Calling all Georgetown 2010 Applicants!

wow....I've been kinda buried under some awesome classes this mod. Tons of fun, but tons of work. Sorry about that.

So, the dress code is "Business Casual." They make a big deal about it at first but it kinda goes out the window half way through mod 1. You don't want to look like an undergrad, so at least look like you know how to dress yourself. Most days I wear jeans and either a polo or a dress shirt and that covers most of my class. Apparently a few years ago they had issues with people wearing ripped t-shirts, etc. so they take a hard line early and then have lax enforcement so everyone ends up at a good middle ground. Since it's been nice recently people have been wearing shorts and you'll see some flip flops from time to time. For the most part people just dress how they want.


On the rankings:
For the most part those rankings are the result of placement issues from 2009. There's basically 2 effects going on here.

First, remember what those rankings represent. They're the class that was admitted in 2007 and graduated in the depths of the crisis. At that time the school was going through a total rebuilding. We hired a new Dean in 2008, have replaced the career management staff, admissions standards and guidelines have changed, etc. We have a great new building and in general things are on their way up. In 2007 our average GMAT was around 650, last year it was 687, this year it will be 695 or 700. Over the past 2 years the school has added literally dozens of new faculty members with backgrounds from top firms and top schools. We are in the final stages of hiring a new director of career management, and trust me....that was necessary.

Also, finance was the first area Georgetown built up a strength in. in 2008 45% of our class went into finance. In 2009: 27%. That's gonna hurt your numbers. This year we have students with internships at: Goldman, Bank of America-Merrill, Citi, JP Morgan, Allen & Company, UBS and a bunch of others. I haven't been looking too hard at finance so I'm not sure where the second years are going, but the internship recruiting for finance has been very strong.

It sucks to see the rankings go down, but I wouldn't place too much stock in the numbers given that there are such issues as the existence of 7-8 top 5 schools. Visit the schools, look at the recruiting profiles and ask questions. Meet the students and talk to them about their experiences. If you can see yourself at the school and you feel comfortable, don't let the rankings sway you too much.