Georgetown University is a private research university located in Washington D.C., with an urban campus overlooking the Potomac River. The scenic campus is just minutes away from downtown Washington.
Georgetown’s campus is in the perfect location for students that enjoy serene natural views, as well as the ease of access to internship and job opportunities in the downtown area.
Founded in 1789, Georgetown is the oldest Jesuit university and was the first Catholic institution of higher education. Georgetown emphasizes the teaching of the whole person, as well as schooling in public service experiences.
Georgetown comprises ten schools offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs, as well as an extension campus in Qatar. The university offers degree programs in forty-eight disciplines across ten schools.
Of the ten schools at Georgetown, four of them offer undergraduate programs: Georgetown College, the Walsh School of Foreign Service, the McDonough School of Business, and the School of Nursing and Health Studies.
The university requires first- and second-year students to live on campus, and there are five dormitories specifically for first-year students. Likewise, 23 residential ministers are there to support students.
Georgetown also has over 350 student clubs and organizations that provide opportunities to meet new people and explore new interests.
Currently, there are 39 club sports, 127 advocacy and social justice clubs, 85 cultural groups, and several more special interest groups.
According to the US News and World Report’s 2022 edition of Best Colleges, Georgetown is ranked number 23 in the United States.
Although not technically an Ivy League school, Georgetown is one of the top schools in the nation, and is considered most selective in its admission process.
Georgetown’s alumni network connects over 200,000+ graduates, spanning across the globe. Some notable Georgetown alumni include 42nd US President Bill Clinton, actor Bradley Cooper, and NBA player Allen Iverson.
The school’s alumni include U.S. Supreme Court Justices, Nobel Prize Laureates, and international royalty.
Additionally, Georgetown’s faculty is impressive, consisting of esteemed academics, political and business leaders, and activists in different fields.
One way to earn a spot in one of the nation’s most selective universities is by applying under the school’s early action program.
Continue reading to learn more about Georgetown’s early action acceptance rate, essential deadlines, deferral rate, and additional application requirements.
Georgetown Early Action Acceptance Rate
The early action acceptance rate into Georgetown University is 10%.
Georgetown received 8,832 early action applications for the 2021-22 admission cycle, and only 881 students from the applicant pool were offered admission.
During the same admission cycle, Georgetown received a total of 26,670 regular decision applications for first-year admission.
Of these applicants, only 3,229 students were successfully admitted, setting an overall acceptance rate of 12.1% for the class of 2026.
Georgetown saw a record number of EA applicants for the class of 2026, as well as the lowest EA acceptance rate in the university’s history.
The number of applicants increased by 1.4% from the previous year, while the acceptance rate dropped by .79%.
Georgetown College, which is the College of Arts and Sciences, experienced the lowest early acceptance rate, with only 472 of 5,099 students admitted, with an acceptance rate of 9.3%. With such low acceptance rates, Georgetown is considered one of the most selective universities in the country.
While there is no competitive advantage to applying under the early acceptance program, it does allow for students to get their admission decision at the beginning of senior year.
Georgetown Early Action Decision Date
Students who apply to Georgetown for early action will hear from the school by December 15 via their online portal.
There are two possible decisions that early action applicants can receive.
Students are either admitted under the EA program or are deferred and given a full second review during the regular decision cycle.
Georgetown does not reject students during the early action application cycle. While students receive Georgetown’s EA decision by mid-December, they still have until May 1 to accept or decline the offer.
Georgetown gives students the option to apply to both their EA program and EA programs at other universities.
However, accepted EA applicants may not simultaneously apply to another school’s early decision programs, as early decision programs are typically binding.
Georgetown expects that accepted early action students will have the freedom to make a decision through May 1, and acceptance into an early decision program would prevent them from doing that.
Students that are deferred during the early action cycle can apply to early decision II programs at other schools.
Georgetown Early Action Deadline
To qualify for early action at Georgetown, students must apply by November 1 each year.
Early action admission decisions are given in December.
However, even if a student is admitted during the EA cycle, they still encourage students to take until May to make their decision.
For comparison, Georgetown’s regular decision deadline is January 10, which is over two months later. Announcements of regular decision admission results are given on April 1.
The Fall application deadline for transfer students is March 1, giving transfer students three additional months to compile all of their materials.
For most students, the financial aid deadline is another important date to note. Georgetown’s deadline for financial aid forms is February 1.
This February deadline gives EA applicants enough time to complete their financial aid documents, including their FAFSA.
Georgetown Early Action Deferral Rate
The Georgetown EA deferral rate is over 89%.
Of the 89% of students that were deferred, around 15% were accepted during the regular decision cycle.
This means that the majority of students that applied early will still have to wait for the regular decision cycle for an admission decision.
This deferral rate is comparable to other highly selective universities, such as Harvard and Princeton, whose deferral rates are around 80% and 78.9%, respectively.
However, Stanford, also a highly selective school, has a lower early action deferral rate of only 8.5%, and a high rejection rate of 80.7%.
Georgetown’s unusually high deferral rate is partially because they do not reject students during the EA cycle.
Early action admission is offered to a select group of students that the admissions committee decides upon based on information from freshman, sophomore, and junior year of high school, without needing to consider senior year.
Georgetown encourages students that are deferred to maintain high grades during senior year, as well as to submit additional test scores, honors, or awards for the regular decision cycle.
How to Apply to Georgetown for Early Action
Georgetown requires EA applicants to submit the same application components as regular deadline applicants, but they must do so by November 1.
On the general Georgetown application, students must write their intent to apply under the early action program.
While many universities use the Common Application, Georgetown continues to use its own application.
There are multiple reasons for this, one being to encourage students to fill out the first portion early in order to schedule interviews, and the other being that they are not looking to increase the number of applicants.
Georgetown considers eight factors to be of utmost importance in their admission decisions: rigorous high school records, class rank, GPA, SAT/ACT scores, personal essays, teacher recommendations, personal qualities, and individual talents and abilities.
In addition to school transcripts, SAT or ACT scores, and teacher references, all applicants are required to complete four short essay questions.
The first essay should be 250 words long, while the remaining three vary in length between half of a single-spaced page and one single-spaced page, which is about 300-400 words.
Georgetown’s admission process is more personalized than some other highly selective colleges, as they require applicants to have an interview with a member of the Alumni Admissions Program.
Early applicant interviews take place before the end of October, and regular decision applicants interview in November.
Further, each school may have its own requirements for admission in addition to the general ones.
Students admitted into Georgetown during the 2021-22 cycle had an average high school class rank in the top 6%.
Further, the school typically looks for students with ACT or SAT scores in the 98th percentile and above.
Georgetown doesn’t require evidence of advanced coursework, but they prefer it. Around 70% of applicants submit AP exam results.
The university wants to see its applicants excel in academic areas and extracurricular activities.
They highly encourage students to discuss awards, honors, and other achievements and experiences that exemplify hard work and dedication.
In addition to individual qualities and abilities being important, Georgetown also prioritizes diversity in its freshman class.
The school aims for diversity in terms of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and skills and talents possessed by students.
