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?

dance

Best Dance Majors and Programs at Small Liberal Arts Schools

Performing arts colleges are easy to find, but a top-notch dance program or major within a liberal arts college where students can pursue both dance and other academic interests in an interdisciplinary fashion is not. Below we’ve found a combination of small liberal arts schools and creatively-oriented small colleges that offer rigorous and comprehensive dance programs. 

The Top 10 Non-BFA Dance Programs

Getting a BA in Dance is, of course, different than getting a BFA, but if you think about it, the world of dance is so much more than just the technicalities of movement. As such, a BA gives you an opportunity to explore the many aspects of the industry and art. Pursuing a BA in Dance gives you a number of career options and an incredibly solid foundational knowledge that will help you throughout your life and career. Regardless of how you want to be involved in the world of dance, a BA is right for you if you’re interested in studying more than the technicalities of dance performance. Getting a BFA is a wonderful option, but the curriculum of a BFA is notoriously narrow and specific. Students who get their BA in Dance go on to be dancers and choreographers, go into dance education, administration, and even therapy.