at Georgetown.</p>