Georgetown University

Georgetown University Supplemental Essay Outlines

Here is our suggested essay outlines for every prompt.

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Essay outlines

Every Georgetown prompt, outlined

Required Essays

Extracurricular Activity

250 words

Briefly discuss the significance to you of the school or summer activity in which you have been most involved.

Paragraph 1: The Hook

Open directly in the middle of a specific, high sensory moment from your school or summer activity, such as a localized anomaly or active engagement.
Use descriptive language and sensory details to recreate a slice of your experience.
Avoid broad, sweeping introductions, throat-clearing statements, or repeating information about how long you have been involved.
This captures immediate attention.

Paragraph 2: The Context

Describe the strategic background of the activity, your specific role, and the core stakes of your narrative.
Identify a central challenge or problem you observed, and explain why solving this problem was critical.
Avoid writing a dry list of responsibilities that merely repeats your activities list.
Focus on stakes.

Paragraph 3: The Action

Paragraph 4: The Growth

Paragraph 5: The Future

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Different Viewpoints

250 words

In all our lives, we interact with people who hold different viewpoints than our own. Describe such an event you experienced. What did you learn from the experience?

Paragraph 1: The Interaction

Paragraph 2: The Counterargument

Paragraph 3: The Turning Point

Paragraph 4: The Insight

Paragraph 5: The Application

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Personal Background

650 words

ALL APPLICANTS: As Georgetown is a diverse community, the Admissions Committee would like to know more about you in your own words. Please submit a brief personal or creative essay which you feel best describes you and reflects on your personal background and individual experiences, skills, and talents. If you believe that your Common App personal statement would fit with this prompt, you are welcome to use it here.

Paragraph 1: The Opening Snapshot

Open directly in the middle of a specific, high sensory scene that introduces your core theme, a unique personal habit, mundane object, or quiet ritual that is uniquely yours.
This physical detail will serve as the elastic metaphor and creative container for your entire personal essay, helping you capture immediate reader curiosity.
You should avoid standard introductions, throat-clearing statements, or repeating basic details about your name, background, and career goals.
Focus on a localized moment rather than a broad summary.
Focus on authentic and sensory details.

Paragraph 2: The Metaphor Bridge

Transition from the literal container introduced in the first paragraph to a broader statement of your identity.
Define a core value on your own unique terms, establishing the metaphorical elasticity of your chosen object.
You must avoid the resume trap of listing your grades, AP scores, or school awards, keeping the focus entirely on showing how your mind processes information, navigates tension, and makes connections.
Highlight what this metaphorical container reveals about your curiosity and learning.

Paragraph 3: The Cultural Foundation

Explore your personal, cultural, or familial background and describe the environment that shaped this unique perspective or way of thinking.
Show your specific, natural place within this ecosystem, showing how your background connects to your current values.
You must avoid general, dictionary-style definitions of diversity, dry descriptions of family heritage, or using clichéd slogans about your background.
Instead, illustrate your background through concrete, descriptive details and lived experiences.

Paragraph 4: The Applied Initiative

Share a specific experience outside the classroom where you applied this perspective to a real-world problem, demonstrating unassigned agency and intellectual curiosity.
Detail the concrete, hands-on contributions you made and how you collaborated with peers.
You must avoid repeating basic accomplishments from your resume without showing your personal character, initiative, or growth in action.
Focus on the actual steps you executed and what you discovered.

Paragraph 5: The Vulnerable Setback

Highlight a moment of tension, failure, or cognitive friction that challenged your perspective, showing genuine vulnerability.
Document what this challenge felt like and how your assumptions hit a wall.
You must avoid portraying yourself as perfect, as admissions committees value intellectual humility and messy growth.
Explain what it felt like to realize your initial framework was incomplete or that caution and fear were wearing the same name.

Paragraph 6: The Cultivated Ability

Paragraph 7: The Core Reflection

Paragraph 8: The Peer Contribution

Explain how you will bring this collaborative perspective to the residential campus, student-led groups, and peer relationships.
Show that you are a highly supportive teammate who will actively seek out dissenting voices to sharpen, rather than simply validate, your own perspectives.
Avoid mentioning widely known traditions or generic campus features, and instead focus on specific resources, courses, or student organizations.

Paragraph 9: The Metropolitan Circle Return

Bring your narrative full circle by returning directly to the opening metaphor or object, providing a satisfying sense of cohesion and closure.
End on a powerful final line that clearly shows why this university is the perfect home for you.
Avoid repetitive summaries, and make sure the final sentence leaves a lasting, authentic impression of your voice, leaving the admissions officer with a clean, memorable takeaway.
This creates great closure.

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School Selection Essay (Choose 1)

College of Arts & Sciences

500 words

Founded in 1789, the Georgetown College of Arts & Sciences is committed to the Jesuit traditions of an integrated education and of productive research in the natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. Describe your interest in studying in the College of Arts & Sciences. Applicants interested in the sciences, mathematics, or languages are encouraged to make specific reference to their choice of major.

Paragraph 1: The Intellectual Spark

Open directly inside a specific, sensory-rich moment from high school where your academic curiosity was triggered.
Best to include a particular classroom experiment, a primary document you handled while volunteering, or a specific passage from a book.
Do not include broad, generalized preambles about your childhood or general love for learning.
Avoid starting with unoriginal introductions such as telling the admissions committee that you have wanted to study your major since you were young.

Paragraph 2: Developing Your Question

Connect your opening moment to a broader academic inquiry.
Explain what systematic questions you want to explore within your major and how your high school experiences helped you transition from a passive interest to a proactive academic pursuit.
Do not list test scores or grades, which already exist on your transcript.
Avoid writing a laundry list of activities and instead focus on your cognitive process and the questions that keep you up at night.

Paragraph 3: Specific Class Choice

Identify one or two highly specific, upper-level courses or concentrations within your major at Georgetown College.
Explain how these specific courses will help you address your intellectual questions and how your past academic experiences prepare you to participate.
Best to research actual course syllabi to find unique themes.
Do not list general, introductory 100-level survey courses.
Avoid copy-pasting course descriptions without a personal connection.

Paragraph 4: Practical Research Opportunity

Identify a specific, named undergraduate research program or resource on campus, such as the Booth Family Center for Special Collections or the Carroll Fellows Initiative.
Describe how you will actively participate and contribute to this space.
Best to show a maker's mindset where you act as a producer of knowledge.
Do not treat research as a passive experience.
Avoid generic statements about world-class facilities and instead show how you will utilize the resource.

Paragraph 5: Campus Group Involvement

Outline how you will engage with a niche, student-led organization or co-curricular initiative that relates directly to your academic theme.
Use cooperative terms to signal that you are a highly supportive and collaborative classmate.
Best to draw a parallel to a leadership or team role you held in high school.
Do not mention widely publicized, general campus traditions.
Avoid sounding like a lone competitor who does not value teamwork.

Paragraph 6: Integrated Jesuit Values

Explain how you align with the Jesuit tradition of integrated learning and care of the whole person, also known as cura personalis.
Show a past moment where your perspective shifted because you balanced rigorous intellectual study with ethical reflection.
Do not repeat buzzwords without demonstrating their personal significance to you.
Avoid empty flattery about Georgetown's religious history and focus instead on humanistic values.

Paragraph 7: Future Contributions and Closing

Bring the narrative full circle by returning directly to the central imagery or metaphor established in your opening paragraph.
Explicitly state how you will translate your major's skills into active civic service in the local Washington, D.C. community.
Do not write a dry, repetitive summary of earlier points.
Avoid ending on unoriginal slogans and instead close with a definitive final sentence positioning Georgetown as your ideal home.

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Berkley School of Nursing

500 words

Georgetown University’s Berkley School of Nursing is committed to the formation of ethical, empathetic, and transformational nursing leaders. Describe the factors that have influenced your interest in studying Nursing at Georgetown University.

Paragraph 1: The Empathy Catalyst

Open immediately with a vivid, sensory-rich scene from a clinical volunteer shift, a family caregiving experience, or a personal medical event.
Use active, descriptive language to recreate a slice of that moment.
Do not write throat-clearing introductions explaining that you want to help people.
Avoid stating that you want to be a nurse simply because your family members are in the medical profession.

Paragraph 2: The Core of Care

Paragraph 3: Real World Training

Detail your interest in Georgetown's School of Nursing, specifically referencing advanced clinical training tools like nursing simulation labs and core clinical rotations.
Explain how you will utilize these resources to transition from theoretical learning to hands-on patient advocacy.
Do not praise the school's general prestige or rankings.
Avoid copying general program descriptions without connecting them to your personal background.

Paragraph 4: Ethical Leadership Challenges

Focus on the ethical dimensions of nursing mentioned in the prompt.
Describe a past experience where you had to navigate a difficult situation requiring quick thinking or moral responsibility.
Show what you learned about patient rights and advocacy.
Do not portray yourself as a perfect hero who never makes mistakes.
Avoid superficial statements about ethics and instead detail the complexities of real-world care.

Paragraph 5: Caring for the Person

Connect your personal caregiving philosophy to Georgetown's commitment to empathy and integrated care.
Show, rather than tell, how you have supported a classmate, friend, or patient in their unique circumstances.
Best to admit failure or vulnerability, showing that you can learn and grow.
Do not list academic honors here.
Avoid a sterile tone that ignores the emotional and empathetic labor of healthcare.

Paragraph 6: Helping Local Communities

Paragraph 7: Career Legacy and Closing

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Walsh School of Foreign Service

500 words

Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service was founded more than a century ago to prepare generations of leaders with the foundational skills to address global issues. Describe your primary motivations for studying international affairs at Georgetown University and dedicating your undergraduate studies toward a future in global service.

Paragraph 1: The Global Moment

Paragraph 2: Analyzing Global Issues

Smoothly transition from your opening scene to the systematic questions you want to explore within international affairs.
Explain how a specific global challenge, such as environmental security or resource scarcity, became an academic interest.
Do not make unrealistic claims about single-handedly solving massive geopolitical crises.
Avoid unoriginal statements and focus on the complex, underlying political forces.

Paragraph 3: Academic Program Fit

Paragraph 4: Research and Professor Connections

Reference an active research center, regional studies program, or specific professor's publication within the Walsh School.
Explain how their academic methodology directly intersects with a project, paper, or debate topic you explored in high school.
Do not name-drop retired statesmen or famous professors without explaining your personal connection to their research.
Avoid referencing inactive faculty.

Paragraph 5: Foreign Language Skills

Discuss your dedication to language acquisition and cross-cultural curiosity.
Connect your past studies to the rigorous Walsh School language proficiency requirements, explaining how learning a language is a tool for global diplomacy.
Do not write about vacation travel as if it were deep cultural immersion.
Avoid superficial claims about being globally minded without offering evidence of language study.

Paragraph 6: Serving the World

Paragraph 7: Policy Vision and Closing

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McDonough School of Business

500 words

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business provides graduates with essential global, ethical, analytical, financial, and diverse perspectives on the economies of our nation and the world. Describe your primary motivations for studying business at Georgetown University.

Paragraph 1: The Business Catalyst

Paragraph 2: Strategic Ethical Decisions

Paragraph 3: Advanced Business Classes

Paragraph 4: Real World Experience

Paragraph 5: Collaborative Campus Work

Paragraph 6: Social and Ethical Impact

Paragraph 7: Long Term Leadership and Closing

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McCourt School of Public Policy

500 words

For nearly 50 years, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy has equipped leaders and changemakers with the interdisciplinary skills to address local, national and global policy problems. Undergraduate public policy students at Georgetown will have the unique opportunity to live and study on two campuses, spending their first two years immersed on the Hilltop, before completing the second half of their time at Georgetown on the Capitol Campus, immersed in the policy world. Describe your primary motivations for studying public policy at Georgetown University and dedicating your undergraduate studies toward a future related to public service.

Paragraph 1: The Intellectual Spark

Open directly inside the middle of a specific, lived moment or a personal setback from your recent high school years that triggered your interest in public policy.
Anchor this spark in a concrete scene of active problem-solving or observing a community challenge firsthand.
You must avoid dry, abstract introductions or childhood clichés such as claiming you have been interested in politics since you were a toddler.
Focus on a localized, observable policy failure that gripped your attention and motivated you to take immediate, personal action.

Paragraph 2: Structured Exploration

Detail how you took this initial spark and pursued it systematically within your high school or local community.
Describe your academic exploration, highlighting rigorous coursework, independent research projects, or internships where you investigated this policy area in depth.
Prove to the admissions committee that you possess unassigned agency by showcasing how you actively chased this knowledge outside of formal requirements.
You must avoid a boring, standard recitation of your transcript, focusing instead on explaining exactly how you learn and grow.

Paragraph 3: Practical Experience

Elaborate on a specific hands-on public service or civic advocacy project where you applied your interests to a real-world setting.
Highlight your individual agency and quantify your impact with real numbers, such as volunteers recruited or community members reached.
You must avoid the lone hero or savior trap, framing your leadership through genuine collaboration and teamwork with others.
Address a specific setback you encountered and explain how you pivoted, showing cognitive agility and resilience under pressure.

Paragraph 4: Academic Fit

Explicitly connect your policy interests to specific, upper-level courses within the McCourt School of Public Policy.
Reference a distinct syllabus detail, reading, or weekly theme that aligns with your past academic trajectory and future goals.
You must utilize the balanced formula of resource plus past experience equals future application.
Avoid listing generic, introductory survey courses, showing instead how you will actively participate in class discussions and challenge completely your own perspectives.

Paragraph 5: Campus Resources

Address the dual-campus model of the McCourt School directly, explaining how spending your first two years on the Hilltop before transitioning to the Capitol Campus serves your goals.
Identify two unique McCourt resources, such as the Capitol Applied Learning Lab or the Massive Data Institute, explaining how you will utilize them.
Connect these resources directly back to your existing trajectory, explaining how you will actively contribute to these policy spaces rather than being a passive consumer.

Paragraph 6: Student Community

Establish your collaborative footprint within the residential and student-led campus community, showing how you will engage outside the classroom.
Highlight specific student-led organizations or policy groups, such as the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service, where you can collaborate with peers.
Use cooperative terms to signal that you are a highly supportive classmate.
Avoid mentioning widely publicized, generic campus traditions, keeping the focus entirely on genuine community integration and mutual growth.

Paragraph 7: Future Contributions

Pivot from what the university can do for you to how you will contribute back to the local Washington community through public service.
Detail how you will translate your policy skills into active civic service through local neighborhood partnerships or public interest programs.
Resolve the narrative arc of your essay by returning directly to the opening hook or metaphor.
End with a powerful, definitive final sentence that positions Georgetown as the absolute, irreplaceable home of your future developmental self.

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Environment and Sustainability

500 words

Through this joint program between the College of Arts & Sciences and the Earth Commons, you’ll explore theories and practical skills in the classroom, in the field, and around the world, and put it all together to make a difference. Describe your primary motivations for studying environment and sustainability at Georgetown University to effect positive change in the world.

Paragraph 1: The Intellectual Spark

Open directly inside the middle of a visual, sensory moment from your recent high school years when your environmental curiosity was first triggered.
Anchor this spark in a concrete scene of active field research, a localized ecological challenge, or a personal encounter with environmental degradation.
You must avoid dry, abstract introductions or broad, clichéd statements about wanting to save the planet.
Focus on a narrow, defined environmental issue that genuinely captivated your attention and motivated you to realize the extreme urgency of the problem immediately.

Paragraph 2: Structured Exploration

Detail how you pursued this environmental spark systematically through rigorous coursework, advanced projects, or hands-on fieldwork.
Describe your active exploration, proving to the admissions committee that you possess unassigned agency by showing how you chased independent knowledge outside of formal requirements.
You must avoid a dry, standard list of resume accomplishments, focusing instead on detailing what you actually did when grappling with complex scientific data to deepen your commitment to sustainability.

Paragraph 3: Practical Experience

Share a specific experience where you applied your environmental interests to a real-world conservation project or community initiative.
Highlight your individual agency, and use specific metrics to quantify your impact, such as trees planted or energy saved.
You must avoid the savior trap, emphasizing collaborative teamwork and shared responsibility instead.
Address a specific setback you encountered and how you pivoted, demonstrating your problem-solving skills and resilience in the face of scientific challenges.

Paragraph 4: Academic Fit

Connect your academic trajectory to specific, upper-level courses offered through the Earth Commons joint program.
Reference a distinct syllabus detail, laboratory methodology, or weekly seminar theme that directly relates to your past trajectory.
You must use the balanced formula of institutional resource plus personal need equals future application.
Avoid listing generic, introductory courses, showing instead how you will actively participate in these academic spaces and challenge your own scientific perspectives.

Paragraph 5: Campus Resources

Explain how you will utilize the unique, hands-on resources of the Earth Commons Institute, such as the Hoya Harvest Garden or its specialized research laboratories.
Reference an active professor's current research or recent publication that directly intersects with your academic questions.
Make sure to verify that the professor is active on campus, and explain how you will actively contribute to their research space as a producer of knowledge.

Paragraph 6: Student Community

Establish your collaborative footprint within the residential and student-led campus community, showing how you will engage outside the classroom.
Highlight specific student-led environmental organizations or sustainability initiatives where you can collaborate with peers.
Use cooperative terms to signal that you are a highly supportive classmate.
Avoid mentioning widely publicized, generic campus traditions, keeping the focus entirely on genuine community-building and shared ecological stewardship on campus.

Paragraph 7: Future Contributions

Pivot from what the university can do for you to how you will contribute back to the local Washington ecosystem or global sustainability efforts.
Detail how you will translate your scientific skills into active civic service through local environmental partnerships or public programs.
Resolve the narrative arc of your essay by returning directly to the opening hook.
End with a high-impact, definitive final sentence that positions Georgetown as the absolute, irreplaceable home of your future developmental self.

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School of Health

500 words

Georgetown University’s School of Health was founded to advance the health and well-being of people locally, nationally, and globally through innovative research, the delivery of interdisciplinary education, and transformative engagement of communities. Describe the factors that influenced your interest in studying health care at Georgetown University, specifically addressing your intended related major: Global Health, Health Care Management & Policy, or Human Science.

Paragraph 1: The Intellectual Spark

Open directly inside the middle of a specific, sensory moment from your recent high school years that triggered your interest in healthcare.
Anchor this spark in a concrete scene, such as a localized health challenge, a personal encounter with system inequities, or a specific, valuable volunteer experience on the ground.
You must avoid dry, abstract introductions or common clinical clichés.
Focus on a defined, observable healthcare issue that gripped your attention and motivated you to seek a deeper, systems-level understanding.

Paragraph 2: Structured Exploration

Detail how you took this initial spark and pursued it systematically within your high school classroom classes, independent projects, or hands-on summer internships.
Map out your active, proactive, and individual exploration, proving to the admissions committee that you possess unassigned agency.
You must avoid a boring recitation of your transcript, focusing instead on detailing exactly how you learn and what questions within the healthcare field most excite your academic interests.

Paragraph 3: Practical Experience

Elaborate on a specific experience where you applied your healthcare interests outside the classroom, such as a volunteer role at a local clinic or public health project.
Detail your hands-on contributions, and quantify your impact with real numbers at the end completely.
You must avoid the lone hero trap, framing your work through genuine collaboration with healthcare professionals and peers.
Address a specific setback you encountered and explain how you pivoted, showing emotional intelligence and deep adaptability.

Paragraph 4: Academic Fit

Explicitly connect your healthcare interests to your intended related major within the School of Health: Global Health, Health Care Management and Policy, or Human Science.
Explain why this major is the perfect fit for your academic journey, future professional plans, and personal career goals.
Avoid general, clichéd statements about medicine, focusing instead on showing a deep, pre-existing commitment to your chosen major's unique perspective, such as policy, global health, or human physiology.

Paragraph 5: Campus Resources

Connect your major's trajectory to specific, upper-level courses or research opportunities unique to the School of Health.
Reference a distinct syllabus detail, lab methodology, or active professor's research that directly relates to your academic questions.
You must use the balanced formula of resource plus experience equals application.
Avoid empty flattery, showing instead how you will actively participate in seminars and contribute to active research with prestigious faculty members.

Paragraph 6: Student Community

Establish your collaborative footprint within the residential and student-led campus community, showing how you will engage outside the classroom.
Highlight specific student-led organizations or health disparities initiatives where you can collaborate with peers.
Use cooperative terms to signal that you are a supportive classmate.
Avoid mentioning widely publicized, generic campus traditions, keeping the focus entirely on genuine, active community integration, shared peer engagement, and support.

Paragraph 7: Future Contributions

Pivot from what the university can do for you to how you will contribute back to local or global health initiatives through public service.
Detail how you will translate your healthcare skills into active civic service through local health partnerships or community engagement programs.
Resolve the narrative arc by returning directly to the opening hook or central healthcare metaphor.
End with a powerful, definitive final sentence that positions Georgetown as your absolute, irreplaceable, and permanent academic home.

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