Georgetown is a top-tier private, Catholic, Jesuit school in Washington, D.C. It’s ideal for students interested in government, history, and policy from the belly of the beast. At about 12%, it’s a very competitive school. There are about 3,500 undergrads.
Short Essay: Briefly (approximately one-half page, single-spaced) discuss the significance to you of the school or summer activity in which you have been most involved.
One of our primary rules at TKG is never to regurgitate anything in your essays that’s already elsewhere in your application. This is an opportunity to present new information about yourself that can help you standout from the crowd. So, given your extracurriculars are already on your resume, start thinking how you’re going to present something new about yourself here.
First, you need to consider that every piece of your application should paint a picture of a different personality trait of yours. We want you to become a three-dimensional person in the eyes of the admissions committee when others will just be a piece of paper. Consider a strong personality trait of yours. Maybe you’re a leader. Perhaps you have a great sense of humor. Or maybe you’re a really strong listener. Now, think about how your extracurricular participation demonstrates one of those traits.
You need to tell a specific story with a beginning, middle, and end that showcases that trait. Details are critical. What’s nice about this one is there is no word limit. Shoot for a half-page as they’ve suggested, but don’t do less than that. Then, close it out by identifying the most similar extracurricular offering at Georgetown to the one you talked about in your essay. This will show that you’ve done your research and also, that you plan to continue building upon the expertise you’ve developed over the last four years of school. (Don’t worry, you don’t actually have to sign up for that club once you get in of you don’t want to).
Compose two brief essays (approximately one page, single-spaced each) on the topics given below. Essays should be typed.
As Georgetown is a diverse community, the Admissions Committee would like to know more about you in your own words. Please submit a brief essay, either personal or creative, which you feel best describes you.
Most of our clients take this opportunity to use their Common App essay here.
(APPLICANTS TO GEORGETOWN COLLEGE)
What does it mean to you to be educated? How might Georgetown College help you achieve this aim? (Applicants to the Sciences and Mathematics or the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics should address their chosen course of study.
You can read this one as “why Georgetown?” Hopefully, for the last four years of high school you’ve been developing an expertise in a particular academic niche. Colleges are trying to build a class of experts who will go on to be the most successful people in their respective fields and donate to the university. So, they’re hoping to have the world’s foremost expert in ancient cartography, electrical engineering and American presidential history be alumni of the school.
Start out your essay by defining what education is. This should be really, really simple. One sentence. Then, tell the origin story of how you got into your area of expertise. This should also be simple. (Maybe you did a report on tree frogs in the seventh grade and you got hooked on amphibian biology).
Next, you’re going to do a deep dive of the academic offerings at Georgetown that most closely reflect your academic niche. Talk about the (upper-level) classes you’d want to take to continue developing your niche and the research the professors teaching those classes are doing. Finally, identify an extracurricular that matches with your niche and mention that. The goal is to show that you’re an expert in a particular niche field and that Georgetown is the best place for you to continue to develop your pursuits therein.
There are also some school specific supplements for those applying to specialized schools. Below we will talk about the Walsh School of Foreign Service and the McDonogh School of Business.
The Walsh School of Foreign Service was founded more than a century ago to prepare generations of leaders to solve global problems. What is motivating you to dedicate your undergraduate studies to a future in service to the world?
This is an opportunity to identify an issue you’d like to work on. Don’t pick something overly grand like global hunger. It should be something current and specific. Start out the essay by talking about the issue. This should be something you’re really familiar with. Then, talk about why it’s important. Finally, devote a longer paragraph to talking about what should be done about it.
The McDonough School of Business is a national and global leader in providing graduates with essential ethical, analytical, financial and global perspectives. Please discuss your motivations for studying business at Georgetown.
You can read this one as “why Georgetown Business School?” However, it’s also clear they want you to tell a story about how you’ve been engaging with business and all of the aspects mentioned above.
Tell a story about how you’ve engaged in each one and importantly, how you’ve applied those frameworks to your own business pursuits in life. Then, you’re going to get into the demonstrated interest portion of this essay. Do a serious deep-dive. Talk about the higher-level classes you’d want to take, the professors who teach them and what they’re up to in the world. Conclude with a business organization that’s a natural extension of what you’ve already been doing in high school.
The school supplement isn’t a challenging nut to crack. The bottom line is, every school wants to know that the people they’re admitting are a perfect fit. Your job is to identify why you and Georgetown are an ideal fit, why you can’t go anywhere else and why you’ll make a great asset to their freshmen class.
Need help with a school-specific supplement? Call us. We’re great at helping students match with their perfect schools.