Caroline Koppelman
Why This College Essay Question Guide and ...

Why do you want to go to school here? If there’s one prompt you are certain to write more than once, it’s this one. This prompt comes in a few different flavors, but at the end of the day, they all want to know why their school is the perfect school for you and why you’re the perfect student for them. No pressure or anything.

Caroline Koppelman
Official Common App Essay Guide 2024-2025

We’ve spent the last few weeks breaking down the Common App essay prompt by prompt, and today we’re going to give you our ultimate guide to writing the Common App essay. There might be seven different prompts, but ultimately, all schools want the same thing from their applicants’ Common App essays: a story.

Caroline Koppelman
Rejected Early Decision from Columbia 2023

Getting a rejection in the Early Decision round is definitely not easy. But the good news is, it’s really just the start, and that one rejection has no bearing on how you’re going to do with other, similarly competitive schools. The thing about Early Decision is it comes alone and it comes first. It’s sometimes easier to tolerate a rejection when it’s preceded by several acceptance letters. College admissions are extraordinarily competitive these days and the Ivies are just more competitive than any other time or place in history. That’s it. It doesn’t get harder. And Columbia in particular has just a 4% acceptance rate! So, if you’ve been rejected in the Early Decision round, don’t despair. We have some advice about how you might go forward. (And don’t worry, it’s really not that much more work!)

Caroline Koppelman
Deferred by Harvard — Now What? (2023-24)

If you’ve been deferred by Harvard, you are not alone. Harvard is notorious at this point for deferring an enormous percentage of early admission applicants. While most elite colleges with early admissions programs, like early decision and early action, only defer students they are seriously considering for the next freshman class, the statistics Harvard has released on early admission suggest that they take a very different approach.

Caroline Koppelman
Writing the “Why This College” Essay

Even though every college has slightly different supplementary application materials, you’ll likely run into a variation of one question more than any other: “Why do you want to attend this school in particular?” It’s every institution’s way of saying, Let’s cut to the chase. Why us?

acting

The Top 10 Non-BFA Theater and Musical Theater Programs

This list is a combination of the country’s best theater and musical theater programs. Many have the option to specialize in musical theater if it is not specified in the degree name, and all are known to graduate students with a broad and intense understanding of not only how to contribute to a theater, but the origins of theater and where the industry is today. A BA in Theater is ideal for students who are interested in more than the craft of theater, and who also want to understand the industrial context in which they are learning. Where theater is today, how is has evolved, how it might evolve in our lifetime, and how we can contribute effectively to help the art of theater evolve.

The Top 10 Non-BFA Drama Programs

Pursuing a BA in acting or drama, as opposed to a BFA in acting or drama, means that you will be focusing on many of the same things, but with a slightly different scope. A BFA degree is highly technical and does not stray from acting content and technique. If you are interested in studying about the concepts and theories behind acting, as well as other fields of the industry, then a BA is for you. It provides you with a much more solid set of generalized knowledge about acting, including the skills required for voice training, movement, improvisation, auditioning, stage performance. You will be trained in the techniques of the art and skill of acting in addition to learning about the entire industry and the importance of critical thinking in the context of a liberal arts or interdisciplinary education setting. Graduates go on to become actors and directors in theater, film, and television, as well as editors, literary agents, marketing and business professionals, educators, and change-makers in countless other creative industries.

15 Best Summer Acting/Drama Programs

This list is meant for students broadly interested in pursuing acting, the craft of theater, and in some cases, stage-managing/technical theater. While Musical Theater, Dance, and Vocal Arts are included in many of the curricula listed below, this forum is not for students who are interested solely in one of those domains. Additionally, if a student is perhaps less interested in pursuing acting in university, there are many other esteemed acting programs which have impressive, non-academic pedigrees. Unless otherwise noted, tuition costs all include room, board, and on-campus meals.