Admission Policy

Georgetown University seeks a very diverse student body and encourages applications from individuals with a wide variety of professional and academic backgrounds.  Men and women holding a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in the United States, or the equivalent from an international college or university, are eligible for consideration for admission.  Applicants must have completed no fewer than 16 years of formal education.

When evaluating candidates for admission, the Admissions Committee focuses on three main areas:  intellectual ability, professional accomplishments, and personal qualities.  No one area is considered more important than another, and our review process is extremely holistic -- taking into account the complexity of the life experience of each applicant.

Intellectual Ability
To gauge an applicant's intellectual ability, we carefully evaluate the undergraduate and / or graduate transcripts, paying special attention to the rigor of the courses taken and the trend in grades over time.  The Admissions Committee does not prefer one major course of study over another, but we do like to see that our applicants have successfully completed at least one or two quantitative courses, such as statistics or calculus, with a grade of B or better.  (If you did not complete a quantitative course during college, feel free to enroll in such a course at a local community college prior to submitting your application for admission.)   For the class entering in 2007, the average GPA for students who enroll in our program is approximately 3.27, and the middle 80% range is approximately 2.73 - 3.74.

Along with the undergraduate and / or graduate record, we also consider an applicant's score on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). If an applicant takes the GMAT multiple times, we use the highest score in our evaluation.  For the class entering in 2007, the average GMAT score for students who enroll in our program is approximately 677, and the middle 80% range is approximately 640-720.

Professional Accomplishments
Typically, successful applicants to our MBA program have at least two years of professional experience by the time classes begin.  Quality of experience, however, is far more important than quantity of experience.  The Admissions Committee welcomes applications from individuals with traditional business backgrounds as well as from those with non-traditional backgrounds, and no preference is given based on job industry or function.  When evaluating a candidate's work history, we pay special attention to how the career has progressed over time, and we seek to understand your key responsibilities and key achievements for each position you have held.  As you compose your resume, be sure to highlight any and all leadership experience you have had on the job.  Remember that leadership can be demonstrated in many ways: by managing people, projects or processes; by facilitating meetings or leading teams; or by taking the initiative to establish something new in the workplace. Also be sure to capture the ways in which you have most significantly impacted the organizations for which you have worked.

We will also learn much about your professional accomplishments from the two letters of recommendation you submit as part of your application.  Detailed instructions for choosing your recommenders are provided in the next section.

Personal Qualities
At Georgetown, we very much value who you are as an individual, apart from your academic and professional accomplishments.  We are interested to know how you spend your free time and what professional organizations and extracurricular activities matter most to you.  As we evaluate your candidacy, we will want to know how you plan to contribute to the Georgetown MBA community, and why our program is a good fit for your personal interests and career goals.  Here again, we value diversity a great deal.  Students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, religious affiliations, and sexual orientations are an important part of our welcoming community, and we make every effort to enroll young professionals from countries all around the world.

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