4 Tips for Writing the Georgetown Supplemental Essays
This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Alexander Oddo in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.
What’s Covered:
Georgetown University requires all applicants to respond to two supplemental essay prompts. This article will review tips on how to craft stellar essays and how to apply this advice to your writing.
1. Be Concise
One of Georgetown’s supplemental prompts has a half-page word limit, which translates to about 200 words, while the other prompt has a one-page, or 350 word, limit. Since these essays are short, you will want to be concise with your language without sacrificing writing quality.
An effective way to convey personality and reflection with your essays is to write a draft, set it aside for a day or two, and then reduce the word count with a fresh pair of eyes. Once you revisit your writing after a break, you will catch more areas that are longer than necessary or could be said in fewer words.
2. Use Your Space Wisely
Another tip to keep in mind when writing shorter essays is that your introduction does not have to be as attention grabbing as it does when you’re writing a 650 word essay. In those essays, you can take a bit of time to build up to your first paragraph, while you ideally want to get right to the point in shorter essays. Aim to grab your reader’s attention immediately in your two Georgetown supplemental essays with just a few sentences of narrative.
Furthermore, using long paragraphs is an effective way to give yourself more words to work with. Since these essays have a page limit rather than an exact word limit, writing with longer paragraphs than you usually would will allow you to fill your document with words rather than blank spaces. However, make sure that you do not make your paragraphs too long. You don’t want to fit your entire 350 word essay into one single paragraph. Your main goal should be to avoid very short paragraphs — especially those that are only a sentence or two.
3. Focus on You
Think of your Georgetown essays as a portfolio. The essays need to explore different aspects of who you are and why you are applying to Georgetown. These can include your academic interests, personal interests, specific resources that draw you to Georgetown, and your values.
Essentially, you want to talk about what makes you tick inside the classroom and what you are passionate about outside of the classroom. The goal of your essays is to creatively and captivatingly explain to the admissions committee who you are as a person and student.
4. Balance Creativity and Content
One thing to note is that Georgetown’s essay prompts are about relatively serious topics. In order to avoid making your essay too plain, you should inject some personality, levity, and humanity into your essays to balance out the serious parts. An effective way to do this is to take a few creative risks, such as crafting a snazzy introduction or even writing your essay as a poem if you feel inspired. So long as your creativity is authentic rather than forced, it will make your essays stand out without adding too many words.
If you found this article helpful and are looking for more information on Georgetown’s supplements, check out this in-depth article on all of Georgetown University’s essay prompts and how to approach them.
