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?

Caroline Koppelman
How to Write an Amazing and Unique Common App ...

If you’re here, you’ve likely already taken a look at the Common App essay options, felt a little bit of existential doom, and fought the urge to take a long nap (and honestly? Relatable).

aerospace

Aeronautics at Rice University: Deep Dive

“Houston, we have a problem.” If you’ve ever thrown this phrase into your dramatic monologues, you might know that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is based in Houston, TX. Rice University is ALSO based in Houston, and they’re nationally known for their strength in STEM —and for their aeronautic engineering program, specifically.

Classes to Take in High School for Aerospace Engineering

Ok, first off, let us just say you are cool. Not a ton of people know in high school that they are serious about Aerospace engineering. It’s a fairly specialized major, meaning not every college is going to have a program in it. Future aerospace engineers thus have to start planning a little earlier than your average engineer. Many of the schools that offer this major are highly competitive, so you should make sure you are the best candidate you can be. Part of this is choosing the right classes to take in high school. So what classes should you be taking? Let’s break it down.