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How to Respond to the Georgetown Supplemental Essay Prompts

The Georgetown University supplemental essays are an important part of the overall application. Georgetown has a 17% acceptance rate, so your very best writing is required here. Remember, you are not alone in this Georgetown supplemental essay writing process! Keep reading our guide to learn more about how to best respond to the Georgetown supplemental essays. 

Breaking down the Georgetown supplemental essays

Georgetown requires all applicants to respond to three prompts. After this trio of prompts, Georgetown offers school-specific prompts for applicants based on the schools they are applying to. Therefore, in total, an applicant should respond to a minimum of four Georgetown supplemental essays. 

Here is a breakdown of the word count for the Georgetown supplemental essays: 

• Essay 1 – 250 words
• Essay 2 – approximately ½ page, single spaced
• Essay 3 – approximately 1 page, single spaced
• School-specific essays – should not exceed one page, single spaced 

Georgetown Supplemental essay questions for all applicants

Essay #1

Indicate any special talents or skills you possess (250 words) 

Although this is the first question asked by Georgetown, it may be smart to save this question for the end. This is because there are a lot of prompts that Georgetown asks that reveal many of your interests and skills. 

Therefore, to ensure you are not repeating yourself in your responses, answer this question last. Every essay you are responding to should reveal something new! 

Once you are ready to answer this question, brainstorm some of the following questions: 

• What is missing from your application that you want to highlight about yourself? 
• Are there any skills you possess that have not been touched upon? 
• Is there a leadership position you were involved in that you want to detail? 
• What would you do if you had to go on stage at a talent show? 

It is important to use this question as an outlet to showcase your skills, talents, and interests. 

Some examples of some skills, talents, or interests can be: 

• Playing an instrument 
• Participating in a sport
• Cooking
• Speaking a different language
• Mastering a video game
• Able to do something others cannot

While responding to this essay, you only have 250 words to describe your special talents. Therefore, you should be not just stating what talents you have, but also a short narrative or story surrounding each skill. Describe how you discovered this skill or how long it took you to become the expert you are today. 

Therefore, it is important to be short and thoughtful with your word choices. Eliminate any filler words and only describe the important parts of your story.

Essay #2

Briefly discuss the significance to you of the school or summer activity in which you have been most involved. (Approximately ½ page, single-spaced) 

This is an opportunity to expand on an extracurricular activity that you are passionate about and have participated in the most. 

Some questions to help brainstorm your response could include: 

• Did you receive any leadership roles in this activity? 
• Why do you love this activity? 
• When did you become interested in this activity? 

Once you establish your main activity, write a story surrounding this event and detail a narrative! Do your best to connect back to Georgetown. Think of Georgetown clubs you want to become involved in to continue to pursue your interests. For example, if you love participating in track and field, but do not want to participate at the college level, discuss joining the Georgetown University Running Club.

Essay #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. (Approximately 1 page, single-spaced) 

This prompt is quite broad, which can make it challenging to respond to. It is important to try and come up with a topic for this essay that has not been discussed in your application thus far. Remember, Georgetown has most likely already read about your academic and athletic achievements. So, try to be more creative in your response!

So what should you write about? 

To help you brainstorm creative topics for this essay, think of the following questions: 

• What are you known as in your friend group? (Exp: the artsy one, the funny one…) 
• Are there any quirks you possess? 
• Do you belong to any communities? 
• What kind of background did you come from? 
• Have you ever had to overcome anything? 
• What are you passionate about? 
• Is there anything that makes you stand out from other applicants? 

If you are still having trouble coming up with a topic idea for this essay, do not fret. Remember, Georgetown does not use the Common App. This means that you could potentially use your response to the Common App as an answer to this essay.

If you are going to use your Common App essay response to answer this question make sure you are: 

• Not repeating yourself in your application
• Answering the question entirely
• Revealing a new piece of information about yourself

Essentially, Georgetown wants to be able to connect with your application and your personal and unique experiences. Therefore, be yourself and always reveal new things!

Georgetown school-specific essay questions

Each school-specific prompt should not exceed one-page, single-spaced. 

Georgetown College essay

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.) 

The core of this question is simply a “Why us” question. To begin, first start off by addressing your chosen course of study. You can do this by detailing a small narrative or story as to “why” you selected this major. After that, connect back to Georgetown. Remember this is a “Why us?” essay so think about “Why Georgetown?” 

Make sure you have completed a lot of research on all aspects of Georgetown. Become familiar with the following:

• Campus
• Clubs
• Sports
• Specific courses
• Specific professors
• Opportunities
• Location
• Traditions
• Values

After researching these topics, write down a list of your favorite aspects of Georgetown. This allows you to narrow down your personal interests. To stand out, do not write about cliches such as the beautiful Gothic-style campus buildings or how highly ranked Georgetown is. Rather, write about specific professors you cannot wait to hear lecture or a club that perfectly aligns with your interests.

School of Nursing & Health Studies essay

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).

If you are considering the School of Nursing & Health Studies, then you obviously have a passion for helping people. Therefore, you should not focus on this fact in your response. Remember, these Georgetown supplemental essays are an opportunity to make yourself stand out from other applicants – so try to really think about this question. 

In order to avoid any cliches, try thinking of the following questions to help you brainstorm your response: 

• What has been an eye-opening experience you have had that has influenced your decision to apply to the School of Nursing & Health Studies? 
• Why the Georgetown School of Nursing & Health Studies? 
• Why do you want to help people? 
• Was there a specific instance in which you realized nursing was your calling? 
• Is there anyone close to you who works in the medical or nursing field? 

After brainstorming, begin your response by describing a narrative. Tell your story about why you became interested in nursing and studying in the medical field. Whatever your story may be, use that as the backbone of your response for this essay. 

Try to answer the following questions in your essay: 

• What have you learned from this passion? 
• What change do you hope to bring to your future profession? 
• What do you hope to do with this degree? 
• What will you become involved in while at Georgetown? 

The most important thing is that you are tying your response back to Georgetown. Specify how and why Georgetown’s program and resources are the best fit for you. 

Walsh School of Foreign Service essay

The Walsh School of Foreign Service was founded more than a century ago to prepare generations of leaders to solve global problems. What is motivating you to dedicate your undergraduate studies to a future in service to the world?

International service is a rather uncommon major and profession to go into. Therefore, there is most likely a story behind your decision to choose this school. 

Start by brainstorming the following questions: 

• What inspired you to pursue this major? 
• Is there someone who inspired you to pursue this particular degree? 
• What do you want to do with this degree? 

Now that you have a good idea of what you want to write about, detail exactly what degree you are intended to pursue. Communicate what your goals are for this degree. What do you hope to accomplish? 

In addition, describe how you plan to contribute to change the world for the better. 

Afterwards, connect back to Georgetown by writing about the programs, clubs, and/or opportunities you hope to take advantage of while studying there. 

McDonough School of Business essay

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 motivation for studying business at Georgetown.

In order to stand out from other applicants, begin by detailing any background you may have in business. This could be anything from taking a business class in high school to creating your own brand that went viral. Once you describe your business background, connect back to the McDonough School of Business specifically. 

There are a lot of business schools out in the country, so why Georgetown? In order to accurately answer this question, you should have done adequate research on the following aspects of the McDonough School of Business: 

• Location
• Professors
• Classes
• Class sizes
• Travel opportunities
• Clubs and organizations

Becoming familiar with these aspects of the school allows you to write about the factors that are most important to you. Be open and honest–which factors appeal to you most,  and why? 

Final thoughts on responding to the Georgetown supplemental essays

The Georgetown supplemental essays are quite challenging, but they are completely worth the effort.  Georgetown heavily relies upon the supplemental essay responses to select applicants, so it is important that your application is well-rounded. Make sure that you are not repeating anything when writing your essays. In addition, always connect your experiences back to Georgetown by detailing what you want to become involved in on campus. 

Additional resources

Are you curious about how many colleges to apply to, how to choose a college, or when to take the SAT/ACT? Do not worry because Scholarships360 has you covered! In addition, we have numerous resources to help you through the rest of your college essays. Check out our guides on how to write an essay about yourself, how to write a successful admissions essay, and how to write 250 or 500 word essays. Good luck!

Additional colleges to consider

• University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
• Tulane University (New Orleans, LA)
• University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
• University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)