Thoughts on Georgetown

[Anonymous]

PP here--forgot to say that Gtown wasn't overly religious. I actually took History of Asian Civilization I and II, instead of the Problem of God and the other theology course. Not sure if this is still allowed. I was more interested in studying Asian religions, and the course focused on Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, etc. That said, some of my best memories were of going to Sunday 10 pm mass called Frieze's Breeze--a 20 minute mass done by Father Frieze. You could traipse over to church from the library, get your pray on for a good 20 min, and then trudge back to the library with a whole group of friends. Good times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ND has $18-20 billion endowment while Gtown has less than $4 billion. Enough said.

ND and Georgetown are the top two Catholic schools, and lots of kids apply to both, in part bc they are both Catholic and in part bc they both offer EA. But they are not actually very alike.

One is a city school, deeply embedded with the city, with an international/ cosmopolitan / outward focus. The other is a (mostly) isolated, very large campus, with a more inward focus and a super-tight community. Both have great academics (with strengths in different areas) but very different feels. I'd think that most students who visited both would have a strong preference for one over the other, based on individual preferences.

One is trying to better the lives of billions of people around the world and the other is trying to better the lives of billionaires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ND has $18-20 billion endowment while Gtown has less than $4 billion. Enough said.

ND and Georgetown are the top two Catholic schools, and lots of kids apply to both, in part bc they are both Catholic and in part bc they both offer EA. But they are not actually very alike.

One is a city school, deeply embedded with the city, with an international/ cosmopolitan / outward focus. The other is a (mostly) isolated, very large campus, with a more inward focus and a super-tight community. Both have great academics (with strengths in different areas) but very different feels. I'd think that most students who visited both would have a strong preference for one over the other, based on individual preferences.

One is trying to better the lives of billions of people around the world and the other is trying to better the lives of billionaires.

As a non-Catholic, this is a sincere question: which is which?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ND has $18-20 billion endowment while Gtown has less than $4 billion. Enough said.

ND and Georgetown are the top two Catholic schools, and lots of kids apply to both, in part bc they are both Catholic and in part bc they both offer EA. But they are not actually very alike.

One is a city school, deeply embedded with the city, with an international/ cosmopolitan / outward focus. The other is a (mostly) isolated, very large campus, with a more inward focus and a super-tight community. Both have great academics (with strengths in different areas) but very different feels. I'd think that most students who visited both would have a strong preference for one over the other, based on individual preferences.

One is trying to better the lives of billions of people around the world and the other is trying to better the lives of billionaires.

That is a ridiculous characterization. ND certainly has more social conservatives, but the majority of the students identify as Democrats. Georgetown is definitely more woke, but lots of students go into private equity and become lobbyists.

These are two good schools. All elite schools have students that perpetuate the power structure. I'd say both ND and Georgetown, as a result of their Catholic affiliations and administrations, have a more explicit concern for the poor than their non-Catholic competitors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not much of a campus.

This is why we were also underwhelmed. And the facilities are not well maintained. My kid's first choice is ND, the exact opposite to Georgetown from a campus perspective. Much more green space, beautifully maintained. But she applied to Georgetown as well because she really wants a Catholic school. She is also not super interested in being so close to home, so there is also that.

Everyone is different. We loved Georgetown's location and campus! We are Catholic, too, but prefer Jesuit colleges.

[Anonymous]

Notre Dame and Holy Crioss alumni contibute at a much higher rate around 50% than Georgetown. Gtown endowment is an embarrassment compared to ND.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not much of a campus.

This is why we were also underwhelmed. And the facilities are not well maintained. My kid's first choice is ND, the exact opposite to Georgetown from a campus perspective. Much more green space, beautifully maintained. But she applied to Georgetown as well because she really wants a Catholic school. She is also not super interested in being so close to home, so there is also that.

Everyone is different. We loved Georgetown's location and campus! We are Catholic, too, but prefer Jesuit colleges.

Georgetown is Jesuit, not ND.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not much of a campus.

This is why we were also underwhelmed. And the facilities are not well maintained. My kid's first choice is ND, the exact opposite to Georgetown from a campus perspective. Much more green space, beautifully maintained. But she applied to Georgetown as well because she really wants a Catholic school. She is also not super interested in being so close to home, so there is also that.

Everyone is different. We loved Georgetown's location and campus! We are Catholic, too, but prefer Jesuit colleges.

Georgetown is Jesuit, not ND.

That’s probably why the PP said they prefer Georgetown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame and Holy Crioss alumni contibute at a much higher rate around 50% than Georgetown. Gtown endowment is an embarrassment compared to ND.

Current giving is not why Georgetown’s endowment is so much lower than ND’s (and other peer schools’). It’s because Georgetown started fundraising in earnest less than 50 years ago—and even then it took a couple of decades to start getting significant gifts. The schools with large endowments have been doing it much longer, which means their endowments have grown exponentially over that time. Annual giving, the type measured by participation rates, is a teeny tiny drop in the bucket; obviously it’s important to have an engaged alumni base (which both schools have), but it’s endowment growth + the very small number of new, 7-10 figure gifts to the endowment that move the dial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame and Holy Crioss alumni contibute at a much higher rate around 50% than Georgetown. Gtown endowment is an embarrassment compared to ND.

I got a master's from Georgetown about 30 years ago. Pretty much hated the place and the program. It wasn't the best match for me, fair enough, but by the time I recognized that it made sense just to finish.

My gosh how the development office hounded me. I explained to one of the students who cold-called me for a donation that I had been miserable there and had no fond memories of the place. He persisted with a spiel about how they were trying not just to get donations but also increase the alumni donation participation rate statistic. I could donate just $5 and it would count toward participation for statistics/ranking purposes! I told him I would instead double my yearly donation to my undergrad (which I then did).

I later got in touch with some records office and asked them to delete every bit of contact information they had for me. Haven't heard from them in 20 some years.

Was it this in this thread that someone was hating on Georgetown being in the DCA flight path with constant planes overhead? That's actually something I liked. I would even sometimes walk down to the waterfront park on the Potomac for a better view.

My kid went to a Model UN conference hosted by Georgetown students a few years ago. He said it was poorly run, and the Georgetown students were quite arrogant.

We did stop by a few years ago when my kid was looking at colleges (during Christmas break, so no official tour) . Hadn't been on campus in 25 years or so. Some parts seemed improved since my time there. Other parts seemed run down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame and Holy Crioss alumni contibute at a much higher rate around 50% than Georgetown. Gtown endowment is an embarrassment compared to ND.

A lot of that endowment comes courtesy of the football program, be honest about it.

[Anonymous]

fizzzz

[Anonymous]

ND’s large endowment comes from having one of the best money managers for decades believe WSJ profiled individual and ND has loyal big donors. Georgetown is the oldest Catholic school and to excuse its small endowment on a late start is ludicrous. Well publicized alumni giving rates over last 30 years Princeton, Dartmouth, Notre Dame and Holy Cross.

[Anonymous]

Believe at one point HC alumni giving rate was close to 60%. Notre Dame has bigger endowment than half of the Ivy League. Georgetown with all their DC publicity is a pauper. Williams College has larger endowment.

[Anonymous]

My DH went to Georgetown 30 years ago and hasn't given them a dime. There are many wealthy and successful Georgetown alumni, but it sounds to me that kids who graduate from Georgetown don't really give any credit to the college for their success.

This is in contrast to, say, Mike Bloomberg, who is extremely grateful to JHU, thought it was instrumental to making him who he is, and therefore has given JHU record-breaking amounts of donations.