The Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program (GAAP) student ambassadors welcomed prospective students and parents to campus with signs, balloons and cheers during the first in-person admitted students weekend since 2019. 

After two years of canceled GAAP weekends as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, students who were admitted to Georgetown University in the early action cycle had the opportunity to visit campus March 18-19. 

GAAP weekend gave accepted students the opportunity to experience life at Georgetown through campus and neighborhood tours, department open houses, icebreaker sessions, faculty showcases, student panels, residence hall tours and a campus activities fair. 

GAAP is a student-run organization that aims to help prospective and admitted students familiarize themselves with Georgetown through outreach programs, winter receptions, high school visits, phone calls and GAAP weekends.

The GAAP board had to be innovative in planning the weekend, since many of them had not personally experienced the program due to the pandemic, according to Zehra Mirza (COL ’24), director of communications for GAAP. 

“This was our first one in three years. Just preparing for it, we relied a lot on talking to alumni board members,” Mirza said in an interview with The Hoya. “A few of our alumni board actually came to help us set up for the first weekend, which is really sweet. But I think we all worked really well together. It went pretty smoothly.”

Elliot Landolt (MSB ’25), a GAAP student ambassador, said the GAAP program provides a unique opportunity for prospective students to get to know one another and discover what it is like to be a Georgetown student.

“I feel like all these guys are learning so much information. Especially this morning, we had icebreaker sessions that are just super great for everybody to kind of meet each other,” Landolt told The Hoya. “You get opportunities to talk to new people, and you get to hear from Georgetown students in a sort of unfiltered manner. It just makes making the decision easier.”

Seth Edwards, an accepted student from Spencerport, N.Y., said GAAP weekend differed from his previous visit to Georgetown during the pandemic and made him feel welcomed on campus. 

“I’m learning about aspects that you can’t see on the website and stuff like that. I liked just seeing the campus again because I was here in August, and being able to go into buildings this time, because COVID shut down everything, and having professors actually talk to you was great,” Edwards said in an interview with The Hoya. “I’m really looking forward to coming back because I already committed, so I’m super excited to actually experience Georgetown.” 

Georgetown and the GAAP board will host two additional accepted students weekends April 8-9 and April 22-23 for prospective students who applied during the regular decision application cycle, were deferred in the early action application cycle or could not attend the first GAAP weekend. 

The university is excited to have future Georgetown students on campus, according to a university spokesperson. 

“Experiences like GAAP weekends help prospective students gain greater insight into the Georgetown experience and ultimately choose to become Hoyas,” the university spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “We look forward to welcoming our future Hoyas to the hilltop in the coming weeks.”

Mirza said that accepted students and their families gave the GAAP board positive feedback about their experiences throughout the duration of GAAP weekend.

“We actually had a parent text us on our Instagram that her undecided daughter now wants to commit,” Mirza said. “Everyone has just had a really positive experience just because they had so much interaction with faculty, with current students, and just being able to see all parts of campus.”

Dylan Becker, an accepted student from Brookhaven, Mo., said he enjoyed his GAAP weekend experience because he thought Georgetown’s community seemed inclusive and accepting. 

“The best thing I’ve seen is that the Georgetown community itself seems to be really united and open to all of us,” Becker said in an interview with The Hoya. “That has been consistent throughout the weekend, so that’s a really great thing about this program.”