Best Georgetown Majors — SFS, McDonough, IR 2026

Picture a typical Tuesday morning at Georgetown. At 9:30 you head to a lecture on international relations theory in the Intercultural Center. It is taught by a professor who, two years ago, negotiated a trade agreement in Geneva. In the afternoon you catch the G2 bus and fifteen minutes later you are in Foggy Bottom, sitting in on a briefing at the State Department as part of an internship you started in your sophomore year. In the evening you return to campus to prepare for a seminar on the ethics of foreign policy — a course taught by a Jesuit with two doctorates, in a room of fourteen people. This is not a dream day. This is an ordinary Tuesday at Georgetown — and that is precisely why choosing the right major here carries a different weight than it does anywhere else.

Georgetown is not a university you “just” attend. Georgetown is four separate undergraduate schools, each with its own admissions process, its own profile and very different career paths. The choice between the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown College, the McDonough School of Business and the School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS) is not a cosmetic decision — it is the foundation of your entire application and of your first five years after graduation. In this guide I will walk you through all four schools, the strongest majors in each, and tell you honestly which choice makes sense for an international applicant. If you are looking for information about admissions and costs themselves, see the complete guide to Georgetown University. Here we focus exclusively on the programs.

Walsh School of Foreign Service — why is it Georgetown’s flagship program?

If you come to Washington to talk about international relations, there is only one address worth knowing — the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at 37th Street NW. Founded in 1919 by Father Edmund Walsh, SJ — six months before the League of Nations came into being — it is the oldest and most prestigious international relations program in the world. This is not a matter of opinion. SFS literally invented the academic discipline of “international affairs” as a distinct field of study.

The most important technical detail for an international applicant: SFS is an undergraduate school you apply to straight out of secondary school. Most competing IR programs — Columbia SIPA, Johns Hopkins SAIS, Princeton SPIA — are graduate programs. At SFS you get four years of education in international relations instead of two — and you do it in the city where those relations actually happen.

The eight SFS majors:

• International Politics (IPOL) — international security, foreign policy, multilateral institutions. The most popular major for students thinking about the State Department, the CIA, the NSA.
• International Economics (IECO) — the most quantitative SFS major. It combines economics with trade policy, international finance and development. A very strong pipeline to the IMF, the World Bank and investment banks.
• International Political Economy (IPEC) — the intersection of politics and economics on a global scale. Less mathematical than IECO, more theoretical.
• International History (IHIS) — the history of international relations, diplomatic and military. An excellent foundation for international law and academia.
• Regional and Comparative Studies (RCST) — for students obsessively interested in a single region (Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East). A great choice for anyone wanting to specialize in the politics of their home region.
• Culture and Politics (CULP) — political anthropology, soft power, cultural diplomacy.
• Science, Technology and International Affairs (STIA) — the fastest-growing SFS major. Cybersecurity, climate policy, AI and biotechnology in an international context.
• Global Business (GBUS) — run jointly with the McDonough School of Business. It blends business with economic diplomacy.

Foreign-language study is mandatory. Every SFS student must reach “Advanced Proficiency” in one foreign language — that means roughly four or five semesters of intensive study. Several less-commonly-taught languages count as “critical” languages in U.S. federal programs, and an applicant who already speaks one fluently can turn that into a genuine advantage — both in admissions and later, when applying to government roles that prize rare language skills.

Who has SFS educated? Its most famous graduate is Bill Clinton (SFS ‘68) — the 42nd President of the United States. King Abdullah II of Jordan also earned a full SFS degree. Dozens of CIA directors, national security advisers and U.S. ambassadors have passed through these same classrooms. This is the strength of an alumni network you cannot buy anywhere else.

Georgetown College — liberal arts, pre-med and pre-law

Georgetown College is the university’s oldest and largest school — and probably the one most international applicants will apply to. It is a classic liberal arts and sciences program that covers everything that does not fit into the other three schools: from mathematics through English literature to biology and chemistry.

The strongest majors in Georgetown College:

• Government — Georgetown College’s flagship major. It focuses on American politics, political theory, comparative politics and political research methodology. Courses cover Congress, the presidency, the Supreme Court and electoral campaigns. This is the major for people who want to work in the White House, in Congress, or in a law firm with a constitutional practice. The real difference from International Politics at SFS: Government looks inward at the United States, while IPOL looks outward.
• Economics — a solid program, less quantitative than at MIT or Chicago, but with a strong pipeline into consulting and finance thanks to the proximity of D.C.
• Biology, Biochemistry, Human Science — the foundation of the pre-med track. Georgetown has its own Medical Center on campus and one of the highest medical-school acceptance rates in the country (regularly above 75% for students with a strong academic profile — versus a national average of about 42%).
• Computer Science — the major is growing, but realistically Georgetown does not compete here with Stanford, MIT or CMU. Choose CS at Georgetown if you want to combine technology with policy (cybersecurity, AI policy) — in that case STIA at SFS, or a CS + Government combination, may serve you better than pure CS.
• English, History, Philosophy, Theology — the classic humanities majors. Georgetown has one of the best theology faculties in the USA, a product of its Jesuit tradition.
• Linguistics — an underrated major whose program is renowned in linguistics circles (Georgetown is home to the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics).

The Jesuit core of the education. Every Georgetown College student must complete a “core curriculum” that includes two theology courses, two philosophy courses, plus courses in history, literature, a foreign language, and mathematics or natural science. This is not religious indoctrination — the theology courses cover Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and comparative ethics. The point is Jesuit: the education of the whole person, not just the specialist.

The most famous Georgetown College graduate in the legal world? Antonin Scalia (College ‘57) — a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years (1986–2016), one of the most influential figures in 20th-century American legal thought.

McDonough School of Business — business with a Washington accent

The McDonough School of Business is Georgetown’s undergraduate business school — and the fact that it exists at the undergraduate level matters. Most of the Ivy League has no separate undergrad business school (Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB and Columbia Business School are MBA programs). Georgetown gives you four years of business education starting in your very first year.

Four undergraduate concentrations:

• Finance — the most popular concentration. The track to investment banks (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley), private equity and hedge funds. The proximity of D.C. adds a layer of government finance — roles at the Treasury, the Fed, the SEC.
• Management — a broad view of management. The track to consulting (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) and to rotational programs at Fortune 500 companies.
• Marketing — a strong program that combines traditional marketing research with digital analytics.
• Operations and Information Management (OPIM) — the quantitative concentration. Supply chains, business analytics, information systems.

McDonough’s key differentiator: the Global Business Experience — a mandatory international project in which students advise real foreign companies. Add to that the government and policy track — McDonough offers courses in Business and Public Policy, Defense Acquisition and Federal Procurement that are unavailable at other business schools.

For an international applicant, McDonough has one major advantage over Wharton or NYU Stern: an acceptance rate of ~12% (Georgetown’s overall figure) versus ~6% at Wharton. Realistically higher odds, for a name that every recruiter at McKinsey knows.

NHS — School of Nursing and Health Studies

The School of Nursing and Health Studies (NHS) is the least familiar of Georgetown’s schools to most international applicants — and probably should not be your first choice unless you have specific, advanced interests in health care. It is not an “easier path” into Georgetown.

The four NHS majors:

• Nursing — the direct track to becoming a nurse (BSN, Registered Nurse). A hands-on program with clinical rotations at Georgetown University Hospital.
• Health Care Management & Policy — health-care management and health policy. The track to consulting firms that specialize in health care and to government agencies (HHS, CMS, FDA).
• Human Science — an interdisciplinary major that combines biology, psychology and the social sciences. A popular pre-med track.
• Global Health — public health on a global scale. The track to the WHO, the Gates Foundation and health-focused NGOs.

For an international applicant interested in pre-med, Human Science at NHS or Biology at Georgetown College are the two sensible paths. NHS has more applied health-care courses; Biology at the College has more theory and a stronger foundation for graduate science. Choose NHS if you are 100% certain you want to work in the health sector.

Pre-law and pre-med at Georgetown — what are they really worth?

Georgetown has a reputation as one of the strongest pre-law universities in the USA — and that reputation is earned. The Georgetown Law Center is one of the 14 best law schools in the country (T14) and an absolute leader in international, constitutional and tax law. Undergraduates have preferential access to Bridge programs and can take some Georgetown Law classes even before they graduate.

The best pre-law majors at Georgetown: Government, History, Philosophy, English, International Politics (SFS). The most important thing, though, is not the name of the major — it is an LSAT of 170+, a GPA of 3.85+, and a genuine commitment to social justice (Georgetown’s Jesuit tradition is not marketing — it is a filter in law-school applications).

Pre-med at Georgetown has one big advantage: the Georgetown University Medical Center is right on campus. You can do research with real clinical physicians, not just basic-science researchers. The medical-school acceptance rate for Georgetown graduates regularly exceeds 75% (when the national average is about 42%) — a result of aggressive pre-med advising and the selection of students into those tracks.

How should an international applicant choose a Georgetown school?

The most common mistake international applicants make at Georgetown: they apply to SFS because “it’s the flagship program,” even though their actual interests lie in business or pre-med. Georgetown requires you to apply to a specific school — and the admissions committee looks at whether your profile fits that school.

A short decision guide:

• Apply to SFS if: you have Model UN, success in a civics or social-studies olympiad, projects connected to international politics, two foreign languages, and a genuine interest in a particular region of the world.
• Apply to Georgetown College if: you want a classic liberal arts education, you are on the pre-med or pre-law track, or you are drawn to the humanities and theoretical sciences.
• Apply to McDonough if: you have concrete business experience (your own small venture, an internship at a company, success in an economics olympiad) and you want to go into consulting, finance or product management.
• Apply to NHS if: you are 100% certain you want to work in the health sector (nursing care, public health, health policy).

Remember one practical thing: your home secondary-school grades do not translate 1:1 to the American GPA system. Before you estimate your chances, check the GPA calculator — Georgetown wants to see a GPA on the 4.0 scale, and many international applications make conversion errors here. The committee also looks at rigor — which is to say, how demanding your curriculum was: whether you took A-levels, the IB, or AP courses, what subjects you sat at the highest level, and how you placed in competitions.

And one more point that matters for international applicants in particular. Georgetown is need-aware for international students. That means your request for financial aid CAN affect the admissions decision (unlike need-blind Harvard, Yale and Princeton). If your family needs significant aid, consider applying in parallel to need-blind schools — Georgetown is a good option, but not the only one. It is also worth exploring outside funding: the Fulbright Foreign Student Program operates in more than 160 countries and funds study in the United States, many national governments and private foundations sponsor study abroad, and some students secure merit scholarships from organizations in their home country. Map out these sources early, because external funding can change the math on a need-aware school.

What is the strongest career path for each school?

After Georgetown there is no single “career path.” There are four — one per school, with large areas of overlap.

After SFS — the most common first jobs are: Junior Foreign Service Officer at the State Department, analyst at a think tank (Brookings, CSIS, the Atlantic Council, Carnegie), a rotational program at the World Bank or IMF, consultant at firms that specialize in government affairs (Booz Allen, McKinsey’s Government Practice). The classic path: SFS → 2–3 years in D.C. → a master’s in IR (Princeton SPIA, Johns Hopkins SAIS, Tufts Fletcher) → a career in diplomacy or in international institutions.

After Georgetown College — depending on the major: pre-med → medical school; pre-law → law school (often Georgetown Law); Economics/Government → consulting and finance; the natural sciences → research, doctorates, biotech.

After McDonough — front-office finance (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan), MBB consulting (McKinsey, BCG, Bain), corporate finance; some go straight into startups or into product management at big tech. A common path: McDonough → 2–3 years in banking or consulting → a top-5 MBA.

After NHS — Nursing → a hospital or a specialty; Health Care Management → health-care consulting (ZS Associates, IQVIA), federal agencies; Human Science → medical school; Global Health → the WHO, the Gates Foundation, NGOs.

One detail that international applicants often ignore: a location in D.C. does not just open doors to your first job — it shapes your entire early network. Georgetown students meet people in D.C. who, by the time they are 35, are already senior advisers. It is a snowball effect you will not find at Stanford or MIT — there you might meet future tech billionaires, but at Georgetown you meet future ambassadors and secretaries of state.

Sources

• Georgetown University Undergraduate Bulletin 2025/2026 — bulletin.georgetown.edu
• Georgetown University Common Data Set 2024/2025 — Office of Institutional Research
• Walsh School of Foreign Service — program and major information: sfs.georgetown.edu
• McDonough School of Business — concentration information: msb.georgetown.edu
• School of Nursing and Health Studies — undergraduate programs: nhs.georgetown.edu
• QS World University Rankings 2025
• U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2025
• Fulbright Foreign Student Program — scholarships for study in the USA: foreign.fulbrightonline.org
• EducationUSA — official U.S. government network advising international students: educationusa.state.gov

Read also

• Studying at Georgetown University — the complete guide
• GPA calculator — convert your secondary-school grades to the 4.0 scale
• The Ivy League — the elite league of American universities
• Studying at Columbia University
• Best Stanford majors — programs and careers 2026
• Scholarships for studying in the USA