The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is currently processing the applications that have been submitted by high school students from around the globe seeking to claim a spot in Georgetown’s Class of 2019.
“Right now the applicant pool is just over 19,400 applications,” said Melissa Costanzi, Senior Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions. “It is pretty much identical to last year … almost exactly even.”
Last year Georgetown saw 19,436 applications, and, while this year’s numbers are still being processed, the current count is 19,427. According to the Admissions Office, this leveling of the number of applications is a favorable outcome at a time when high school graduation rates are slipping nationally. Since 2011, there has been a five percent decrease in the number of high school graduates. While falling graduation rates would seem to correlate to a parallel decline in applications, Georgetown has received two percent more applications in this time.
Still, the decrease in graduation rates is uneven nationwide. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the Northeast suffered an eight percent overall decrease in high school graduation rates. By contrast, the same report reveals that public high school graduation rates increased from 76 percent to 78 percent in California and from 86 percent to 88 percent in Texas during the same interval.
Applications to Georgetown reflect these regional fluctuations in graduation rates. While fewer applications were received this year from many states in the Northeast, including New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, there was an increase in applications from students in the West and South. In addition, the pool of international applicants grew marginally.
Matching regional trends is positive for Georgetown. “When you look at the trend of the numbers, we’re doing pretty well,” Costanzi said. “For us, stability is really good.”
To maintain this stability, the university has continued to follow its same procedures for attracting potential students. In addition to sending targeted letters to students interested in specific programs, such as language majors or students planning to study business, Georgetown tours the country with Exploring College Options, a joint program with Harvard, Duke, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania. According to its website, this group seeks to bring clarity to the college admissions process while also providing students key information about each of the universities.
Furthermore, Georgetown has maintained a presence internationally in Europe, Central and South America, and Asia. New this year is an Undergraduate Admissions Twitter account, which complements the office’s Facebook page.
Besides an increased social media presence, Georgetown does not intend to make any significant changes to the way it attracts applicants. In fact, it has no desire to artificially increase the size of the applicant pool, which would lead to a lower acceptance rate. Costanzi said, “We don’t want to inflate the applicant pool if [applicants] are not there. We want to make sure we’re getting the right applicants.” As a result, the acceptance rate is expected to stay essentially the same as last year’s 16.6 percent.
Furthermore, although selectivity rates play a significant role in determining a school’s ranking, Costanzi explains that this is not a factor in admissions decisions. After Georgetown’s slight dip out of the top 20 national universities compiled by U.S. News College Rankings for the 2015 year, falling from 20 to 21, the Admissions Office is not worried.
“We pay very little attention to the U.S. News rankings,” Costanzi said. “They’re not going to change how we do our admissions process. We’re not going to try to bolster our place in the rankings by doing anything specific.”
