Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

From Heartland to Hilltop

It is no surprise that Georgetown admits and enrolls more students from certain schools than others.

In an interview for a news article earlier this month, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charles Deacon noted how Georgetown has long been a destination for students of the nation’s top preparatory schools and how these boarding schools can often be sources of cultural and socioeconomic diversity. We follow this logic, and, as Deacon rightly said, “Andover is far more diverse as a population than, say, the 60 applicants from Kansas or the 60 applicants from Delaware.”

We would, however, further stipulate that geographical diversity is a virtue in and of itself. While the Hilltop may be able to attract a high-achieving, diverse population through elite Northeastern schools, attracting students who were taught in different environments contributes to the depth of our academic community. Georgetown currently participates in “Exploring College Options” tours in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Duke and Stanford, whose admissions counselors travel as a group to every state in an effort to provide adequate information to a broad-based geographic area.

This is a good step toward increasing our geographic diversity, but we should further engage the regions of the country Georgetown most often overlooks. In the past two semesters, the Exploring College Options group has visited 24 states only one time. Furthermore, while every state was represented in the enrolled Class of 2017, six states — Arkansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming — had only one accepted student who enrolled at Georgetown. Thirteen more had five or fewer enroll in the Class of 2017.

It is true that prep schools offer an abundance of qualified students and require fewer resources to recruit students. However, Georgetown must not overlook the qualified student in Nebraska in favor of 20 qualified students in Massachusetts.

Videoconferencing with high school students in areas that are not normally courted by the Office of Admissions is one option. Engaging an ever-enthusiastic alumni network to hold information sessions — in addition to admissions interviews — in hard-to-reach locales is another. Regardless of how Admissions accomplishes this goal, making an explicit effort to engage high schools and talented students off the beaten track is a worthwhile pursuit that serves to enhance Georgetown’s commitment to a diversity of ideas and backgrounds, as well as to socioeconomic statuses and races.

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    EliApr 1, 2014 at 2:45 pm

    Agreed- The Northwest of the U.S. is tragically underrepresented at Georgetown. Counting myself, I can only name about 12-15 Hoyas from either Oregon, Washington, or Alaska. This needs to be changed

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    TravisApr 1, 2014 at 12:40 pm

    You seem as though you think everyone from the northeast went to a rich private school. That isn’t true.

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