This is my alma mater. Getting in was difficult and being here was difficult, but I will love them forever, and I won't hide that for a second.
The Catholic mission of this school sets it apart from the vast majority of schools it's in league with. It is not a bunch of phoney words on paper. I was a transfer student, and my entrance essay was on an ethical topic; I got rejected by every Tier 1 school except Georgetown. I wasn't a fluke, (admission rate of transfers that year here was 9%, nobody was a fluke,) but I can also confidently say that the staff and administration of this school care about personal honor and integrity, while many schools of this caliber care about power and wealth and just talk about integrity to sound good. To be precise, the staff and priests care about the students with a compassion that can only be described as religious. This is a liberal Catholic school, unlike Notre Dame, but they aren't out to get your money and throw you out on your ass. They care. I remember very late one night I formulated an ethical argument and in irrational excitement I called James V. Schall, one of the most respected professors in the country, and a priest. He carefully listened to my enthusiasm and evaluated my argument, but also pointed out that it was extremely late, and asked me to come see him in the morning. If you call a professor of his caliber that late in Yale, yes, you'll indeed be in Yale, but the professor will almost certainly tell you to piss off. The rules for these things are different in Georgetown because priests -- including those who happen to be incredible educators -- abide by different standards than their peers in the general population.
In class, you can expect much, and have much expected of you. I am sure there's grade inflation here, but getting straight As in your sleep -- or even asleep some of the time -- is not going to happen. To put bluntly, during finals don't plan to sleep too much. I majored in poli sci and history. Eight years later, I've been admitted to the best graduate program in the country for what I want to study, and first thing I do when reading stuffs for it is start going off on historical and political tangents, using ideas I learned at Georgetown. I can confidently say you're not going to get these results at a school that doesn't give a shit, and where the students don't give a shit. Hack professors teaching piss-poor materials in a shitty manner won't compel you in such a way that you still remember a good chunk of it close to a decade later.
The social environment is not for everyone because this is a favorite destination of future lawyers, competitive businessmen and politicians. This is inevitable because Georgetown is the best regarded school in D.C., so every guy wanting to work for his Senator, become Senator, screw 12 interns at the same time, and then say he didn't have sex with Monica Lewinsky will try and come here. (I mean this literally; Bill Clinton went here for undergrad.) This situation is not the administration's fault, but if you go here, you need to be prepared to sift genuine friends from layers upon layers of human scum. Again, not the school's fault, but nobody should come here without knowing that. This point drove me insane throughout my two years here. I could barely stand all the phoneys. The kindness and dedication of the professors and staff seemed a monstrous contrast next to the cynicism, greed and naked ambition of some of the students. Dealing with such people is the lot of anyone who attends this school or a school like it. It's also the only real problem the school has, and I think it is a challenge to be overcome rather than abandoned.
Georgetown actually has a lower rating than it deserves. #20 is hardly anything to laugh at, but if you examine this place from all the angles, #20 doesn't do it justice. Georgetown has an insanely high and ever-increasing applicant pool, much higher than a school its rank "should" have. It also has a very developed international reputation. For example, I talked to a Chinese girl who lives in rural China, and she knew about Georgetown when I brought it up. There are students here from every corner of the earth, be it Africa or Korea or Russia. The thing is, because Georgetown is run by Catholics, for a very long time they thought it unseemly to run Georgetown as a business. This changed because it had to, but it was bad for the ratings. While Harvard and Yale each have excellent academics while also having enough money to buy half the planet, Georgetown has equally excellent academics, but not as much money. Money = endowment = a huge factor in US News and World Report. Thus, despite its extreme excellence, this school is actually understated for what it is. If you can get in here, and you want a TRUE education as a whole person, and one that will change your life while preparing you for what's to come... if you want such a thing, then this is the place for you. read more