With only a handful of admissions officers, it is impossible for Georgetown to visit all the nearly 30,000 high schools in the United States. But for private, independent and Jesuit high schools, chances are considerably higher that someone from the admissions office will stop by.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions splits its recruiting process into two parts – what Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charles Deacon termed the “front end” and the “back end.”

Reflecting its Jesuit identity, Georgetown devotes special attention to Jesuit preparatory schools that traditionally send several students to Georgetown each year. According to Deacon, the university also targets private, independent schools because students from such schools tend to succeed academically at Georgetown. He said the same of students from Jesuit schools.

“We have a close relationship with Jesuit schools by nature,” Deacon said.

He said that Jesuit high schools are given the highest priority when selecting high schools to visit.

“When we go to visit [certain cities], a Jesuit high school will be at the top of the list to see, along with these other private and independent schools. We’re going to expect and hope to get a large number of applicants from these institutions. We’ll then try to diversify from these applicants,” Deacon said.

In the Class of 2011, Phillips Exeter Academy of Exeter, N.H., had 77 applicants to Georgetown; Phillips Academy of Andover, ass., had 66 applicants; Saint Ignatius College Preparatory High School of San Francisco, Calif., had 52 applicants; the Lawrenceville School of Lawrenceville, N.J.; had 51 applicants, and Regis High School of New York, N.Y., had 49 applicants.

Chris Dodge (SFS ’10), who graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, said that Georgetown’s admissions office was actively involved with his school.

“I think they had admissions people come to do interviews and I actually had my interview at my high school,” he said.

Dodge attributed the large number of applicants from his school to its political dimension.

“I went to a very politically active high school and I think that appealed to a lot of people from my high school,” he said.

G.T. Wrobel (COL ’11), who attended St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, Ill., said Georgetown was a well-established entity in his school.

“A lot of people applied historically, so I think the idea of Georgetown was always floating around. We had a representative come and there might have been one for a smaller group college discussion during lunch, but there was never like a Georgetown night,” he said. “I know the President of our school attended [Georgetown] so he can not only speak highly of it but can also get people’s names in the eyes of the admissions counselors.”

Andrew Molchan (COL ’10), who graduated from the St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, a Jesuit high school, is one of eleven students from his high school in the sophomore class. He believes that the Jesuit connection is a major part of the reason as to why Jesuit high schools are consistently sending students to Georgetown.

“I think because it’s just overall a great school and we want to continue learning in a school that fosters Jesuit ideals,” he said.

Deacon said these highest-yielding high schools are not typical, however. “Out of 16,000 applicants, about 5,200 different high schools [are represented],” Deacon said. “Out of 1,580 in our enrolling class, about 1,000 high schools are represented. Thus, on average, there is only one student per high school here.”

In order to maximize its representation, Georgetown travels with four other universities in the Exploring College Options program. Through this initiative, representatives from Georgetown, Harvard University, Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University give presentations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia in an attempt to attract top-level prospective students from across the country.

“This program allows us [Georgetown] to have a front end presence. Through these programs, we see 40,000 students. It’s a power of numbers,” Deacon said. At the same time, representatives from each school can meet with high school counselors and recruit through them.

“I say we alone visit about 300 high schools a year. Whereas in the front end [of the Exploring College Options], we can hit nearly all 30,000 high schools in the entire country,” Deacon said.

According to Deacon, Exploring College Options visits major U.S. cities in the spring of each year that traditionally have the largest application yields and travels to smaller cities in the fall. He also said that they often return to some of the larger cities in the fall as well.

“The joint-travel system is incredibly cost-effective in that it splits resources between five institutions,” Deacon said. “Also, it’s very difficult finding five schools that are similar enough but still different.”

Because of its efficiency, Deacon said, the five institutions can meet with both the high-yielding, “private-type” schools and the lower-income, public schools.

Deacon said that Georgetown’s multiple recruiting methods have two aims – encouraging appropriate, well-rounded high school students to apply and doing so in the most efficient manner.

“We’re in a unique niche,” Deacon said. “We’re not concerned with how well we do in comparison to other schools. Nationally, we have enough of a reputation in the immediate environment and location to stand on our own.”