Disappointed with Georgetown

[Anonymous]

They waste a huge amount of money on their religious staff, when the vast majority of students they attract are seeking a secular education. It’s like you get stuck with all the religion (it’s inescapable) just because you want the premier foreign policy environment

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most kids don’t want LACs, size is too similar to high schools. But if that is what your kid wants, go for it.

Yep. I went to a NE boarding school. Our college counselors told us that LACs would basically be 4 more years of high school.

Exactly why my son's counselor said (we're in CT.) I don't think there's a big overlap between LAC applicants and Georgetown applicants.

I graduated from Georgetown in the 1990s. It was a dump then and it's a dump now, but that had no effect on the quality of my education, the ability to socialize and make lifelong friends, participate fully in extracurriculars and activities on campus and beyond, and secure not just a great job but build a career. I would do it all over again.

OP, I would encourage you and your son to look past the shabbiness and focus on the quality of the education and the foundation it provides for a career. The academics are a cut above BC, Fordham, and Santa Clara (no offense to those schools.) And who even notices jet noise?

Seriously. Maybe flight paths have changed since I was there in 2005-2009, but I really don’t remember jet noises.

I work at Georgetown, and am wandering around campus every day. I haven't ever noticed any jet sounds. Hospital helicopters landing once in a while. But no jet noise.

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I lived in Georgetown until last year. I hear more across the river than I did living there.

Flight patterns have changed. DC is winning this one currently. It usually goes back and forth.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most kids don’t want LACs, size is too similar to high schools. But if that is what your kid wants, go for it.

Yep. I went to a NE boarding school. Our college counselors told us that LACs would basically be 4 more years of high school.

Exactly why my son's counselor said (we're in CT.) I don't think there's a big overlap between LAC applicants and Georgetown applicants.

I graduated from Georgetown in the 1990s. It was a dump then and it's a dump now, but that had no effect on the quality of my education, the ability to socialize and make lifelong friends, participate fully in extracurriculars and activities on campus and beyond, and secure not just a great job but build a career. I would do it all over again.

OP, I would encourage you and your son to look past the shabbiness and focus on the quality of the education and the foundation it provides for a career. The academics are a cut above BC, Fordham, and Santa Clara (no offense to those schools.) And who even notices jet noise?

Seriously. Maybe flight paths have changed since I was there in 2005-2009, but I really don’t remember jet noises.

I work at Georgetown, and am wandering around campus every day. I haven't ever noticed any jet sounds. Hospital helicopters landing once in a while. But no jet noise.

\

I lived in Georgetown until last year. I hear more across the river than I did living there.

Flight patterns have changed. DC is winning this one currently. It usually goes back and forth.

and I'm listening to them right NOW while working up in my home office. This is a busy time coming in one after the other to National. I don't hear them much during the day. But every night around this time the line up is coming in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids don’t want LACs, size is too similar to high schools. But if that is what your kid wants, go for it.

Yep. I went to a NE boarding school. Our college counselors told us that LACs would basically be 4 more years of high school.

Exactly why my son's counselor said (we're in CT.) I don't think there's a big overlap between LAC applicants and Georgetown applicants.

I graduated from Georgetown in the 1990s. It was a dump then and it's a dump now, but that had no effect on the quality of my education, the ability to socialize and make lifelong friends, participate fully in extracurriculars and activities on campus and beyond, and secure not just a great job but build a career. I would do it all over again.

OP, I would encourage you and your son to look past the shabbiness and focus on the quality of the education and the foundation it provides for a career. The academics are a cut above BC, Fordham, and Santa Clara (no offense to those schools.) And who even notices jet noise?

Seriously. Maybe flight paths have changed since I was there in 2005-2009, but I really don’t remember jet noises.

I work at Georgetown, and am wandering around campus every day. I haven't ever noticed any jet sounds. Hospital helicopters landing once in a while. But no jet noise.

As a parent of a student - I notice the jet noise. We noticed it during the tour (the tour guide had to pause throughout) and I still notice it when we visit. Maybe some people get used to it and whether it bothers you in the first place probably varies widely - but it is definitely present (and frequent when the flight patterns take off towards or land from the west)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They waste a huge amount of money on their religious staff, when the vast majority of students they attract are seeking a secular education. It’s like you get stuck with all the religion (it’s inescapable) just because you want the premier foreign policy environment

Do you have any actual experience with Georgetown or are you just speculating?

The religion classes are extraordinary at Georgetown. Problem of God is amazing. Each professor approaches it differently. Mine talked all about religiously inspired terrorism. That’s the only required course that has anything to do with religion.

I also took a course on the Bible, taught by a Rabbi, Imam, and Priest. It was fascinating to hear them talk about how each religion interprets different passages.

Georgetown also has a lot of interreligious dialogue events that I found fascinating.

I’m Jewish and left Georgetown with an understanding of not only foreign policy, but religion from a highly intellectual standpoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They waste a huge amount of money on their religious staff, when the vast majority of students they attract are seeking a secular education. It’s like you get stuck with all the religion (it’s inescapable) just because you want the premier foreign policy environment

My SFS student doesn't feel this way and neither do I. We are not religious but value the Jesuits on campus.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP, have your kid tour Notre Dame. Gorgeous sprawling campus and no jets flying above, except for game days.

Completely different school.

And isn't that a good thing?

Depends on what the kid wants. Georgetown is unparalleled for its connections into DC. If that’s what a kid is looking to do, career-wise, Georgetown is the best.

Notre Dame is more your typical strong school with storied sports legacy.

NP. I thought ND was better than Georgetown academically, SFS aside.

Most people do. But this is DCUM and Georgetown is strong regionally.

Georgetown is respected nationally. Most people know ND for football.

ND's class is more diverse geographically than Georgetown's, but nice try.

ND is also more domestic students. Georgetown over 17% international. They love the full pay international kids. Basically, it's the St Andrews of America.

this is funny, although I do think they take too many intl kids.

Tell that to the other top schools, then - oh and you sound very ignorant.

Ivy League average is 12%. So Georgetown almost 50% higher. Now, I realize the Ivy League a much higher level of school, but for schools in the 20-50 range, I think 17% is even higher than the peer group.

Georgetown is also not a common app school. Which I doubt you knew because neither you nor your child bothered applying there.

THIS. BRAVO.

Moreover, SFS at least requires additional essays.

The fact that the acceptance rate is as low as it is is a testament to how desirable of a school Georgetown is.

I can't think of a top 20 school that doesn't require at least two extra essays.

But Georgetown requires a completely separate application.

AND TEST SCORES---VERY HIGH ONES are REQUIRED. This combined with not being on the common app weeds out unqualified applicants from even applying so you don't get the false applicant-selectivity% that other schools use to drive the selectivity falsely down (they send countless mailings, court students...students that don't stand a chance; but having them apply makes their number look more selective and gives them application fees).

It's noted that Georgetown's selectivity is really closer to 5% if you take these things into consideration.

This. Our large NoVA HS had zero acceptances to GU last year.

So you just proved the PP's point that the Jesuit high schools (and other Catholic high schools) tend to have much higher acceptance rates than public schools. This makes total sense. That is why the other PP whose son who went to a Jesuit HS was probably correct about his likelihood of acceptance. If he were in a public school, it would be a totally different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds to me like you don’t think your kid has what it takes to get into Georgetown, and neither does he, so together you are defensively breaking up with it before it breaks up with you.

My take-away was different. Seems as though OP places a high value on academic intensity in an environment conducive to studying.

??? Um georgetown is both of those things.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP, have your kid tour Notre Dame. Gorgeous sprawling campus and no jets flying above, except for game days.

Completely different school.

And isn't that a good thing?

Depends on what the kid wants. Georgetown is unparalleled for its connections into DC. If that’s what a kid is looking to do, career-wise, Georgetown is the best.

Notre Dame is more your typical strong school with storied sports legacy.

Um, you do realize lots of ND kids end up in DC. My son just graduated and has an excellent job in a top consulting firm. He has several friends working in DC as well. Some kids want the best of both worlds (sports, academics, great campus, strong networking), and ND offers all of that.

I’m sure they do. I also know that, in my decade in the federal government, no school was represented as frequently as Georgetown SFS.

That’s the reality.

I’m not saying you can’t get a job in DC from other schools. Of course you can.

But at Georgetown, I took courses from Madeline Albright, Ambassadors, etc. Being in DC meant I could go directly to embassies to do interviews with cultural attaches when I did a paper on cultural diplomacy. It was easy to do an internship on the Hill during the week.

It’s just on a different level. Many kids choose to sacrifice a nice campus for that access and those connections.

+1

Agree. Well said. I think that OP fully realizes the caliber of GU, but took this as an opportunity to knock the campus, which is purely subjective. My friends who have kids presently at GU tell me that their kids love it, and would not have it any other way.

OP, either you want to attend a school or not - the campus will not matter after four years, the school will. If you don't believe that, go somewhere else. Simple.

Not sure of the point of your post (actually, I am, hence my response).

Georgetown’s campus is lovely. I did my MBA in the gorgeous new Hariri building ten years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have your kid tour Notre Dame. Gorgeous sprawling campus and no jets flying above, except for game days.

Completely different school.

And isn't that a good thing?

Depends on what the kid wants. Georgetown is unparalleled for its connections into DC. If that’s what a kid is looking to do, career-wise, Georgetown is the best.

Notre Dame is more your typical strong school with storied sports legacy.

Um, you do realize lots of ND kids end up in DC. My son just graduated and has an excellent job in a top consulting firm. He has several friends working in DC as well. Some kids want the best of both worlds (sports, academics, great campus, strong networking), and ND offers all of that.

I’m sure they do. I also know that, in my decade in the federal government, no school was represented as frequently as Georgetown SFS.

That’s the reality.

I’m not saying you can’t get a job in DC from other schools. Of course you can.

But at Georgetown, I took courses from Madeline Albright, Ambassadors, etc. Being in DC meant I could go directly to embassies to do interviews with cultural attaches when I did a paper on cultural diplomacy. It was easy to do an internship on the Hill during the week.

It’s just on a different level. Many kids choose to sacrifice a nice campus for that access and those connections.

+1

Agree. Well said. I think that OP fully realizes the caliber of GU, but took this as an opportunity to knock the campus, which is purely subjective. My friends who have kids presently at GU tell me that their kids love it, and would not have it any other way.

OP, either you want to attend a school or not - the campus will not matter after four years, the school will. If you don't believe that, go somewhere else. Simple.

Not sure of the point of your post (actually, I am, hence my response).

Georgetown’s campus is lovely. I did my MBA in the gorgeous new Hariri building ten years ago.

My guess is OP is talking specifically about Village A, Darnell, and maybe the ICC. It also sucks that the main library is brutalist architecture.

But you’re totally right that Healy, Copley, Hariri, White Gravenor, Dahlgren, etc are beautiful.

[Anonymous]

My oldest daughter submitted all her applications and then toured after acceptance letters arrived. It was a very different experience doing tours as an admitted student. Georgetown was one of her options. She absolutely hated it. Also thought the campus was awful. She ended up at University of Michigan. She liked Ann Arbor much more than DC. UM served her well as she’s just started her JD at Uchicago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest daughter submitted all her applications and then toured after acceptance letters arrived. It was a very different experience doing tours as an admitted student. Georgetown was one of her options. She absolutely hated it. Also thought the campus was awful. She ended up at University of Michigan. She liked Ann Arbor much more than DC. UM served her well as she’s just started her JD at Uchicago.

I’m the SFS grad who has been posting. My husband went to Michigan.

They are SUCH different schools. Both terrific, but honestly couldn’t be more different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They waste a huge amount of money on their religious staff, when the vast majority of students they attract are seeking a secular education. It’s like you get stuck with all the religion (it’s inescapable) just because you want the premier foreign policy environment

Do you have any actual experience with Georgetown or are you just speculating?

The religion classes are extraordinary at Georgetown. Problem of God is amazing. Each professor approaches it differently. Mine talked all about religiously inspired terrorism. That’s the only required course that has anything to do with religion.

I also took a course on the Bible, taught by a Rabbi, Imam, and Priest. It was fascinating to hear them talk about how each religion interprets different passages.

Georgetown also has a lot of interreligious dialogue events that I found fascinating.

I’m Jewish and left Georgetown with an understanding of not only foreign policy, but religion from a highly intellectual standpoint.

I believe it. We are not particularly religious. My kids were baptized and confirmed Catholic though. Not church goers. My HS Senior is eating up his required religion courses: Ethics, Systematic Theology, World Religions, etc. Very lively debates from kids that are devout, liberal Catholics, those lapse like him and Jewish classmates and Muslims.

To be truly educated I think you need a wide body of education: world religions, humanities, arts, history, science, etc. I was a very strict STEM person that did not take advantage of have room for this type of course work. My father and husband did and are killer at Jeopardy and so interesting to converse with literally on any topic you can bring up...they know something. And my dad was an Organic chemist but attended Jesuit HS and a Jesuit University and grad school. Very Renaissance man. Could cook and had a library of music of all kinds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They waste a huge amount of money on their religious staff, when the vast majority of students they attract are seeking a secular education. It’s like you get stuck with all the religion (it’s inescapable) just because you want the premier foreign policy environment

Do you have any actual experience with Georgetown or are you just speculating?

The religion classes are extraordinary at Georgetown. Problem of God is amazing. Each professor approaches it differently. Mine talked all about religiously inspired terrorism. That’s the only required course that has anything to do with religion.

I also took a course on the Bible, taught by a Rabbi, Imam, and Priest. It was fascinating to hear them talk about how each religion interprets different passages.

Georgetown also has a lot of interreligious dialogue events that I found fascinating.

I’m Jewish and left Georgetown with an understanding of not only foreign policy, but religion from a highly intellectual standpoint.

I believe it. We are not particularly religious. My kids were baptized and confirmed Catholic though. Not church goers. My HS Senior is eating up his required religion courses: Ethics, Systematic Theology, World Religions, etc. Very lively debates from kids that are devout, liberal Catholics, those lapse like him and Jewish classmates and Muslims.

To be truly educated I think you need a wide body of education: world religions, humanities, arts, history, science, etc. I was a very strict STEM person that did not take advantage of have room for this type of course work. My father and husband did and are killer at Jeopardy and so interesting to converse with literally on any topic you can bring up...they know something. And my dad was an Organic chemist but attended Jesuit HS and a Jesuit University and grad school. Very Renaissance man. Could cook and had a library of music of all kinds.

PP here. It was a part of Georgetown I weirdly didn’t think about when I was applying, but it ended up being amazing.

I had lunch a couple of times with a Jesuit priest at the JesRes (the big facility they have where the priests live). He taught me SO much about Catholicism and religion in general. My mom went to 12 years of Catholic school and I ended up telling her things she hadn’t been taught.

I think when people think of religiously affiliated schools, they don’t consider that Jesuits really are different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest daughter submitted all her applications and then toured after acceptance letters arrived. It was a very different experience doing tours as an admitted student. Georgetown was one of her options. She absolutely hated it. Also thought the campus was awful. She ended up at University of Michigan. She liked Ann Arbor much more than DC. UM served her well as she’s just started her JD at Uchicago.

Where did she grow up? Did she grow up locally, in DC or close-in?

My kids loved Gtown and so do my neighbors who are crazy alums--and they grew up just a few miles away though have lived all over the world.

Of course, if you want a big football school and big stadium tailgates, this couldn't be more different. 7k undergrads vs 33k. There isn't a Greek/Frat scene at GU ---something I really like.