What are Georgetown's admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things:
- GPA requirements
- Testing requirements, including SAT and ACT requirements
- Application requirements
In this guide we'll cover what you need to get into Georgetown and build a strong application.
School location: Washington, DC
This school is also known as: Georgetown University
If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. This tells you how competitive the school is and how serious their requirements are.
The acceptance rate at Georgetown is 13.1%. For every 100 applicants, only 13 are admitted.
This means the school is
extremely selective. Meeting their GPA requirements and SAT/ACT requirements is very important to getting past their first round of filters and proving your academic preparation. If you don't meet their expectations, your chance of getting in is nearly zero.
After crossing this hurdle, you'll need to impress Georgetown application readers through their other application requirements, including extracurriculars, essays, and letters of recommendation. We'll cover more below.
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Georgetown GPA Requirements
Many schools specify a minimum GPA requirement, but this is often just the bare minimum to submit an application without immediately getting rejected.
The GPA requirement that really matters is the GPA you need for a real chance of getting in. For this, we look at the school's average GPA for its current students.
The average GPA at Georgetown is 4.07.
(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA.
This school did not officially report its average GPA, but we've estimated it here using data from over 1,000 schools.)
With a GPA of 4.07, Georgetown
requires you to be at the top of your class. You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants. Furthermore, you should be taking hard classes - AP or IB courses - to show that college-level academics is a breeze.
If you're currently a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change in time for college applications. If your GPA is at or below the school average of 4.07, you'll need a higher SAT or ACT score to compensate. This will help you compete effectively against other applicants who have higher GPAs than you.
SAT and ACT Requirements
Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Only a few schools require the SAT or ACT, but many consider your scores if you choose to submit them.
You must take either the SAT or ACT to submit an application to Georgetown. More importantly, you need to do well to have a strong application.
Georgetown SAT Requirements
Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement. This is based on the school's average score.
The average SAT score composite at Georgetown is a 1480 on the 1600 SAT scale.
This score makes Georgetown Strongly Competitive for SAT test scores.
Georgetown SAT Score Analysis (New 1600 SAT)
The 25th percentile SAT score is 1390, and the 75th percentile SAT score is 1530. In other words, a 1390 on the SAT places you below average, while a 1530 will move you up to above average.
Here's the breakdown of SAT scores by section:
Section | Average | 25th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
Math | 760 | 690 | 780 |
Reading + Writing | 740 | 700 | 770 |
Composite | 1480 | 1390 | 1530 |
SAT Score Choice Policy
The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.
Georgetown has the Score Choice policy of "All Scores."
This means that Georgetown requires you to send all SAT scores you've ever taken to their office.
This sounds daunting, but most schools don't actually consider all your scores equally. For example, if you scored an 1300 on one test and a 1500 on another, they won't actually average the two tests.
More commonly, the school will take your highest score on a single test date. Even better, some schools form a Superscore - that is, they take your highest section score across all your test dates and combine them.
Some students are still worried about submitting too many test scores. They're afraid that Georgetown will look down on too many attempts to raise your score. But how many is too many?
From our research and talking to admissions officers, we've learned that 4-6 tests is a safe number to submit. The college understands that you want to have the best chance of admission, and retaking the test is a good way to do this. Within a reasonable number of tests, they honestly don't care how many times you've taken it. They'll just focus on your score.
If you take it more than 6 times, colleges start wondering why you're not improving with each test. They'll question your study skills and ability to improve.
But below 6 tests, we strongly encourage retaking the test to maximize your chances. If your SAT score is currently below a 1530, we strongly recommend that you consider prepping for the SAT and retaking it. You don't have much to lose, and you can potentially raise your score and significantly boost your chances of getting in.
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Georgetown ACT Requirements
Just like for the SAT, Georgetown likely doesn't have a hard ACT cutoff, but if you score too low, your application will get tossed in the trash.
The average ACT score at Georgetown is 33. This score makes Georgetown Strongly Competitive for ACT scores.
The 25th percentile ACT score is 32, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 34.
Even though Georgetown likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 32 or below, you'll have a very hard time getting in, unless you have something else very impressive in your application. There are so many applicants scoring 33 and above that a 32 will look academically weak.
ACT Score Sending Policy
If you're taking the ACT as opposed to the SAT, you have a huge advantage in how you send scores, and this dramatically affects your testing strategy.
Here it is: when you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This is unlike the SAT, where many schools require you to send all your tests ever taken.
This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school's ACT requirement of 34 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. When you have the final score that you're happy with, you can then send only that score to all your schools.
ACT Superscore Policy
By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.
We weren't able to find the school's exact ACT policy, which most likely means that it does not Superscore. Regardless, you can choose your single best ACT score to send in to Georgetown, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 34.
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SAT/ACT Writing Section Requirements
Currently, only the ACT has an optional essay section that all students can take. The SAT used to also have an optional Essay section, but since June 2021, this has been discontinued unless you are taking the test as part of school-day testing in a few states. Because of this, no school requires the SAT Essay or ACT Writing section, but some schools do recommend certain students submit their results if they have them.
Georgetown considers the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section optional and may not include it as part of their admissions consideration. You don't need to worry too much about Writing for this school, but other schools you're applying to may require or recommend it.
Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We'll cover the exact requirements of Georgetown here.
Application Requirements Overview
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Common Application
Not accepted
-
Electronic Application
Available
-
Essay or Personal Statement
Required for all freshmen
-
Letters of Recommendation
2
-
Interview
Required
-
Application Fee
$75
-
Fee Waiver Available?
Available
-
Other Notes
Testing Requirements
-
SAT or ACT
Required
-
Scores Due in Office
January 10
Coursework Requirements
-
Subject
Required Years
-
English
4
-
Math
2
-
Science
1
-
Foreign Language
2
-
Social Studies
2
-
History
2
-
Electives
Deadlines and Early Admissions
-
-
Offered?
Deadline
Notification
-
Regular Admission
-
Early Action
-
Yes
November 1
December 15
-
Early Decision
Admissions Office Information
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