Georgetown University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Spanish
Minor: Anthropology
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Male
Summary
I’m a varsity athlete and in a fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Private school in San Diego, CA with a graduating class of about 110 students.
First Generation College Student: No
Major: Spanish
Minor: Anthropology
Extracurricular Activities: I’m a varsity athlete and in a fraternity.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
Spanish has a very classic college course set up. You have a midterm, final, in-class essay, and two essays during the semester. Besides that, it’s usually very small, discussion-based classes. There aren’t many lectures. Once you do your basic stuff you have a literature course, a linguistics course, and an elective, so I took Barcelona Art History. I took about three Spanish classes at a time and there were about 10 people in each class.
Did you especially like or dislike anything about your major’s department? Did they do anything especially well or poorly?
Basic Spanish classes are pretty repetitive. You have to write papers and have daily homework like in high school, which I didn’t like. I like the idea of everybody participating. There’s also not much pressure when you speak in class because nobody’s perfect, plus you don’t get graded on what you say, you get graded on whether you speak or not. The study abroad program was difficult because we had so much work that we didn’t get to see the city very much.
What has been your favorite class in your major?
Barcelona Art History
What was your least favorite class in your major?
I took a Medieval literature course. I thought it was a complete waste of time, it’s almost a different language. I had to translate it and figure out what they were saying in regular Spanish. Besides that, they had a good system for the major.
How was it balancing your coursework and a varsity sport?
It was difficult to manage my sport and school work. We were on the road like 10 weekends, so leaving Thursday, missing Friday class, and the professors aren’t thrilled about you missing class. Then you have to do homework in the hotel room, but you don’t want to because you’re tired. We’d have lifts in the morning during the week so you have a tighter schedule. It’s a pain in the ass but you can work with it.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
It allowed me to interact with a bunch of different people that I wouldn’t normally have been able to. It’s interesting to do Spanish business classes and then see how different it is in Latin America. It also helps you get a better grasp of English.
Reasons to Attend
1) If you’re somebody that needs to focus but it doesn’t come naturally, you learn how to be a student and learn how to work hard. Then working hard becomes normal.
2) You go to school with lots of people that will become successful, so you form a long-term network. When you’re with people that are hungry it brings the best out in you.
3) If you want to be on the East Coast it’s a great spot. The location is an oasis in the city.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) It’s not great if you want to work on the West Coast.
2) It’s not easy to make friends lit it is at other schools, but when you do there are good, loyal people here.
3) There’s not a great, happy college vibe here. If you want school spirit and friendly people that are willing to help each other out, that’s not going to happen here. People are closed off and that’s a bummer. It can be a little intimidating to some.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Village C West and I had one roommate.
Sophomore: I lived in a junior dorm, Village A, it was pretty sweet. I had three roommates.
Junior: My buddy basically won the housing lottery, so we got this awesome townhouse. We had a big backyard. If you get a good lottery pick you can get a townhouse in Georgetown, which is awesome.
Senior: I lived in an off-campus in Burleith [a neighborhood next to Georgetown]. It was a dump.
What was your favorite living situation?
I saw all aspects of campus. Dorm life was pretty fun. You get to meet other freshmen and hang out in your little group. Once you get your own townhouse it’s a game changer. Junior year was my favorite living situation. It was a big house with a nice sunny backyard.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Georgetown overall has great food. It can be a bit pricey, though. There isn’t great Mexican food, so you’re going to have to stick with Chipotle. My favorite place is a chicken wing place called Wingos. I also like Dean & Deluca, which is a deli and prepared food place with a nice patio outside. If you want pizza go to Pizza Paradiso if you have some time to wait.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
I didn’t get away from campus too much. There’s a little park next to school by Wisemiller’s Deli. People don’t really walk through it at all. I just go sit on a bench and relax between classes on a nice day. I could go to practice and chill on a bench there. If you want to chill off campus there’s not really a great place for that.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you participate in?
On average, usually just Friday and Saturday. I didn’t go out Wednesday and Thursday because I needed sleep for practice. I bounced around a lot. Sometimes I’d go to my frat’s party on campus. A lot of people at Georgetown go to specific bars or go to places in DC where [George Washington University] students go.
How happy are you with the nightlife at Georgetown? Is there anything you’d change if you could?
If you’re trying to live the dream you can’t do it here. You’re not going to get the crazy parties like you [hear about]. People are a bit too intelligent to do that so it’s not nearly as crazy as it could be. But, if you want to go out and have a hell of a time you can do it. It’s nice that we have intelligent students here in some ways because we don’t have guys trying to fight each other or [causing other problems].
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
My frat and sports team. I wouldn’t say one’s better than the other, they’re just different. My frat’s not the kind of frat you join just to party, you meet friends in your pledge class that are good, solid guys. You know that you can call them later on to play golf or work out an issue. The frat’s been nice for that. Then being an athlete, you spend a ton of time with your team so you get to know all of them pretty well.
Do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
No, all the Asian students stick together in their own crew. Black students have their own parties with just them. When I go to a party at a townhouse there will be [very few] Black students there. All the international students hang out together too. It’s pretty naturally segregated, and people don’t talk about that very much.
What is the social scene like? Is it cliquey?
I don’t think it’s too cliquey. You’ve got some groups that are super cliquey but you also have groups that like to mix it up. There are big diverse groups, like the Corp, [which is a student run organization on campus that many students work for].
What is the impact of Greek life on campus?
It’s a pretty small portion of the student body that’s involved in it on campus. [About 10% of students participate in Greek life, but they are unrecognized by the university.]
Do people seem happy with Georgetown by senior year?
It depends. If you want to go to a school for the best four years of your life, no. You don’t have the kind of school spirit that you get at an SEC school. But the school is going to set you up for your future and that’s what it’s all about. Graduating is satisfying because it’s a tough four years.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Definitely. As I said, it depends on what you want to do. The Georgetown network will help you get an interview. Or, if you’re friendly with a professor that knows somebody then they can help you out.