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?

data science

10th Grade College Strategy for Data Science

If you’re interested in something STEM-y, enjoy your math classes, and also are really interested in computer science, you might also be drawn to data science. Like comp sci, data science has gotten a lot more popular over the last few years, especially because of its broad applications for future careers and high earning potential. Or, maybe you have no idea exactly what it is you want to study, but you heard data science might be cool. That’s totally fine; we can help either way.

9th Grade College Strategy for Data Science

Numbers! Stats! Data! Et cetera! Are you intrigued by the world of data science? Perhaps you envision yourself as a master of algorithms, diving deep into datasets with precision and finesse. Or maybe you're captivated by how data shapes our understanding of the world, seeing patterns emerge in the sea of information. Whether you're drawn to the possibilities of machine learning or just can't get enough of data visualization, we're here to guide you! Because if you're a freshman in high school with a curiosity about data science, you're in the right place.