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

Over 16,000 Apply To Class of 2011

Georgetown may have just gotten a lot harder to get into.

The admissions office will consider more than 16,000 applications for regular admission to the Class of 2011 this year, a record number of applications to Georgetown that marks an 8 percent increase over the size of last year’s pool.

Applications to all four Georgetown schools increased, according to statistics provided by Charles Deacon, director of undergraduate admissions. The School of Nursing and Health Studies posted an increase in applications of more than 35 percent over last year – the largest increase among the schools. The NHS received 820 applications, a new record.

Marianne Lyons, interim director of admissions and outreach for the NHS, said that the school’s 2003 reorganization into four separate departments contributed to the application boosts.

“I think the increase comes from the clarity,” Lyons said. “We’ve redone our Web site and we’ve re-educated the admissions counselors, so now it’s clear.”

Early applications to the NHS last fall were also up, more than double the previous year’s figures.

The School of Foreign Service, with 3,045 applications, and the cDonough School of Business, with over 2,400, also reached all-time highs. Applications to the SFS increased by over 6 percent from last year’s record-setting total.

Georgetown College had the largest number of applications from any of the four schools, 9,910, an increase of over 4 percent from last year.

MSB Dean George Daly attributed the increase in applications to the business school’s rise in national rankings in recent years. A survey released by the Wall Street Journal last year named the MSB the 19th best undergraduate business school in the nation, up almost 20 spots from its 2005 ranking. U.S. News and World Report’s annual higher education rankings rated the MSB as the 23rd best business school in the nation last fall.

SFS Dean Robert Gallucci said that the increase in SFS applications could be the result of the increased visibility of the school’s undergraduate programs, or “simply the salience of international issues as reflected on `The Daily Show.'”

“My inclination is to suggest that whenever we get good news, it is the result of our efforts in [the] SFS to constantly improve our program,” Gallucci said. “Word, in other words, has spread.”

Gallucci added that the quality of the applicants has been increasing in recent years as demonstrated by rising test scores, grade point averages and class ranks.

“Alums often say with pride – and probably incorrectly – that they would never be admitted now,” Gallucci said.

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