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Greetings folks, I'm an MSB student at Georgetown University, class of 2007 and I'm willing to take questions you may have about Georgetown, college life or the admissions process. Some basic information:

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Asian Male, NYC, Magnet School, First gen college student
SAT Score: 1500 (780math, 720verbal) (First try)
ACT Score: 33 (Don't remember breakdown but Reading and Math were highest and Science was lowest)
SAT2: Physics 790, Math IC 740, Writing 720
GPA: 94.2/100 unwieghted; unranked
3 APs senior year - didn't affect decisions probably: 5 in Statistics, 5 in Biology, 5 in Macroeconomics
Moderate Extracurriculars, nothing special
Good interview
Good (in my opinion at least) essay
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Accepted: Georgetown MSB, Carnegie Mellon SIA, University of Michigan (Rogel Scholar), Boston University, SUNY Binghampton
Rejected: MIT, UPenn, Dartmouth
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So, anything you all would like to know?

By Xtech (Xtech) on Monday, October 06, 2003 - 11:38 pm: Edit

What kind of questions did the interviewer ask, do they try to get you to demonstrate a lot of knowledge about the school or is it more about your accomplishments?

By Clandestine (Clandestine) on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 12:32 am: Edit

Can you tell me about the English Department and its quality in honest comparison with other colleges/universities?

By Lhomme (Lhomme) on Wednesday, October 08, 2003 - 04:12 pm: Edit

Xtech: The interviewer basically is told nothing about you other than your name and what particular college in Georgetown you are applying to. They all have a set list of questions they have to run through to get a basic picture of who you are. In regards to knowledge about the school, my interviewer, like most of the interviewers for other schools, don't really want you to spit out the same old trivia/background information in the brouchure but rather to apply what was in there to your own life and situation. It comes down to this question: What specifically (departments, classes, professors, location, size etc) about the school appeals to you and why? (This will always be asked in college interviews in one form or another.) In regards to accomplishments, my interviewer was also focused on stuff that related to the particular college in Georgetown I was applying to (MSB).

Clandestine: I can't compare the English department to other colleges simply because I have not attended any other colleges. I can say however, my current english professor (for Critical Reading and Writing) is one of the most good natured and humerous professors I've met. Most of the work we have been doing has been focused on writing formal papers and I can honestly say I have seen a substantial improvement in my formal writing. If formal paper writing isn't your thing, you can of course take other courses in the department.

By Redgrail (Redgrail) on Wednesday, October 08, 2003 - 06:31 pm: Edit

I have a question:


How does SFS rate in terms of law school acceptance?
Would you consider SFS to be better than Tufts, Woodrow Wilson at Princeton, Claremont McKenna in IR?
Are there any schools you would consider better than SFS in terms of academic quality of the BA in IR program?


Thank you!

By Lhomme (Lhomme) on Saturday, October 11, 2003 - 01:56 pm: Edit

Since I'm not currently in the SFS, I can't tell you much more than what your own research can. However, I can that the IR programs you listed are all in the elite IR circles and would most likely be considered as equals.

By Trojan1444 (Trojan1444) on Saturday, October 11, 2003 - 06:56 pm: Edit

Lhomme, what is the social climate like there? When I visited Georgetown I sorta got the impression that it was a lot of upper class white guys from boarding schools....is this at all accurate?

By Zoobalicious (Zoobalicious) on Saturday, October 11, 2003 - 08:01 pm: Edit

How are the internship opportunities in DC? Clearly, there are many positions in government for Poli. Science/IR people, but are there a sizeable number of openings in finance as well? I'm interested in MSB, but have been leaning towards schools in NYC, LA and other financial centers.

By Lhomme (Lhomme) on Sunday, October 12, 2003 - 12:40 pm: Edit

Trojan - There are a lot of upper class white people from private schools here. From my own experiences that population would be at least half the school. HOWEVER, that does not mean there isn't anything else. There is a substantial number of asians (though nothing like my high school) and a visible black community. There are a fair number of international students here as well but they blend in too well to pick out easily. The odd thing about Georgetown though, is that social divisions and cliques are less about skin color and wealth (although that does play a part) but more about what you do weekends and weeknights. If you like spending your time partying, there is a large number of groups for that, if you don't there are also a large number of people who don't. Ethnic divisions and wealth don't play that much of a part.
In terms of actual things to do, there are a bunch of stuff depending on your taste. If you want to party/get drunk every night its quite easy to do. If you don't there are a lot of oncampus clubs (the academic kind), movies, activities. Off campus, you can go to a restaurant or just do whatever you want in DC.

Zoobalicious: You generally don't take finance related classes until sophmore/junior year so internships would not be available until you have taken those classes and learned the material. All freshmen take accounting freshmen year and some do find great accounting internships in well known companies (you can also take a paid accounting position at The Corp, Georgetown's student run on-campus multimillion dollar corporation.)

By Galaal2004 (Galaal2004) on Monday, October 13, 2003 - 11:20 pm: Edit

1.What, in your opinion, would be the minimum for standardized test scores?;

2. Does religion play a huge factor in attendance at Georgetown?

By Lhomme (Lhomme) on Friday, October 17, 2003 - 05:49 pm: Edit

The lowest test score I've heard of from a fellow freshman was 1300 (not including recruits). HOWEVER, we really don't compare scores here so I don't have a full picture. Just keep this in mind though, if you have weak test scores, you should have a substantial strength in something else (sports, academics etc) to get you in.

Religion is definately noticeable at Georgetown. A good number of people here are Catholic but there is a fair number of other religions represented, as well as a scattering of atheists and agnostics. While there is an understandable majority of Catholics here, if you're not Catholic you aren't pressured to convert or change in any way. For instance, you have to take at least two theology classes at Georgetown, but they don't necessary have to be pro-Christianity (or Christianity at all for that matter). My current class, The Problem of God, debates and discusses the controversy around the concept of religion with a focus on Christianity. Another class explores world religions. The vast majority of the theology options however (but you only have to take 2 total) are about the Bible and Christianity.