Being waitlisted by a dream school is a bummer, but it’s not necessarily the end of the line. In this post, we’ll lay out what you need to know to increase your chances of admission to Georgetown, and what else you need to be doing to close out a successful college application experience.
First, let’s look at the numbers from the last three years available through the Common Data Set.
For the fall of 2023, Georgetown offered 2,274 applicants a place on the waitlist, and 1,611 took them up on the offer. 93, or 5.8% were admitted. Compare this against a 13% overall acceptance rate. A year earlier, Georgetown admitted 40 students off of a waitlist of 1,804 — a 2.2% waitlist acceptance rate. And for the fall of 2021, 3,277 first-year applicants were offered a spot on the waitlist, 2,543 signed up to wait, and 29 were admitted, or 1.14%.
All of this tells us that Georgetown uses their waitlist, but barely. They also keep a deep waitlist, despite rarely leaning on it for more than a few dozen admits. Based on their recent acceptance statistics, they plan for a yield rate between 50% and 60%, and they have done a really good job filling the class through strategic admissions without the waitlist.
But it’s still not impossible to get in off of the waitlist, it’s just hard.
Receiving a waitlist offer can be scary, but we can help. Learn More.
We’ve laid out that getting off of the Georgetown waitlist is a difficult thing to do. If you want to try, though, there are four steps you absolutely must take — in this order — to increase the chances of making it happen.
Step 1: Accept Your Spot on the Waitlist
First, calm down, breathe deeply, and consider what you want for the future. If what you want most is still Georgetown, you need to join the waitlist.
The university has chosen not to share whether the waitlist is ranked in their Common Data Set filings, at least in recent years. This means that there may be a top of the list and a bottom, but they aren’t going to tell you where you are so don’t try to coax the details out of them.
Since the waitlist may be ranked, you should prioritize timeliness by adding your name to the waitlist promptly.
Step 2: Confirm with a College
Maybe you were admitted to another dream school, but if you want to join the Georgetown waitlist in the first place it is probably likely that you don’t have an acceptance option that you are excited about.
This can be frustrating, as you have put a large amount of effort into getting into a college you love. But now, at the very end of the process, you are facing the reality of having to pick a college to attend that you maybe are not even excited to tell friends about. And that is, to be honest, a bummer. But you also have to do it.
Not committing to a college and banking on a waitlist working out isn’t a good option. Reapplying to college next year isn’t a good option, either. We’ve seen students try both, most often because they come to us a year later in an even tighter spot than they were the first time they applied as a first-year.
Instead, you need to stomach disappointment, commit, and submit the deposit. Then, go on a nice long walk and begin thinking about how you can bolster your application with Georgetown. And remember, transferring is an option. Every year, we help strong students transfer into colleges they never thought were even options as a high school senior.
Step 3: Update Georgetown Admissions
Next, you need to update Georgetown. Don’t call, don’t pester, don’t show up on campus, though. Making yourself annoying is not helpful, but you do need to update your application in a focused, edited, and precise way. This means writing a Letter of Continued Interest, or LOCI.
A LOCI is a crucial piece of getting off of the Georgetown waitlist, even though they don’t give waitlisted students much to go on for guidance after a waitlist decision. While a LOCI isn’t mandatory, not sending anything is like shrugging your shoulders and saying, “whatever.”
Don’t be that person. When it comes to getting off of a waitlist, caring is cool.
Your LOCI should be no more than 300 words, and you will submit it as a letter (not a note, not a casual email) via an email to your regional admissions counselor or through the online applicant portal. It should have three parts, which we’ve outlined below:
The Opening: The beginning of your letter should be formal and direct. It’s a letter, so start with “Dear,” Then you need to write a sentence with your name, school, and prospective major. In the next sentence, state clearly that Georgetown remains your first choice school, and that you will attend if accepted. This isn’t binding, but it is important. Then, thank them for their time so far, and request that they take your updates into consideration.
The Update: This is the meat of your LOCI, and the most important ‘difference maker’ for you as a waitlisted applicant. Your life didn’t pause when you submitted your application, but they don’t know what’s happened in the past few months. This is where you need to tell them the highlights, put through the filter of your prospective major and whatever extracurriculars you emphasized in your application. Don’t throw random things in here, even if they sound fancy. Instead, stay focused. Awards, honors, recognitions, new leadership roles, research, internships, and relevant employment are all fair game. Don’t drag this out, though. If you can say something in two sentences, try saying it in one.
The Closing: Close up the LOCI with another sentence stating that Georgetown is your first choice and that you will attend if accepted. Say something nice about the community or your area of academic interest, and then it’s appropriate to sound hopeful here, like, “I hope you will consider me should a spot become available in the first-year class.” Thank them, again, for their time, and close out with “Sincerely,” and your full name.
Step 4: Enjoy Senior Year
The final step might feel really far away in this moment, but we hope you can get there soon. You’ve worked so hard, and you deserve to enjoy the rest of your senior year. You need to keep your grades up, continue pursuing what you love, and thriving in your leadership positions — but you also need to have some fun. Update Georgetown, and then move on. And remember, be kind to yourself.
Receiving a waitlist decision can feel like a frustrating limbo land. It may sting, but your chances of getting in off the waitlist at Georgetown are very low, so don’t let yourself dwell in it too much. Do what you can, then line up your future with the options you have. If you get in, you can relinquish the deposit and switch to Georgetown. If you don’t, that’s okay too. Transferring is an option, but you may also fall in love with a school you didn’t expect to adore.
If you want a leg up on the waitlist, contact us. We’re experts at helping students advocate for themselves.