Were you deferred in the Early Action round to Georgetown University’s Class of 2030? If so, turn that frown upside-down. You applied Restrictive Early Action to Georgetown. As such, you must have really fallen in love with the Jesuit institution. So, why would you give up now when you’re still alive and kicking? Instead, learn about your post-deferral chances at Georgetown and what you can do to optimize your case for admission in Regular Decision.

And what if you were rejected to Georgetown’s Class of 2030? With Georgetown in your rearview, you have an opportunity to tackle the Regular Decision round with a fresh approach. Read on to learn more about making the most of this setback.

Georgetown University Early Action Admissions Statistics

Below, you’ll find Georgetown’s Early Action admissions statistics over the last 15 years:

Georgetown Class Year	Number of Early Action Applications	Number of Early Action Acceptances	Early Action Acceptance Rate
Class of 2030	Not Yet Available	Not Yet Available	Not Yet Available
Class of 2029	8,254	917	11.11%
Class of 2028	8,600	860	10.00%
Class of 2027	8,196	964	11.76%
Class of 2026	8,832	881	9.98%
Class of 2025	8,710	940	10.79%
Class of 2024	7,305	856	11.72%
Class of 2023	8,387	919	11.78%
Class of 2022	8,383	1,002	11.95%
Class of 2021	7,822	863	11.03%
Class of 2020	7,027	892	12.69%
Class of 2019	6,840	907	13.26%
Class of 2018	6,749	954	14.14%
Class of 2017	6,840	882	12.89%
Class of 2016	6,832	1,009	14.77%

5 Steps to Take After Being Deferred by Georgetown

Below, you’ll find our prescribed regimen:

1. Go for a jog or a swim. It’s essential to clear your head over the few hours after receiving your deferral notice.
2. Sign up for a complimentary consultation with Ivy Coach to learn about our services for deferred Georgetown candidates.
3. Complete a PostMortem with Ivy Coach so you understand what mistakes you made on your application as well as what you should be focusing on and what you should not be focusing on in your Letter of Continued Interest to Georgetown.
4. Within a few days of your deferral, submit a powerfully worded Letter of Continued Interest to Georgetown with Ivy Coach’s assistance. While most deferred candidates correctly know they should send a letter, these same students all too often see it as an opportunity to brag and update Georgetown on all they’ve achieved in the six weeks since they applied. That is not Ivy Coach’s approach — and it’s a big reason why our students have the success they do!
5. In the New Year, bring your Letter of Continued Interest to your school counselor and ask if they’ll present you as you present yourself in your letter on an advocacy call with your regional representative at Georgetown. Some school counselors will refuse to make such calls, but good school counselors will always take the time to pick up the phone.

What Not To Do If You’ve Been Deferred by Georgetown

Below, you’ll find what so many deferred candidates have thought to do over the years but what we at Ivy Coach expressly implore you not to do:

1. No calls. Do not call Georgetown’s admissions office to find out why you didn’t get in. Over the years, do you know how many parents of students who first come to us after their deferrals talk of calling the Dean of Admissions? Dean Deacon does not want to hear from you, and how do you think going over the heads of admissions committee members will go, Karen?
2. No check-ins. Do not send check-in emails or letters regularly. Have you heard the term: gadfly?
3. No whining. Do not complain to your high school counselor. Your school counselor can be your greatest advocate. You must remain likable!
4. No outside-the-box approaches. Do you think you’re the first deferred candidate to consider posting a YouTube video? Or post an ad on a Georgetown bus? Or pitch a tent outside Georgetown’s admissions office? You need to be creative within your Letter of Continued Interest. Any other such bird-brained ideas will not go over well. Besides, our nation’s elite colleges have had enough with the tents these days!
5. No torpedoing the candidacies of other applicants. Do you think you’re the first (evil) student to consider bashing a fellow Georgetown applicant from your high school? Such a move has more potential to hurt you than the rival candidate.

What to Do If You Were Rejected By Georgetown University

No one likes being rejected, so we wouldn’t blame you if you’re feeling rather disappointed after receiving a Georgetown rejection. But if you were applying to Georgetown, you’re likely familiar with the tenets of Jesuit values, one of which is the importance of faith. Holding onto it in this crucial moment could make a huge difference!

Since Georgetown does not deny applicants in the Early Action round, if you received word of a rejection, it means many Regular Decision deadlines have already come and passed. So what is there left to do?

Consider Ivy Coach’s PostMortem to assess what went wrong with your application and discover the strategies for making the most of any Regular Decision applications with deadlines that have yet to come around. That said, we understand that most of these schools won’t excite you. So, with the help of Ivy Coach’s team of former elite college admissions officers, you can learn how to pivot your strategy by re-applying as a first-year applicant next year or by applying as a transfer student.

PostMortem Application Review

During our PostMortem, we:

• Assist your shift to Regular Decision schools. Even the best laid plans can backfire. Your RD applications will indeed need to change, even after all the hard work you’ve put in. After combing through all the details with a member of our team of former elite college admissions officers, we predict you’ll cherish the opportunity for a fresh start. Many students don’t realize how many wrong turns they made in Early Decision. Did you present as well-rounded? Did you fill your essays with unnecessary bragging and boasting? By working with you to develop a singular hook, we’ll set you up for RD success.
• Focus on the details. The many factors that could have contributed to your rejection need to be addressed before RD comes around. For example, Georgetown admissions officers have a rigorous academic standard for admission you may not have met. Or, perhaps you hit the third rail by choosing one of six overused essay topics that your application reader had seen before (over and over again!). Or maybe you simply did not give Georgetown faith that you’d make the most of your time on campus.
• Assemble a new list of Regular Decision schools. Now that your rejection letter is in hand, you may want to revisit what you consider a safety school or reach school with Ivy Coach’s help. Our case-by-case feedback will help you to assemble a list full of schools you may not have even considered. If a Jesuit education is your top choice, might we suggest Boston College?

Application Assistance

Following your PostMortem, which is the jumping off point for understanding what went wrong with your Georgetown application and how to pivot, we will:

• Update your Regular Decision applications with Ivy Coach’s help. Now that you know the ropes of up-to-date admissions strategy, it’s your job to apply this new information to your applications. You may have made some mistakes in high school by taking the wrong courses or participating in the wrong extracurricular activities, but we can still make sure you put your best foot forward for Regular Decision.

What Not to Do After Being Rejected by Georgetown

What shouldn’t you do after receiving a Georgetown rejection? It’s important you don’t undo all of your hard work now with an avoidable error:

1. Doubling down on the wrong approach. Why submit the same application and expect different results? An Early Action rejection is an opportunity to correct your approach. Don’t pass it by out of stubbornness.
2. Reaching out Georgetown’s admissions office. Georgetown admissions officers have enough on their plate. They don’t need to field your calls (or text messages, personalized gifts, or billboard advertisements). Yes, we’ve seen families who stoop to these lows. Your rejection is the final word. Move on!
3. Do not foreclose Regular Decision possibilities. Don’t fill your RD school list exclusively with reach schools. Now that you have Ivy Coach’s assistance, you will indeed have renewed odds of elite college admission. But exclusively applying to reach schools will certainly backfire. Instead, get creative with your RD school list. Maybe the West Coast is calling! Perhaps you might do well on a campus in the wilderness!
4. Don’t blame your school counselor. Yes, that even includes the counselors who refused to call college admissions offices to advocate your case. No one can take the responsibility for your admissions journey but you. You need every ally you can get!

Georgetown Deferral and Rejection FAQ

Does Georgetown University accept, defer, and deny in the Early Action round?

No. Georgetown is one of the few elite universities that does not deny Early Action applicants. They either accept EA applicants or defer their admission to the Regular Decision round.

Is a Georgetown University deferral meaningful?

Yes and no. Because Georgetown does not deny Early Action candidates, a deferral has less weight than at other elite universities. That said, Georgetown regularly accepts deferred candidates in the Regular Decision round (at a 15% clip as compared to 10% at most highly selective universities). So, it’s still essential for deferred Georgetown candidates to play their cards right.

How is Georgetown’s admissions office different from other elite college admissions offices?

Think of Frank Sinatra’s song, “My Way.” Under Georgetown’s longtime Dean of Admission Charles Deacon, the school’s admissions office doesn’t follow the herd. Not Charlie!

When, years ago, other elite universities switched to notifying applicants of decisions via emails and portals, Georgetown continued to send notifications via mail. It took the pandemic to move the school into the modern age in this area.

It wasn’t even until 2025 that Georgetown began accepting applications via The Common Application. And they still won’t take the Coalition Application (which is fine by us!). Up until very recently, that had their own unique application and it had the appearance as though it was designed by a computer programmer in the early 2000’s.

And, along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown is one of a select set of schools that returned faster than the speed of light to requiring test scores after briefly going test-optional during the pandemic.

Is it possible to earn admission to Georgetown after a rejection?

No, there is absolutely no procedure for appealing your rejection. You’re wasting your time. Your best move is to pivot to your Regular Decision schools as soon as possible, as every second counts in the wake of a rejection. Your capacity to pivot your admissions strategy decreases each day you wait to take action!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance After Your Georgetown Deferral or Rejection

Over the last 30 years, 34% of students who first come to Ivy Coach after being deferred by Georgetown have earned admission — a figure that compares to about 15% of the overall deferred pool for Georgetown.

If you’re interested in giving yourself the best shot possible of earning admission to Georgetown after your deferral or making the most out of your rejection by improving your case for admission to other schools, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch to delineate our go-forward services for deferred or rejected candidates.