Three hundred eighty-five students applied to the Students of Georgetown Inc. this year, an unusually high number. But the entirely student-run company, better known as the Corp, hired only 57 new employees, for a total acceptance rate of 14.8 percent.
Brad Glasser (COL’11), the current CEO of the Corp, estimated that they received up to 10 percent more applications than they had in any previous year, although they have not been compiling application data long enough to officially confirm that figure.
Leaders of the Corp attributed the rise in applications to efforts they made to spread information about the Corp to freshmen, through both traditional channels, like flyers, and more unorthodox methods, like tabling freshmen move-in.
“We got some really valuable early exposure to new students as they came onto the campus,” said Glasser.
Maggie Laush (SFS’14), a freshman who got a job working at Hoya Snaxa, said that she had seen Corp flyers all over campus, and that many of her fellow freshmen had talked about applying to the Corp.
Freshman students comprised of more than 46 percent of the total applicant pool, Glasser said.
Kevin Suyo (SFS ’11), who has worked for the Corp since the fall of his freshman year and is the General Manager of MUG this year, said he noticed a definite increase in the number of applicants this year, with 96 people applying for just six spots. Suyo suggested that the poor economy could have contributed to their high level of applicants.
Suyo also pointed out that the Corp has worked to open itself up to students in recent years, which he views as another potential explanation for the rise in applications.
“Over the past few years we’ve been making an effort to make the Corp less insular,” said Suyo.
Applicants said they were intrigued by the Corp’s dual function as a social group and a job.
Ben Santucci (SFS ‘13), who was invited back for two interviews before being denied a spot, saw the Corp as a tight-knit social group on campus.
“The Corp is kind of like a frat but also a job, so it was really like killing two birds with one stone,” Santucci said. “For the Corp you get the same things that come with a frat, but instead of paying dues, you get a paycheck.”
—Additional reporting by Maddy Joelson
