Poets&Quants Top Business Schools

Georgetown University McDonough School of Business

#3

Contact our general manager with any questions. Profile updated: January 23, 2024.

Contact Information

Location:
37th and O Streets, NW
Washington, D.C. 20057
Admissions Office:
202-687-3851

Tuition & Fees In-State: $323,857*

Tuition & Fees Out-of-State: $323,857*

Average Salary: $100,859.15

Graduates With Jobs 90 Days After Graduation: 97%

International: 10%

Minority: 21%

First generation college students: 8%

When do students declare their majors: Freshman Year

Acceptance Rate: 13%

Average SAT: 1,413

Average ACT: 32

Average GPA: 3.88

HS Class Top Ten: 82%**

*The total cost of the degree over four years for the most recent graduating class inclusive of school fees, room, board, or living expenses.

** HS Class Top Ten is the percent of the student population that graduated high school in the top ten percent of their class.

*** Please note that these statistics are provided for the business school major only whenever possible. If a school does not track these statistics separately, then the university-wide statistics are provided.

The McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University secured the bronze medal at No 3. in this year’s 2023 rankings – down only place from their second place finish last year. 

Acceptance at McDonough this year was nearly the same – at 12.90% for the Class of 2023, ever so slightly less selective than the Class of 2022’s 12.29% average. The most recent incoming class’s average SAT score was 1413, down slightly from last year’s 1423 average. 

What really helped Georgetown this year was their first-place finish in Career Outcomes. They also finished No. 4 in Admissions and No. 3 in Academic Experience. In terms of employment outcomes, the B-school held steady at an impressive rate of 97.29% for the Class of 2023 – nearly the same as last year’s 97.58%. Also notable, Georgetown maintained their high internship rate of 97% for the Class of 2023 – with grads landing at least one business-focused internship before graduation.

COMPREHENSIVE CURRICULUM

The McDonough curriculum offers a strong foundation in critical thinking and reasoning with a blend of business and liberal arts courses. McDonough students are required to complete 120 semester hours of courses in the liberal arts core, business core, a chosen major(s), and electives. Students enroll in the business school during their first year and declare a specific major in their sophomore year.

One of the more hands-on learning opportunities is the First Year Seminar, a collection of courses designed for first-year McDonough students on unique business topics ranging from global leadership to the anthropology of business. 

What makes the McDonough curriculum truly comprehensive, however, is the variety of subjects and fields that courses dive into. One of those unique courses is “Signal Class,” where students learn entrepreneurship first-hand by creating a book that would demonstrate their purpose. Students in the course use startup methodologies, from ideation to marketing, to create a book manuscript throughout the semester.

McDonough’s geographical placement in Washington D.C., and being part of the greater Georgetown university gives business students unique access to government and policy perspectives. For students looking to gain a very solid business education combined with access to public policy issues, there is no school better than Georgetown. And among the top-10 or so schools, only New York University’s Stern School of Business offers a similar international-focused business school curriculum. So, for high school students looking to gain a business degree with international or policy experience, Georgetown should be at the very top of the list.

A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

One of the most popular global programs at McDonough is the Global Business Experience. Offered as a three-credit course, the Global Business Experience offers students the opportunity to work in teams and conduct a substantive consulting project for a private, public, or nonprofit organization abroad. To cap the experience, student teams travel to the client organization’s country during the week of spring break to present their recommendations to senior management. 

“I participated in at least 3 signature experiences that the business school provided including the first year seminar (the real estate game), a fellowship with the Fabretto foundation in Nicaragua over the summer, and the Global Business Experience in Argentina focused on the wine industry,” one alumni told Poets&Quants.

“All three experiences changed and shaped my academic and ultimately my professional trajectory. They allowed for real world application of academics and contributed to so much of what made me successful in interviews for jobs. My fellowship and the GBE initiative have been two of the most invaluable experiences of my life, and they influence me to this day.”

Alumni say:

“We were afforded many opportunities to participate in unique experiences at McDonough such as these before graduation. Most of our coursework was rooted in projects, but most memorable for me was a faux client pitch in Marketing Strategy. Walking into that class was informal and electric. We learned so much while simultaneously having fun together as seniors. It helped me figure out I wanted to go into advertising after graduation.”

“Case competitions – I got the chance to travel to 5+ countries internationally, interact with students from other universities, and compete in real-world business case competitions that have directly supported my career growth in consulting.”

“Global Learning Experience (international semester-long consulting project). This project was a real, international, business customer (I worked with French brand Etam) where we took on a real consulting project. It was a great practical experience with consulting skills and applied analytics.”

“I wrote and published my first book through a program offered by the business school, which allowed me to pursue a personal passion while setting myself apart in the job search.”

“I completed a global business experience which was a real consulting project with an international project. Unfortunately, due to Covid, we were not able to travel to the international site, but we did meet and present virtually with our global partners. This was an indispensable experience to build business acumen and confidence working with various real partners.”