How to Get Into Georgetown Medical School: The Ultimate Guide
/Learn the Georgetown Medical School acceptance rate, admissions requirements, and read Georgetown secondary application essay examples
Learn how to get into Georgetown Medical School
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Part 1: Introduction
If medical school applications are in your future, Georgetown University School of Medicine (GUSOM) may be on your list. Georgetown boasts a curriculum based on cura personalis—care for a patient’s mental and spiritual well-being in addition to their physical health—plus plenty of enviable research opportunities due to its status as one of only three medical schools in Washington, D.C. Georgetown also has one of the lowest medical school acceptance rates in the country, which means that getting in poses a challenge for even the best applicants.
In this guide, we’ll cover all the information you’ll need to submit a successful application to Georgetown’s medical school, including how to write stellar secondary essays that will make you stand out among Georgetown’s tens of thousands of applicants. Read on to find expert advice and real-life Georgetown med school sample essays, plus Georgetown’s admissions requirements, statistics, and other information you’ll need to apply.
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Part 2: Georgetown Medical School MD programs
First, let’s go over the programs that Georgetown offers. There are several different ways you can get an MD through GUSOM:
The traditional, four-year MD program
The MD/PhD program
The following dual degree programs:
MD/MBA in conjunction with Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business
MD/MPH in conjunction with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
MD/MS in any Georgetown Biomedical Graduate Education Master’s program
MD/MALS in Ethics and Professionalism (in conjunction with Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies)
MD/MA or MD/PhD in in conjunction with Georgetown’s Department of Philosophy
(Suggested reading: MD-PhD Programs: The Ultimate Guide)
Georgetown Medical School tuition
As you might expect based on its prestige and selectivity, attending Georgetown isn’t cheap. The cost of first-year attendance in the 2024–2025 academic year is billed at $74,133 for tuition and fees alone. With fees, living expenses, and other costs, GUSOM projects their total first-year cost of attendance to be $110,917.
(Suggested reading: Tuition at Every Medical School in the United States)
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Part 3: How hard is it to get into Georgetown Medical School?
Georgetown Medical School admissions statistics
With an acceptance rate of just 2.84% for the class of 2026, admission into GUSOM is highly competitive. Here are admissions statistics for the 2023 entering class:
Applications: 16.018
Interviews: 1,111
Matriculants: 201
Average GPA: 3.78
Average MCAT score: 512
Furthermore, Georgetown states that a “highly competitive applicant” will have a GPA over 3.6, while a “non-competitive applicant” will have a GPA under 3.0. Similarly, an MCAT section score under 125 is considered non-competitive. Use this information as a barometer to determine if Georgetown is a reach, target, or undershoot school for you.
(Suggested reading: Average GPA and MCAT Score for Every Medical School)
Georgetown Medical School admissions requirements
Let’s take a look at the Georgetown prerequisites:
General biology: 1 year with lab (8 semester hours)
General chemistry: 1 year with lab (8 semester hours)
Organic chemistry: 1 year with lab (8 semester hours)
*Biochemistry (lab not required) is recommended and may replace a second semester of organic chemistry with lab.
Physics: 1 year with lab (8 semester hours)
Mathematics: 1 semester (calculus is not required; statistics is acceptable)
Additionally, Georgetown notes that the following coursework, though not required, is considered useful:
Microbiology
Computer science
Cellular physiology
Genetics
Embryology
Biostatistics
Quantitative analysis
Physical chemistry
Humanities
Social and behavioral sciences
Beyond coursework, Georgetown also looks for applicants to demonstrate hands-on experience in clinical settings, research, and service to underserved communities, as well as leadership.
To apply to Georgetown, you’ll need to have taken the MCAT sometime in the two years prior to the year you apply. For example, if you’re applying in the 2024–2025 cycle, you can submit an MCAT score taken between January 2022 and September 2024.
(Suggested reading: Medical School Requirements: The Definitive Guide)
Georgetown Medical School application timeline
In order to apply to GUSOM, you’ll need to submit your application via AMCAS. Let’s take a look at Georgetown’s application timeline:
May 2, 2024: AMCAS application opens
May 30, 2024: AMCAS application can be submitted
*November 3, 2024: AMCAS application deadline
*December 15, 2024: GUSOM secondary application deadline (with $130 Application Fee, and Recommendation Letters received by AMCAS)
*April 30, 2025: $500 deposit due
*These dates are based on the 2023-2024 cycles as new dates have not yet been released for the 2024-2025 cycle. We will update this guide with new information as soon as it becomes available.
Georgetown employs rolling admissions. Thus, we advise you to submit your AMCAS application during early summer in order to move onto the secondary application phase as soon as possible.
Because Georgetown does not pre-screen AMCAS applications, everyone who submits an application to GUSOM will receive a secondary application. Again, responding quickly is important to demonstrate your interest and to take advantage of rolling admissions. The earlier you submit your application, the fewer people you are competing against for the greater amount of spots.
If you submit and have your AMCAS application verified before July 1st, you should expect to receive your secondary application invitation within the first 5–7 business days of July. If your AMCAS application is verified on or after July 1st, your invitation should arrive 5–7 days after verification.
If you make it to the next stage of the application cycle, you’ll be invited to interview at Georgetown with approximately 4–6 weeks’ notice. In past cycles, interviews for the MD program have been conducted between August and February, with offers of admission issued between October and July.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
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Part 4: Georgetown Medical School secondary application essays (examples included)
Georgetown’s secondary application consists of three essay questions, two of which are limited to 1000-character responses—around two paragraphs—so remember that brevity and clarity will be key. The final question gives you a bit more space to be expansive.
Let’s take a look at the questions and some example essays.
Question 1: Are you/will you be enrolled in any program during the 2023-2024 academic year?
Question 2: Have you ever completed one of the following Georgetown Programs? (check all that apply):
The Georgetown University Academy for Research, Clinical, and Health Equity Scholarship (ARCHES)
Pedro Arrupe S.J. Scholarship for Peace (ARRUPE)
Gateway Exploration Program (GEP)
Georgetown Scholars Program (GSP)
Georgetown University School of Medicine Summer Immersion Program (GUSOM SCS)
Cultivating Opportunity & Realizing Excellence (CORE) Leadership Program
Graduated from Georgetown Experimental Medical Studies Program (GEMS)
Graduated from Special Master's Program (SMP)
None
Question 3: The Georgetown University School of Medicine (GUSOM) strives to ensure that its students become respectful physicians, with cultural humility, who embrace all dimensions of caring for the whole person. With our Jesuit values of Cura Personalis, People for Others, and Community in Diversity, we are steadfast in our commitment to racial justice and to addressing the health inequities exacerbated by the recent pandemic. Please describe how your values, life experiences, and your identity will contribute to these GUSOM priorities. (1000 characters)
This question asks for a variant of the diversity essay, which we’ve covered extensively in our guide to medical school secondary essays. Head over there for more insight on writing convincingly about how your unique characteristics or background will contribute to Georgetown.
It’s worth noting that the question explicitly mentions Georgetown’s mission of cura personalis and its emphasis on “all dimensions of caring for the whole person.” You’ll want to make sure that your essay can convince its readers that whatever aspect of yourself that you choose to write about will contribute to this specific mission.
Example:
Since I graduated from college four years ago, I’ve been a mental health services coordinator at a nonprofit serving unhoused women in Los Angeles. Despite its challenges, I’ve found this job extremely rewarding. I’m able to help women access the mental healthcare that they need to improve their lives. This work has shown me how consequential it can be to nourish and care for elements of our health beyond our physical bodies. As I’ve gotten to know many of the women who seek help, it’s also become clear that a lack of access to mental health services can often be a factor in one’s path towards housing instability. This work has made me reconsider many common assumptions, which I too held, about poverty and mental illness, and has helped me develop a greater sense of empathy and open-mindedness. I believe that these qualities will be an asset as I embark on my journey through medical school, and I hope to be able to share all I’ve learned with the Georgetown community.
What works in this essay?
This nontraditional applicant describes in detail how their work in a nonprofit for unhoused women has helped guide their awareness of the importance of mental healthcare, which fits nicely with Georgetown’s mission of cura personalis.
Not only do they use this space to elaborate on an experience that would otherwise be just a line on their resume, but they are also able to show how that experience has helped them develop empathy and open-mindedness, two important qualities for medical students and doctors to have.
Question 4: Is there any further information that you would like the Committee on Admissions to be aware of when reviewing your file that you were not able to notate in another section of this or the AMCAS Application? (1000 characters)
Question 5: Why have you chosen to apply to the Georgetown University School of Medicine and how do you think your education at Georgetown will prepare you to become a physician for the future? (3000 characters)
Gain instant access to med school secondary essay examples for every single prompt required by every medical school in the United States and Canada. Subscribe today to lock in the current investments, which will be increasing in the future for new subscribers.
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Part 5: Georgetown Medical School interviews
If you make it to the interview phase of the application process, you can be assured that your academic record has already been carefully vetted and that you’re in the top tier of applicants. Among the class of 2026, fewer than 7 percent of applicants were invited to interview.
Once you receive your interview invite, be sure to respond as soon as possible! Georgetown notes that applicants who do not respond to an invitation within two weeks will have their applications withdrawn. You are only allowed to reschedule your interview once—as long as you notify the school well in advance—and a second cancellation will result in your application being withdrawn.
During the 2024–2025 application cycle, all interviews will be held virtually via Zoom. You will have a single, one-on-one interview, lasting between 30 and 45 minutes, with either a faculty member or a fourth-year student. Additionally, there is a virtual presentation that you must attend prior to your interview. The interview is a time to show off your personality, interests, passions, and worldview. You won’t be quizzed to test your intellectual or academic proficiency. Think of it, instead, as a “get to know you” or “get inside your head” interview.
We’ve compiled a list of common questions interviewees are likely to encounter at Georgetown below.
Why medicine? Why Georgetown?
Tell me about your journey to medicine.
Tell me about a challenge you faced, how you overcame it, and what you learned.
What do you do when you feel stressed?
What's one of the biggest problems in medicine?
How will you contribute to diversity and inclusion at Georgetown?
Tell me about a healthcare issue in DC, and if you can't speak to DC, one in the area you are from.
Have you faced any moral or ethical dilemmas? If so, what did you do?
What are your hobbies?
Some of these questions are standard fare for interviews at many schools, but do you have a coherent response you can draw on for a question such as “What do you do when you feel stressed?” or “How will you contribute to diversity and inclusion at Georgetown?”
If you’ve taken the time to think through your answers, you won’t seize up when asked an unexpected question. Remember that adcoms know you’re nervous, but they also expect you to be eloquent and well-spoken. If you come across as less knowledgeable than you really are, that’s what they’ll remember and your application may be sent to the waitlist pile.
Finally, you should expect to wait 10-12 weeks after your interview to receive a final decision from the admissions committee. This can be a difficult period of waiting, but know that you have already made it quite far. This is also a time when you might consider sending letters of interest or intent.
(Suggested reading: How to Ace Your Medical School Interview)
Final thoughts
Georgetown University School of Medicine is a highly selective medical school with plenty of name recognition and a clearly defined mission of caring for the whole patient. If you hope to be one of the lucky few to gain a spot at Georgetown, first make an effort to achieve top grades and MCAT scores. Then focus on writing standout essays and acing your interview to demonstrate the ways in which you and Georgetown are a perfect match.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.