Georgetown is a small/medium-ish university with a little more than 7,500 undergraduates. It’s located on a picturesque campus in Washington, DC. It’s technically a Jesuit institution, which means, basically, that spirituality, service, and community engagement are super important on campus. But it’s definitely not pushy about it, and no matter your religious affiliation (or lack thereof), you’ll be able to find a home there. It’s super academically rigorous and an overall great, and competitive, school.
Their supplement is relatively straight-forward, and we’re going to walk you through how to tackle it below.
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.
Georgetown doesn’t have word limits, and our take on these “length” requirements are relatively loose. This should be between ½-¾ of a page, single-spaced. But make sure it’s not more than that. Supplement answers are just as much about evidencing that you’ve read the question in a detailed way as they are about the quality of the answer. So don’t submit something that’s a page long, or anything close to it, because you’ll get dinged.
This answer is pretty clear: you have to choose an extracurricular or summertime engagement that you were *most* involved in, and write about its significance. As with any prompt, it’s super important that you tell a story here, starting at the intro. Don’t just launch into “I love being a camp counselor because I love kids,” before telling a distinct story/anecdote at the beginning that shows your passion and investment in this activity. We also encourage you to briefly tie it into (like, no more than one sentence. Seriously.) extending/continuing this activity at Georgetown. No admissions reader has ever faulted an applicant that demonstrates historical and proven commitment over time WHILE ALSO indicating that they are forward-thinking and have done their research.
Essay One: All Applicants
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 students put their common app essay here.
Essay Two: What does it mean to you to be educated? How might Georgetown College help you achieve this aim?
By “brief,” we generally like these essays to be around 1-page, not much more.
This is the slightly more complicated essay, but it’s basically a fancy “Why Georgetown?” essay with some other necessary structural adjustments and items thrown in there.
To start, it’s necessary to clearly indicate what your personal definition of “educated,” means. Be explicit here, and at the beginning. Remember--a lot of admissions readers are skimming this. So don’t bury the lede. This is a weird question, and it’s intentionally vague and a bit complex. We advise getting your definition down to ½ sentence or 1 sentence at most. If there’s more than 1 comma in there, it’s too long. If there are any qualifiers associated with your definition, you have work to do. Keep. It. Simple. This doesn’t need to be the world’s most profound definition, and it certainly doesn’t (and shouldn’t) be the most complex.
Then, once that’s established, you’re going to want to intro with a short story/anecdote about how you became invested in your academic area of study, or how you’ve expanded that interest before diving into the Georgetown specifics. Remember, you always want to frame and tie your answers back to your definition of what it means to be educated. So, you’re going to do the same research that you’d typically do for a Why X School? Essay, but for Georgetown. And you’re going to explicitly tie it back to HOW studying this course of study and taking these courses and engaging in these local community organizations are going to weave together to help you on your educational journey.
This journey’s path should be in the shape of your definition of education, and should remain focused. Wrap it up with a circle-back to your definition and a clear sentence that states how Georgetown is integral to your accomplishing this aim.
There are other essays (written in place of Essay Two, above, if you are applying directly to the below schools) that are intended for students applying to specialized schools within Georgetown. We’re going to highlight the essays for SFS (School of Foreign Service) and the business school.
Walsh School of Foreign Service
Briefly discuss a current global issue, indicating why you consider it important and what you suggest should be done to deal with it.
This, along with the business school essay we detail below, are very clearly solution-driven essays. They are not in any way, “Why Georgetown?” essays, but rather your opportunity to highlight your specialized knowledge in these academic areas and to evidence your engagement on the topic. For this, it’s necessary to allocate EQUAL amounts of the essay to these three components:
Discussion of the issue.
Why is it important?
What should be done to deal with it?
It should be clearly structured in this order, and the distinct sections should not overlap so much that their answers are conflated. Also, remember that they indicate *current* global issue, so don’t get it twisted and choose something that was more relevant in the early 2000s. If you want to trace back to the origin of a particular issue that is still prevalent today, then keep the history lesson as short and succinct as possible. Don’t get tempted by decision fatigue and the desire to impress--if you choose an issue you’re not super familiar with, it will be very clear. Choose something that you’ve engaged with before (if you’ve written a past research paper on it, great. But obviously don’t repurpose even one sentence from that paper, for fear of confusing and diluting the focus of this essay).
If you’re coming up blank on this, you might want to consider *not* applying to the School of Foreign Service. It’s one of the most competitive undergraduate programs to gain admittance to in the country. It just might not be your vibe! And that’s okay. Just something to think about.
McDonough School of Business
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.
Alright--this prompt is a bit more of a “Why Georgetown Biz School?” but with a clear indication that they want you as the applicant to weave together a story about how you’ve previously engaged with the concept and endeavor of “business” in a multi-dimensional way. A lot of kids say they’re “interested in business,” and honestly most of the time we roll our eyes because when we ask, “what does that mean to you?” they don’t have an answer. Everything is business. We live in a capitalist society.
So, first, make sure you *actually* want to apply here, and if you do, that you have the demonstrated background to give your application some heft. It’s not going to be enough to apply as a liberal arts kid with an “interest in business,” here. It’s just not. If that’s the case, apply to Arts & Sciences, because otherwise you’re wasting your energy and an application fee.
Okay, so now let’s say you’ve gotten to this point in the post and you really do believe that you have the demonstrated interest and background to apply. Then, your essay needs to indicate your engagement with and thorough understanding of some of the *~*many sides of business*~* that Georgetown has listed. Ethics, analytics, finance, and international markets. Tell a story that takes the reader through your engagement on these topics and what you’ve done to not just further your understanding of them, but how you’ve APPLIED these frameworks and learnings to your own business endeavors.
From there you’re going to weave in Georgetown biz school-specific information, including courses, concentrations, professors, etc. that are going to pair with your foundational knowledge to transform you into the savviest I-banker there ever was. Kidding, we’re sure you have other aspirations. So make those clear and tie together your past, your present endeavors, and your future goals with the specifics of Georgetown’s business school curriculum and offerings.
This isn’t the easiest application, so let us know if you have questions or lingering thoughts.