"Our challenge is to draw the most exceptional applicants to Georgetown University each year. Our record indicates that we are succeeding at attracting and enrolling a greater proportion of the nation's most talented and promising students."

-- Charles Deacon, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions

Overview

Georgetown University seeks the most accomplished student body possible, and one which represents the tremendous diversity of the larger community. The University consistently attracts top students because of its academic strengths, its international reputation, its location in the nation's capital, and its Catholic, Jesuit tradition of helping each person reach his or her full potential.

The undergraduate admissions committees are composed of faculty, student representatives, members of the admissions staff and deans from each of Georgetown's four undergraduate schools -- Georgetown College, the School of Nursing & Health Studies, the Robert E. McDonough School of Business, and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

An important part of the selection process at Georgetown is an interview with a member of one of the Alumni Admissions Program committees, which are located in all fifty states and in many foreign countries. Upon receipt of their application, prospective students who live within a committee jurisdiction are provided with the name of an Alumni Interviewer and are asked to make arrangements for an interview. This interview provides candidates the opportunity to highlight particular aspects of their background and achievements, which they would like to call to the attention of the Admissions Committee, as well as to learn more about the University from the point of view of the local alumnus.

A total of 16,163 students applied for fall 2007 admission to one of Georgetown's four undergraduate schools (Georgetown College, Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, McDonough School of Business, and the School of Nursing & Health Studies). Georgetown accepted 3,363, almost 21 percent. Of those accepted, 1,582 have enrolled in the class of 2011.

The student population at Georgetown is one of the most geographically diverse in the country, representing every state and more than 130 foreign countries. About 29 percent of the current first-year class (class of 2011) is from ethnic minority backgrounds, with: Asian American, 11 percent; African American, 7 percent; Hispanic, 5 percent; and Native American, less than 1 percent. One-third of the first-year students claim fluency in more than one language and about 30 percent have lived abroad at some point prior to enrolling.

Need-Blind Admissions

Georgetown maintains a need-blind admissions policy. That is, in making admissions decisions, the University does not consider a student's ability to pay the costs of education. Georgetown's philosophy is that applicants should be considered on the basis of their achievements, talents, and potential, and not on their ability to pay. Georgetown is one of a handful of higher education institutions that adhere to this policy.

It is the University's policy to meet the full demonstrated financial need of each eligible Georgetown student. This means that the University will work with students to develop a financial aid package that enables every student who is offered admission to Georgetown the opportunity to attend. Packages include grants from the University and the federal government, student loans, and self-help arrangements such as work-study programs. The University believes that the socioeconomic diversity that these policies help foster is beneficial not only for individual students, but for the entire Georgetown community.

Early Action Program

Georgetown's early action program is one of only a few programs in the country that are non-binding, meaning that students who apply early and are accepted have until May 1-just like regular applicants-to make a decision about where to enroll. Georgetown has no limit on where students can apply early action. The philosophy guiding this policy is that students should be as confident of their choice in May as they are in November, and should not be forced prematurely into a decision without a full understanding of their range of options. Students who are not accepted during the early application process are deferred and automatically reconsidered with the pool of regular applicants. Among the early applicants who are not admitted early and are reconsidered with the regular pool, about 20 percent are ultimately accepted.

This year, 6,024 students applied for early action consideration for the class of 2012, enrolling in the fall 2008. Georgetown accepted 1,079 applicants, or 18 percent, which is roughly the same proportion of applicants who are accepted during the regular admissions process. The deadline for early action applications is Nov. 1; students are informed of the decision by Dec. 15.