How to Write the Georgetown University Essays

When responding to this prompt, it’s important you convey your unique qualities by selecting a skill or talent that genuinely sets you apart from others. As you brainstorm, reflect on your interests, achievements, or experiences—how do you spend your free time? What activities bring you joy? What aspects of your personality shine when you work as a part of a team? These questions could lead you to talents or skills that are central to who you are. You can write about an academic ability, a creative skill, a leadership accomplishment, or something else entirely. No answer is wrong as long as your writing is passionate and engaging! Finally, discuss how this skill or talent has contributed to your personal growth and development, explaining how it has shaped your character, perspectives, and goals.

One night at a campfire, I heard deep, rich tones reverberating through my ears; someone was playing an unfamiliar instrument. Intrigued by its distinct timbre, I followed the sound, searching for its origin. The sounds stemmed from a ukulele, and from that night, its captivating music inspired me to create tunes of my own. Since my very first strum, I fell in love with the way the strings on the sculpted wood sustained a perfect vibration and created a smooth pitch. Before I knew it, I was sounding out chord patterns to play my favorite John Mayer song.

The ukulele is the primary way through which I express my feelings; it allows me to communicate and connect with others. Quickly, it allowed me to discover that I have the power not only to create beautiful melodies but to bring people together while doing so. Through music, we let down our walls and find commonalities. Beyond the barriers of culture and language, music unites us. When my fingers find the rhythm, I witness transformations: an introvert becomes an extrovert, an elder finds youth, and a lost mind develops insight.

Since the campfire, this instrument has become a part of me. I’ve played it at Christmas, on road trips with my friends, and even keeping patients company at the hospital. Though I am just someone with a ukulele, I know that my talent is in fact much more: it brings joy to others, helps them find serenity, and creates community.

In order to tackle this prompt, you should reflect on your activities in light of your experiences, values, and personal growth. Perhaps the most important phrase in this prompt is “significance to you”—while the admissions committee wants to understand more about your extracurricular involvements, this question is also a vehicle for them to gain insights into your values. What you do outside of the classroom can go a long way in conveying what is important to you, and these activities also shed light on the type of community member you will be on Georgetown’s campus, as most of your time in college will be spent outside of the classroom.

You can choose to write about an extracurricular, volunteer work, a job, or any experience that has had a significant impact on your life and worldview. Discuss a particular anecdote or experience within the activity that was transformative for you. This could be a challenge you overcame, a lesson you learned, or a new perspective you obtained. Be sure to use active verbs, descriptive imagery, and engaging detail to make your response vivid and captivating.

“Join, join!” I distinctly remember a student saying to me in the hallway. She asked if I was interested in volunteering for the National Honor Society (NHS). At the time, NHS was foreign to me, but the passion in her eyes instantly ignited my curiosity. As the “new kid” at school, I hoped that joining would bring belonging and a sense of acceptance.

Quickly, I learned that NHS’s core values aligned perfectly with my own: the pillars of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character are essential to who I am both in and out of the classroom. I observed NHS members who organized events, planned fundraisers, and selflessly worked on behalf of the community. Aspiring to do the same, I joined their ranks; I wanted to be more than a volunteer.

Eventually, I became a member, and then President! Truthfully, over the last few years, NHS has become my second home. I love that it is an entirely student-led organization—while participation is voluntary, our passion for service is unyielding. In NHS, everyone is a leader; we each share an equal commitment to our community and yearn to see it flourish.

During my first semester as a member, I conducted a needs assessment for the organization and calculated that we were in need of money; shortly after, I led a team for a fundraising auction. It was the first time I was responsible for a large event from start to finish. In fact, due to the event’s success in raising over $10,000, it will become a yearly tradition. Through this experience, I learned to manage groups, navigate bureaucracy, and find a balance between expressing my opinions and listening to those of others.

Most importantly, I’m proud of our many accomplishments. For instance, we provided support for a socioeconomically disadvantaged elementary school: NHS has remodeled classrooms, built a new library, and installed water tanks. As President, I’ve personally overseen new tutoring programs, several supply drives, and a Covid-relief initiative.

My weekly visits to the school have been the highlight of my high school career. Through recognizing the experiences of others, I’m reminded daily of the power of education. I’m inspired by the students’ resilience, openness, and sense of hope. In all, as I continue my journey into college and the professional world, I’ll continue to live out the NHS values that define my character.

With this essay, the Georgetown admissions committee is looking for maturity, self-reflection, and a distinct perspective. When responding to this essay prompt, pick a topic that involves a significant aspect of your identity, experiences, or values that you have actively engaged with or considered deeply. This can be a personal trait, a pivotal moment, a cultural connection, an intellectual curiosity, or anything else that defines you. Whatever you choose, you should demonstrate your intentional exploration of this facet of your identity and the ways in which you have grown as a result. For example, if you are from a military family, you could write about how you went from dreading your frequent moves to starting a club for other military kids to connect and build community as they adjust to new places. Conveying your active role in your own growth and development is critical to crafting a standout essay.

You should start with an attention-grabbing opening that introduces your chosen theme. This can be an anecdote, a vivid description, a quote, or a thought-provoking question to draw the reader in. Then, highlight any specific skills and talents you possess and explain how they contribute to your identity.

Question: What happens when you alter the hydration to make sourdough bread?

It always begins like this: a question pops into my mind, and I seek to answer it to a degree that might be considered obsessive. My curiosity can’t help itself, as making sourdough fuels my technical brain. Which microorganisms enable the fermentation process? What’s the best temperature to ferment it? In this specific case, how does the volume of water influence the end result of the sourdough?

I still remember my first experiment: when I was 7; I wanted to see how honey would affect the taste of a taco al pastor (it was a bad idea). Since then, I’ve experimented with everything from analyzing ant behavior to synthesizing capsaicin, but nothing compares to sourdough experimentation. Ever since that fateful day when it came out on the talavera plate (traditional Mexican plate), beautifully golden-brown, warm, and radiating an impeccable smell—I fell in love. I asked the chef: what is this? “Es pan de masa madre” he replied (it’s sourdough bread).

Hypothesis: By adding more water, the kneading process will be easier.

In previous attempts, my sourdough dough would always be compacted, proving difficult to knead. Adding water should certainly resolve this, right? I’ve always been encouraged to ask questions and seek their answers by gathering evidence. My father would always say “búsquele, joven” (search for it, young man). I treat knowledge like looking for light in a heavy fog: it might be difficult, but if you keep searching, you’ll eventually find it.

Experiment

Thus, I decided to increase the water by 375 grams, doubling the normal amount. I begin mixing. The dough’s texture instantly became silkier, eventually taking on a pancake batter-like consistency. The white flour was now creamy brown, and the smell was far more potent than before.

Visions swirled in my head about how much better the sourdough would turn out; I get over-eager if the beginning of an experiment seems promising. Once in Robotics Club, I was over-confident in my Python Script: the robot was going to detect an obstacle with its sensors and turn automatically. Unfortunately, the robot slammed into a brick, and I had to go back to the drawing board. Results always speak for themselves.

I let it ferment for 8 hours (3 at room temperature, 5 in the fridge) and then baked it for 60 minutes at 250 degrees Celsius. I anxiously checked the dough, staring at it for what seemed like hours. I was hungry for the result, and as the smell floated throughout the house, my mouth salivated for what was promising to be an incredible sourdough loaf.

Results and Analysis

Unfortunately, it was one of the worst sourdough breads I’ve ever tasted.

It was nothing like the beautiful sourdough bread I first had on the talavera plate. But the beauty of science is always looking for justification. I searched for the answers, and this is what I found: the flour didn’t have enough protein to sustain the amount of water used in the experiment; therefore, the loaf lacked structure. The more time the sourdough was given to ferment, the better its consistency and flavor were (however, don’t leave it in the fridge for more than 3 days). When baking high-hydration dough, it’s best to use a stretching and folding technique to knead the bread.

Conclusion

A high protein flour, a stretch and fold kneading method, and a high fermentation time are the three aspects required to create the best 100% hydration sourdough bread.

Since this experiment, I’ve made hundreds of sourdough breads: from cinnamon rolls and babka to bolillos and pain au levain. It’s not only the exquisite taste that draws me to sourdough bread, but the methodology required to make it. It’s the kind of thinking I love: asking “what if,” “how,” and “why.” Always pondering questions, always searching for answers.

In this classic “why this school?” prompt, Georgetown is asking you to write about your reasons for pursuing your intended area of study and for studying this subject at Georgetown’s College of Arts and Sciences. As with all supplemental essays, the key to answering this question well is specificity. You should begin your writing with an anecdote that introduces your interest in your intended field of study. Maybe you learned something in a course or book, had a particular experience that sparked your initial interest in your field, or encountered something later on in your learning journey that deepened your understanding of your topic. No matter the anecdote, ensure that it conveys your passion for your intended field.

Next, provide specific reasons as to why you want to study what you want to study at Georgetown—is there a specific academic program you are keen to be a part of? Does the department have a particular pedagogy that matches your academic interests, needs, and goals? Are you interested in working with a particular professor or pursuing a research opportunity?

When approaching this essay, don’t forget to address the first part of the question, which mentions that Georgetown values both Jesuit pedagogy and research. To that end, make sure that you mention how the university’s Jesuit values will enrich your study in your field of interest.

“Why don’t sharks bite lawyers? Professional courtesy.”

I shot my dad a weary smile and turned my focus back to the landslide of papers and binders I had strewn across my desk before he could see me roll my eyes. Though he meant no harm by his cliché joke, I knew from my years spent on the Mock Trial and speech and debate circuits that, to many, their lawyer jokes held a grain of truth: excellent attorneys must be driven, analytical, strategic, and unyielding.

As I’ve grown as a debater and mock trial-er, I’ve taken pride in these traits—the thrill of puncturing an opponent’s argument, the exhilaration of finding a new angle that sways a judge’s opinion. However, I refuse to believe these qualities must be used for evil.

Like the ocean, the United States legal code is often murky, dense, and disorienting. As an intern for the ACLU and a volunteer for the Freedom Project, I was awash in stories of individuals and entire families struggling to navigate the complexities of our nation’s existing systems, caught in the nets of bureaucracy and stymied by the winding legal paths that stretched in front of them. It’s true that the legal system is difficult to navigate, and my primary aspiration is to use a keen eye and a deep understanding of law as a human rights lawyer, leveraging the sharpness intrinsic to the legal profession to clear paths forward and cut people free.

Georgetown shares my belief that compassion and drive are not mutually exclusive. Its identity as an intellectually rigorous university at the forefront of breakthroughs across disciplines is grounded in its Jesuit values—each advancement made at Georgetown is motivated by a firm commitment to service, envisioned with the betterment of society in mind. While taking advantage of programs that will propel me toward a dynamic legal career, like the Georgetown Law Early Assurance Program and assisting Professor Marc Howard in his Prisons and Justice initiative, I will simultaneously have access to myriad service opportunities and find strength to pursue this challenging work through a community that shares my values.

Unlike most ‘why this school?’ prompts, this question seeks to identify how the pedagogical values of the School of Nursing align with your own vocational goals. Beyond the traditional components of an academic skill set, the program seeks to inculcate specific values by training ethical, empathetic, and transformational leaders. In answering this question, demonstrate why those values are important to you and how you hope to develop or hone such qualities. As you describe your reasons for studying nursing, be sure to show (rather than tell) the admissions committee where your passion for the field originates. Perhaps a particularly impactful experience led you to realize that empathy is key to communication and care. Perhaps a teacher or mentor helped you to see that empathy is the foundation of healing . Whatever your reason(s), be sure to clearly articulate why you want to study the profession at a school that holds these particular values.

Like most “why this school?” questions, this prompt is asking you to answer two different questions: why do you want to study what you want to study and why do you want to do it at Georgetown in particular? Be sure to explain why your educational goals align with the mission of the School of Health—note that the prompt specifically names innovation, interdisciplinarity, and community engagement as central to the school’s mission. You should therefore seek to tie your own interests and goals back to these core values.

Be specific in the discussion of your intended major: what aspects of the academic program interest you and why? Are there specific faculty, courses, or research pathways that you want to take advantage of? If so, be sure to explain how taking advantage of such opportunities will allow you to reach your vocational goals after graduation.

This question is similar to those posed by Georgetown’s other schools: what factors have influenced you to commit to the Walsh School of Foreign Service? How will your pursuit of education help you to create positive change in your local, national, or international community? Write about the major you intend to pursue and the direct impact you hope to have on specific systems or populations. Think about any gaps in your local or larger community you wish to address with your education and determination. Finally, remember that the best way to show the admissions committee your values is by pointing to your past experience of putting them into action. As such, point to meaningful experiences in your high school career that have exposed you to issues and opportunities in your field before connecting these experiences to your goals and intentions as a student and community member in the Walsh School of Foreign Service. Give detailed examples that can testify to your critical thinking skills, ability to apply what you’ve studied, and awareness of current affairs.

Provide a thorough explanation as to why you value this school’s pedagogy. Although analytical, financial, and global perspectives are important topics, make sure to think carefully about what an “ethical” perspective means to you. Recount your past experiences and describe your future endeavors with the foundation provided by the Mcdonough School in mind.

Ultimately, the most important task in answering these prompts is to do your research! Look for the resources that are only available at Georgetown that draw you to apply to the school. Explore the school-specific programs, faculty, research, and study abroad programs that will strengthen your learning experience and enhance your academic enrichment. Think about ways you will be challenged in your area of study in Georgetown’s unique environment.