How to Get Into Georgetown: Acceptance Rate and Strategies

The oldest Jesuit institution in the U.S. is also among the nation’s most elite undergraduate universities, and its popular Washington, D.C. locale helps draw massive numbers of applicants each year. Back in 1990, in a friendlier admissions universe, the average SAT for a Georgetown freshman was 1230; today, the median SAT is just shy of 1500. Even with some level of score inflation, that single comparison gives you a good sense of how much harder it is to get accepted to Georgetown today than when your mom or dad were applying to college. For an even crazier statistic, look to the fact that the Georgetown acceptance rate was 50% in 1975. Unfortunately, in the absence of a time machine, we must confront the admissions reality before us. The intent of this article is to give those considering applying to Georgetown University knowledge of the following:

• Georgetown’s Class of 2027 overall acceptance rate
•  Class of 2027 EA acceptance rate
• Georgetown’s school-specific acceptance rates
• SAT, ACT, and class rank of accepted Georgetown applicants
• Admissions trends from the Georgetown Class of 2027
• The demographics of current Georgetown undergraduates
• Georgetown’s yield rate
• How Georgetown’s admissions officers evaluate candidates
• Tips for applying to Georgetown
• How to assess whether applying to Georgetown is even worth the $75 application fee (for you)

Additionally, many students applying to Georgetown may also find the following blogs to be of interest:

How to Get Into:

• Cornell University
• Duke University
• Notre Dame

Let’s begin with an examination of the most recent admissions data.

Georgetown Acceptance Rate – Class of 2027

The Georgetown acceptance rate was 13% for the Class of 2027, higher than the previous two cycles. Out of 25,519 total applicants, 3,263 were admitted. The Class of 2025 saw just 3,226 students accepted from an applicant pool of 27,650. This acceptance rate of 11.7% was an all-time low for the university. The Class of 2026 acceptance rate was a similar 12.1%.

Georgetown Early Acceptance Rate – Class of 2027

Just 964 of the 8,196 Early Action applicants in the 2022-23 admission cycle were successful. This means that the Georgetown EA acceptance rate was 12%.

Georgetown’s School Specific Acceptance Rates and SAT range- Class of 2027

Georgetown College

Acceptance Rate: 12.3%

SAT Range: 1420-1560 (previous year’s figure)

Walsh School of Foreign Service

Acceptance Rate: 15%

SAT Range: 1460-1560 (previous year’s figure)

McDonough School of Business

Acceptance Rate: 12%

SAT Range: 1420-1560 (previous year’s figure)

School of Nursing & Health Studies

Acceptance Rate: 11.7%

SAT Range: 1410-1560 (previous year’s figure)

Georgetown Admissions – SAT, ACT, and Class Rank

Students accepted into the Class of 2027 (different from enrolled) had an average class rank in the top 6%. This cohort had middle-50% SAT scores of 720-790 (verbal) and 720-770 (math). The ACT range was 32-35.

Admissions Trends & Notes – (Class of 2027)

• Unlike many peer institutions, Georgetown required the submission of SAT or ACT results for Class of 2027 applicants.
• Application numbers remained steady after a 30% increase in 2021.
• International admits included students from 94 countries.
• 53% of admitted 2023-24 freshmen identify as non-White.

Who Actually Gets Into Georgetown?

Let’s look at the demographics of Georgetown undergraduates:

Geographically, current students hail from:

• International: 9%
• Mid-Atlantic States: 33%
• Southeast States: 14%
• Western/Northwestern States: 15%
• Central/Midwestern States: 10%
• New England States: 13%
• Southwest: 5%

Competition is stiffest among those hailing from states with endless streams of qualified applicants (the entire Northeast & the West Coast). If you hail from a less-populated state like Nebraska, Oklahoma, or Alaska, your location is more likely to provide a boost to your admissions chances. Georgetown likes to accept at least one student from every state. In fact, they presently have 2 students enrolled from Idaho and 1 from South Dakota.

Georgetown Acceptance Rate

Looking at ethnic identity, the breakdown of the students admitted into the undergraduate student body is as follows:

• Asian American: 13%
• Hispanic: 8%
• African American: 6%
• International: 14%
• White: 50%

The breakdown by gender of all current undergraduates is notably split in favor of women:

• Male: 43%
• Female: 57%

The breakdown by type of high school attended is as follows:

• Public: 47%%
• Jesuit: 7%
• Catholic: 11%
• Independent: 34%

Georgetown Yield Rate

Georgetown’s yield rate—the percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted was 48% last year. For comparison, schools like Stanford, Harvard, the University of Chicago, MIT, and Yale all sport 70%+ yield rates. Schools like Pomona, Barnard, and Bowdoin are just slightly ahead of Georgetown in this category.

How Georgetown Rates Applicants

There are eight factors that Georgetown ranks as being “very important” to their admissions process: rigor of secondary school record, class rank, GPA, standardized test scores, the essays, recommendations, talent/ability, and character/personal qualities. Georgetown’s application process is a bit more personalized than many highly-selective schools since an alumni interview is required. They value “demonstrated commitment to the broader community” and personal qualities such as “resiliency, motivation and ambition.”

Additionally, Georgetown is always seeking to put together a diverse freshman class ethnically, socioeconomically, geographically, and in terms of talents possessed. On that note, Georgetown wants to see an activities section/resume that contains evidence of accomplishment, passion, and leadership. They are not going to be impressed that you filled the ten spaces on the Common App Activity List; they are looking for genuine excellence in one or more activities.

For example, you won a countywide math competition, you are one of the top cellists in your state, you conducted scientific research through part of a highly-selective summer program, or were the president of a service organization that made a monumental impact.

Tips for Applying to Georgetown

If you plan on joining the almost 25,000 Hoya hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:

• Georgetown expects to see evidence of advanced coursework in high school. 70%+ of applicants submit AP exam results.
• Georgetown still requires all applicants to have an interview with a member of the 6,000-member Alumni Admissions Program. This organization is divided into 200 regional communities so chances are strong that you will be located near an interviewer.
• Early Application interviews are prioritized through the end of October so most Regular Decision applicants won’t interview until November.  For advice on what types of questions you should be prepared to answer/ask, visit our blog—College Interview Tips.
• Georgetown does not consider “demonstrated interest” so you will not be judged on whether or not you made a campus visit, contacted an admissions officer, etc. However, given their decreasing yield rate—as addressed earlier—letting the university know if they are truly your top-choice school is not a bad idea.
• Make sure to dedicate sufficient time and effort to the supplemental essays required by Georgetown. In the 2022-23 cycle, there were three prompts that every applicant must tackle and one additional school-specific question.

Prompt 1: Indicate any special talents or skills you possess. (250 words)

Prompt 2: Briefly discuss the significance to you of the school or summer activity in which you have been most involved. (1/2 page, single-spaced, or approximately 300-400 words depending on font size)

Prompt 3: 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. (1 page, single-spaced, or approximately 300-400 words depending on font size)

Georgetown Acceptance Rate

Georgetown University School-Specific Prompts

1) 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.)

2) School of Nursing & Health Studies: Describe the factors that have influenced your interest in studying health care. Please specifically address your intended major (Global Health, Health Care Management & Policy, Human Science, or Nursing).

3) 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.

4) 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.

(Each school-specific prompt should not exceed 1 page, single-spaced, or approximately 500-700 words depending on font size)

The key to mastering these four essays is to do your homework on the college within Georgetown University to which you are applying. For detailed advice on approaching each essay, visit our blog: Georgetown Essay Prompts and Tips.

Georgetown University Acceptance Rate – Final Thoughts 

Students with SATs in the 1300-1400 range will likely need a “hook” in order to achieve their dream of becoming a Hoya. Georgetown, with acceptance rates of 10-12%, is only hunting for students that possess 98th percentile (and above) standardized test scores and have earned mostly A’s in a highly- rigorous secondary curriculum. If Georgetown is your aim, make sure to also have a rock-solid backup plan. All seniors need to make sure that they formulate an appropriate college list, containing a complement of “target” and “safety” schools. You’ll definitely want to do this in conjunction with one or more trusted adults in your life, including your guidance/college counselor.